FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 


REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 


BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 


THE   LIBRARY  OF 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


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THE 

ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 


OF 


NEW    ENGLAND; 

COMPRISING   NOT   ONLY 

RELIGIOUS,  BUT  ALSO  MORAL, 

AND     OTHER    RELATIONS. 

by    yy 

JOSEPH    B.  FELT. 


Learn  from  the  events  already  taken  place,  for  that  is  the  best  learning." 

CVKUS  IN  XEXOl'HON. 

1  But  whether  New  England  may  live  any  where  or  no,  it  must  live  in  our  history." 

Cotton  Mather. 


VOL.    II 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED     BY     THE 
CONGREGATIONAL    LIBRARY    ASSOCIATION, 

AND  BY   THE 

CONGREGATIONAL  BOARD   OF  PUBLICATION. 
1862. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1862,  by 

JOSEPH    B.    FELT, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 


CHAPTER  I. 

Massachusetts.  Imprisonment  of  the  King.  —  Reply  to  Apollonius.  —  Way  of 
Congregational  Churches.  —  Good  News  from  New  England.  —  Salaries. — 
Past. —  Mission. —  Assembly's  Confession  of  Faith.  — Remonstrants. —  Witch- 
craft.—  Dutch.  —  Synod.  —  Variance  among  the  United  Colonies.  —  Henry 
Green.  —  Thomas  Harrison.  —  Sabbath  violated.  —  Controversy.  —  Eliot's 
petition.  —  Temperance  measures.  —  Church  estate  of  children.  —  King  exe- 
cuted. —  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  communion.  — Dunster's  letter  to 
Ravins. — Decease  of  Winthrop. — Fashion  of  long  hair.  —  Children. — 
Baptism.  — Translation  of  the  Bible.  —  Missionary  Society  formed.  —  TJrian 
Oakes.  — John  Collins.  — Death  of  Shepard.  —  Catechism.  — Eliot's  letter  to 
Peters.  —  Magna  Charta.  —  Baptists.  —  Platform  of  discipline.  —  Punishment. 

—  Mission  among  the  Indians. — These  from  the  Jews. — Levellers. — Dis- 
tressed church.  — Popular  boldness.  —  College  corporation.  — Trial  of  Mat- 
thews. —  Ministry  essential  to  townships.  —  Systems  of  discipline  and 
doctrines.  —  Strangers.  —  Exiles.  —  Consociation.  —  Mission  opposed.  —  May- 
hew' s  labors.  —  Spiritualism.  —  Pynchon  on  Redemption.  —  Shawomet.  — 
Indian  Town.  —  Nathaniel  and  Samuel  Mather.  —  State  of  Religion.  — 
Quakers.  —  Jews.  —  Cromwell's  proposal  for  emigration  to  Ireland.  —  John 
Knowles.  —  Antichrist.  —  Calling  of  the  Jews.  Plymouth.  Fast  for  Eng- 
land.—  Partridge  on  baptism.  —  Dialogue  on  denominations.  —  Deaconess. 

—  Sabbath  profaned.  —  Samuel  Newman's  arraignment.  —  Public  affairs. — 
Obadiah  Holmes.  —  John  Mayo.  —  Petitions  against  the  Baptists. — Laws 
enacted.  —  Abuse  of  the  Sabbath.  —  Shawomet  voted  to  the  Bay.  —  Baptists 
move  to  Rhode  Island.  Maine.  Commission  to  D'Aulney.  —  New  organi- 
zation of  government. — Denial  of  Sabbath.  —  Catechism.  —  Death  of  Rigby 
and  D'Aulney.  New  Hampshire.  Trouble  at  Exeter.  —  Anabaptistry  at 
Dover.  —  Samuel  Dudley.  —  Catechism  to  be  taught.  —  Mason's  claims 
revived. — Platform  of  Church  Order.  Rhode  Island.  Gortonists. — Di- 
visions. —  Application  for  admission  to  the  Confederation.  —  R.  Williams  on 
this  subject. — Dissensions.  —  Coddington  gone  to  England.  —  Banishment. 

—  Warwick  accounted  in  Plymouth  patent.  —  Gortonists. — Doctrines. — 
Divorce.  Connecticut.  Sabbath.  —  College  —  Worship.  —  Decease  of  Henry 
Smith.  —  Governor  Hopkins.  —  Arms  at  the  meeting-house.  —  Eaton's  letter. 

—  Profanity.  —  Fast.  —  Witchcraft.  —  Lady  Fenwick.  —  Winthrop.  —  Chee- 
ver.  — Recusants  from  military  service.  — Fraud  in  bread.  —  Arms  at  worship. 

1 


REPLY  TO  APOLLONIUS. 

[Mass. 

—  Just  war.  —  Laws.  —  Mission  among  Indians.  —  Civil  and  Ecclesiastical 
rule.  —  Samuel  Stone.  —  Sachems  opposed  to  Christianity.  — Thomas  James. 

—  Emigration.  —  Departure  of  Henry  Whitfield. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

Divinely  enabled  still  to  hold  the  lease  of  life  with  the  weak 
hand  of  mortality,  we  resume  the  course  of  our  historical  plan  and 
purpose. 

1648.  The  period  before,  and  at  the  commencement  of  this 
year,  was  full  of  events,  which  indicated  results  of  no  ordinary 
character,  as  to  the  prominent  concerns  of  New  England.  The 
king,  who  endeavored  to  raise  his  broken  sceptre  and  wield  it  over 
this  and  the  other  portions  of  his  domain,  was  retained  a  prisoner 
at  the  Isle  of  Wight,  by  order  of  Parliament.  Having  rejected,* 
on  the  last  December  24th,  their  four  requisitions,  that  he  allow 
the  war  against  him  to  be  just ;  that  he  abolish  Episcopacy ;  that 
he  give  up  the  control  of  the  militia,  and  that  he  leave  his  friends 
to  their  mercy, — he  was  the  object  of  great  displeasure  with  the 
Commons.  These  voted  that  they  would  send  no  more  addresses 
to  him,  and  would  proceed  to  settle  the  government  of  the  king- 
dom independently  of  his  direction.  On  the  17th  of  January, 
the  Lords  consented  to  their  position,  and  his  Majesty  was  kept  a 
close  prisoner.  With  prospects  before  them,  which  arose  from 
such  an  extraordinary  relation  between  the  chief  branches  of 
national  authority,  Massachusetts  and  the  adjoining  colonies  were 
in  a  condition  of  anxious  suspense,  not  knowing  but  that  the  besom 
of  Revolution  might  sweep  over  their  heritage,  and  destroy  its 
best  privileges  and  possessions. 

February  1.  A  prefatory  letter  to  Shepard's  First  Principles  of 
the  Oracles  of  God,  by  questions  and  answers,  and,  also,  another 
such  letter  to  his  Select  Cases  Resolved,  are  dated  in  London  by 
William  Adderley. 

16.  Thomas  Goodwin,  Philip  Nye,  and  Sidrach  Simpson,  of  the 
same  metropolis,  write  an  introduction  for  Norton's  Reply  to  Apol- 
lonius,  prepared  in  1645.  Respecting  it,  they  say :  "  It  is  a  child, 
small  indeed  in  size,  but  strenuous  and  manly  in  power." 

In  the  former  part  of  this  year,  Cotton's  "  Way  of  Congrega- 
tional Churches  Cleared,"  is  published.  Some  of  its  leading 
thoughts  are  as  follow.  On  the  remark  of  Baylie,  that  the  teach- 
ings of  Robinson  at  Leyden  were  the  seed  of  Independency  in 
Old  and  New  England,  Cotton  rejoins,  that  its  origin  was  coeval 
with  the  Gospel.    The  Jesuits  of  Lisbon  and  others,  at  the  Western 

*  Salmon's  Chronology,  vol.  i.  p.  144.  Note. — On  10th  of  January,  Richard 
Mather  acknowledges  the  reception  of  ninety  theological  books  from  John 
Johnson  and  William  Parks,  of  Roxbury.  Such  works  were  valuable.  Few 
of  them  are  seen  in  our  day. 


CHANGE  OF  EPISCOPACY  —  SALARIES.  3 

1648.] 

Islands,  have  told  our  merchants  and  mariners,  that  "  they  look  at 
our  plantations  as  dangerous  supplanters  of  the  Catholic  cause." 
Baylie  had  said,  on  the  statement  of  Lechford,  that  there  were  so 
many  restrictions  on  hoth  sexes,  who  offer  themselves  for  the 
church,  "  that  three  parts  of  the  people  of  the  country  continue 
out  of  the  church,  so  that  in  a  short  time  most  of  the  people  will 
remain  unbaptized."  Cotton  observed  that  Lechford  was  not 
admitted  here  to  church-fellowship,  because  he  held  that  "  the 
Antichrist  of  the  book  of  Revelation  was  not  yet  come ;  that 
Apostolic  function  was  not  yet  ceased,  but  that  there  still  ought  to 
be  such,  who  should,  by  their  transcendent  authority,  govern  all 
churches  ;  he  was  not  kept  out  of  our  churches  for  maintaining  the 
authority  of  Bishops  ;  for  we  have  in  our  churches  some  well- 
respected  brethren,  who  do  indifferently  allow  either  Episcopal,  or 
Presbyterial,  or  Congregational  Government."  To  this  is  added, 
"It  is  not  true  that  three  parts  of  the  country  remain  out  of  the 
church."  The  influence  of  our  Congregationalism  has  the  subse- 
quent description.  "  Thousands  in  England  have  been  awakened  to 
consider  church  discipline  ;  have,  by  letters,  conferred  with  us 
about  it,  and  been  so  far  enlightened  as  to  desire  an  utter  subver- 
sion of  Episcopacy  and  Conformity  ;  yea,  and  the  honourable 
houses  of  Parliament,  the  Lord  hath  been  pleased  to  help  them  so 
far  to  consider  of  our  sufferings  and  the  cause  thereof,  as  to  con- 
clude a  necessity  of  reformation  of  Ecclesiastical  State." 

During  the  current  year,  Good  News  from  New  England  is 
printed  in  London.  It  is  very  different  from  another  book,  of  the 
same  title,  by  Winslow.  It  notices  Dunster,  President  of  the 
College,  as  "  being  an  able  proficient  in  the  tongues,  very  studious 
to  promote  learning."  It  adds,  "  Witness  the  young  audients, 
both  here  and  gone  to  England,  hopeful  instruments  in  the  hands 
of  the  Lord,  for  future  times."  It  contains  valuable  statistics* 
of  ministers  and  their  salaries. 

March  5.  Informed  of  "  the  great  distractions  "  and  perils  of 

*  (The  figures  signify  pounds  sterling.)  Salem,  Hugh  Peters,  in  England, 
Edward  Norris,  60 ;  Charlestown,  Zechariah  Symmes,  90  j  Thomas  Allen,  60  ; 
Boston,  John  Cotton,  90  ;  John  Wilson,  60 ;  Roxbury,  Thomas  Weld,  in  Eng- 
land, 80 ;  Dorchester,  Richard  Mather,  70 ;  Watertown,  John  Knowles,  80  ; 
Lynn,  Samuel  Whiting,  45  ;  Thomas  Cobbet,  45  ;  Ipswich,  Nathaniel  Rogers, 
70 ;  John  Norton,  70 ;  Hingham,  Peter  Hobart,  60 ;  Weymouth,  Thomas 
Thacher,  50 ;  Rowley,  Ezekiel  Rogers,  80 ;  Samuel  Mather,  30  ;  Cambridge, 
Thomas  Shepard,  70  ;  Dedham,  John  Allin,  50  ;  Concord,  Edward  Bulkley,  70  ; 
Salisbury,  William  Worcester,  45  ;  Newbury,  Thomas  Parker,  40,  James  Noyes, 
60  ;  Hampton,  Timothy  Dalton,  40  ;  Sudbury,  Edmund  Brown,  40  ;  Braintree, 
Henry  Flint,  30,  William  Thompson,  30  ;  Dover,  Daniel  Maud,  40  ;  Gloucester, 
Richard  Blinman;  40 ;  Woburn,  Thomas  Carter,  60  ;  Reading,  Henry  Green, 
30 ;  Wenham,  John  Fisk,  20  ;  Haverhill,  John  Ward ;  Andover,  John  Wood- 
bridge  ;  further,  Smith  of  Manchester,  Matthews  of  Hull,  Norcross  of  Exeter, 
St.  Batolie,  [Stephen  Batchelor,]  of  Strawberry  Bank,  Knight  of  New  Mea- 
dows, who  had  gone  to  England. 


4  ASSEMBLY'S   CONFESSION  —  WITCHCRAFT. 

[Mass. 

England,*  and,  in  view  of  the  "  unknown  disease  "  which  generally- 
prevailed  through  the  country,  last  summer  ;  of  the  damage  to 
"  corn  and  other  provision  "  by  drought,  and  of  mortality  among 
the  English  in  the  West  Indies,  the  Legislature  appoint  the  20  of 
2  mo.  for  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer. 

March  17.  In  an  address  to  Parliament,  Winslow  remarks,  with 
respect  to  their  promoting  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  of  our 
country,  "  Your  Honours  were  pleased  to  refer  it  to  the  Committee 
of  Foreign  Plantations,  to  prepare  and  bring  in  an  ordinance  for 
the  encouragement  and  advancement  of  learning  and  piety  in  New 
England." 

22.  As  an  event,  soon  welcomed  by  the  Churches  of  our  Colo- 
nies, the  Assembly's  Confessionf  of  Faith  had  been  adopted  by 
the  House  of  Commons. 

April  30.  A  Tanner,  member  of  Taunton  Church,  but  com- 
muned with  the  first  Boston  church,J  failing  to  give  satisfaction, 
when  complained  of,  because  he  had  spoiled  and  wasted  many 
hides,  is  warned  to  forbear  communion  with  the  latter  body,  who 
notify  the  former  of  such  conduct. 

May.  Dr.  Child  and  other  remonstrants  §  failed  to  prosper  in 
their  voyage,  as  they  anticipated.  The  exposure  of  Winslow's 
Salamander  broke  them  off  from  favor  with  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
and  his  colleagues.  Aware  of  this,  Vassal  retreated  to  Barbadoes. 
Fowle  washed  his  hands  of  any  further  co-operation  with  Child 
against  our  authorities.  The  latter  individual,  having  met  with  a 
powerful  opponent  in  Francis  Willoughby  of  Charlestown,  he  being 
then  in  London,  promised  him  that  he  would  cease  from  his  en- 
deavors to  injure  the  interests  and  people  of  New  England. 

May  13.  John  Dand,  having  confessed  ||  that  he  erred  in  siding 
with  the  remonstrants  and  petitioned  for  relief,  is  liberated  from 
prison  and  has  his  fine  remitted. 

"  The  Court  prefer  the  course,  which  hath  been  taken  in  Eng- 
land, for  the  discovery  of  witches  by  watching  them."  They 
order,  "  That  the  best  and  surest  way,  forthwith  be  put  in  practice, 
is  to  begin  this  night,  if  it  may  be,  and  that  the  husband  be  confined 
to  a  private  room  and  be  also  watched."  This  passage  relates  to  a 
female  physician,  Margaret  Jones  of  Charlestown,  who  was  executed 
in  Boston,  the  15th  of  next  June,  on  the  charge  of  witchcraft. 

28.  The  chief  magistrate  of  New  Netherland  had  lately  written 
to  Winthrop,  earnestly  desiring,  that  friendly  relations  might  exist 
between  his  own  and  the  English  settlements.  For  so  desirable  an 
end,  the  former  person  offered  the  succeeding  reasons.  H  "Our 
unity  in  the  true  religion.     The  ancient  league  between  the  two 


*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  f  Neal's  Puritans,  vol.  iii.  p.  352. 

+  MS.  Ch.  Rec.  §  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.  p.  321. 

j|  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  U  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.  p.  324. 


CONFESSION  —  DISCIPLINE. 
L64&] 

nations.  The  community  in  danger,  in  respect  to  the  common 
enemy,  both  Spaniards  and  Indians.  The  reconciling  former  differ- 
ences and  preventing  future.  The  benefit  of  a  mutual  league,  both 
offensive  and  defensive." 

August  1").  The  Synod  renew  their  session,*  adjourned  from 
June.     Allin  of  Dedham  preaches  ably  before  them,  from  the   15 

e.  of  Acts.  They  went  on  comfortably,  and  intended  only  the 
forming  of  a  confession  of  faith,  etc.,  and  a  plan  of  church  discipline. 
For  the  first,  they  wholly  agreed  with  that,  which  the  Assembly 
of  England  had  lately  set  forth.  For  the  other,  they  draw  it  by 
itself,  according  to  the  general  practice  of  our  churches.  So  they 
ended  in  less  than  fourteen  days.  A  few  words  from  the  Synod  may 
be  pertinently  selected.  "  Called  upon  by  our  godly  magistrates, 
to  draw  up  a  public  confession  of  that  Faith,  which  is  constantly 
and  generally  professed  amongst  us,  we  thought  good  to  present 
unto  them,  and  with  them  to  our  churches^  and  with  them  to  all 
the  churches  of  Christ  abroad,  our  professed  and  hearty  assent  and 
attestation  to  the  whole  confession  of  Faith  (for  substance  of  doc- 
trine) which  the  Reverend  Assembly  presented  to  the  religious  and 
honourable  Parliament  of  England,  excepting  only  some  sections 
in  the  25,  30  and  31  chapters,  which  concern  points  of  controversy 
in  church  discipline."  They  add,  "  We  may  not  conceal,  that  the 
doctrine  of  Vocation,  expressed  in  chap.  10,  sec.  1,  and  summarily 
repeated  chap.  13,  sec.  1,  passed  not  without  some  debate.  Yet, 
considering,  that  the  term,  vocation,  and  others,  by  which  it  is 
described,  are  capable  of  a  large  or  more  strict  sense  and  use,  and 
that  it  is  not  intended  to  bind  apprehensions  precisely  in  point  of 
order  or  method,  there  hath  been  a  general  condescendency  there- 
unto." 

The  production,  so  received  by  the  churches  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies as  their  own,  calls  for  the  particular  designation  of  its  leading 
subjects.  These  follow  :  The  sacred  Scriptures,  the  supreme  rule 
of  faith  and  conduct.  Unity  and  Trinity  of  the  Godhead.  The 
eternal  decrees  of  God.  Creation.  Providence.  The  fall  of  man  ; 
his  sin  and  its  punishment.  The  Covenant  of  God  with  man. 
Christ  the  Mediator.  Freedom  of  human  agency.  Efficacious 
calling.  Justification.  Adoption.  Sanctification.  Saving  faith. 
Repentance  to  life.  Good  works.  Perseverance  of  the  saints. 
Assurance  of  grace  and  salvation.  The  Divine  Law.  Christian 
liberty  and  liberty  of  conscience.  Religious  worship  and  the  Sab- 
bath. Lawful  oaths  and  vows.  Civil  magistracy.  Marriage  and 
divorce.  The  Church.  Communion  of  saints.  Sacraments.  Bap- 
tism. The  Lord's  Supper.  Ecclesiastical  censures.  Synods  and 
Councils.  State  of  man  after  death,  and  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.     The  last  Judgment. 

*  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.  p.  330.     Boston  Ath.  Tracts,  C.  62. 


6  PURPOSE   OF  THE  CONFEDERATION. 

[Mass. 

With  regard  to  Discipline,  the  Platform  contains  the  subsequent 
chapters  :  The  form  of  church  government  in  general.  The  na- 
ture of  the  Catholic  church  in  general,  and  of  a  particular  visible 
church.  The  matter  of  the  visible  church,  in  respect  of  quality 
and  quantity.  The  form  of  a  visible  church  and  of  church  cove- 
nant. To  whom  church  power  doth  first  belong.  The  officers  of 
the  church,  especially  pastors  and  teachers.  Ruling  elders  and 
deacons.  Election  of  officers.  Ordination  and  imposition  of  hands. 
Power  of  the  church  and  its  presbytery.  The  maintenance  of 
church  officers.  Admission  of  members  into  the  church.  Eemoval 
of  members  from  one  church  to  another,  and  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion and  dismission.  Excommunication  and  other  censures.  Com- 
munion of  churches.  Synods.  Civil  magistrates'  power  in  matters 
ecclesiastical. 

Of  the  ministers,  who  greatly  assisted  in  composing  the  Platform, 
were  Cotton  and  Wilson.  Richard  Mather  and  Ralph  Partridge 
individually  presented  a  written  model  of  church  government,  that 
of  the  former  being  substantially*  the  same,  as  the  one  printed. 
Norton  was  desirous  to  have  some  regulations,  for  the  watch  of 
churches  "  over  the  children,  born  in  them,"  embracing  what  was 
afterwards  known  as  the  half-way  covenant ;  but  he  declined  to 
urge  them,  because  opposed  by  a  prominent  member,  who  said  that 
"  he  would  oppose  "  them  "  with  all  his  might,"  and  who  was 
seconded  by  a  few  more  dissenters.  When  these  "  very  proposi- 
tions came  to  be  advanced  and  embraced  in  another  Synod,  more 
than  twice  seven  years  after,  many  people  did  count  them  novel- 
ties." 

September  7.  At  a  session f  of  the  confederate  Commissioners, 
now  begun,  propositions  are  laid  before  them,  drawn  up  by  Win- 
throp  and  others,  as  requested  by  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts. 
These  propositions  are  introduced  as  follows :  "  Whereas  the 
intention  of  the  United  Colonies  in  our  Confederation,  was  to 
preserve  and  propagate  the  truth  and  liberties  of  the  Gospel,  and 
to  provide  for  mutual  safety  against  enemies,  and  preservation  of 
peace  among  ourselves,  and  common  welfare."  They  were  chiefly 
occasioned  by  a  requisition,  made  of  Springfield  by  a  major  part  of 
the  Commissioners,  who  were  of  the  other  three  Colonies,  to  pay 
duties  on  articles,  which  passed  Saybrook  fort,  by  water,  and  thus 
contributed  towards  keeping  this  post  of  defence  in  repair.  The 
purpose  of  them  was  to  obtain  explanation  of  several  articles  of  the 
Union,  which  the  Bay  Authorities  thought  had  been  incorrectly 
interpreted  and  applied  by  a  majority  of  their  administrators.  The 
authors  of  them  say,  as  to  the  demand  of  Springfield,  "  We  look 

*  Life  of  R.  Mather,  p.  32  ;  Animadversions  on  the  Antisynodalia  Ameri- 
cana, 5. 

f  MS.  Rec.  of  Commissioners.    Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  108. 


GREEN  —  HARBISON  —  CONTROVERSY.  7 

i64a] 

at  it  as  a  bone,  cast  in  by  Satan  to  interrupt  our  happy  peace  and 
raise  discord  among  us." 

October  11.  Henry  Green  dies.  He  was  born  in  England, 
admitted  freeman  in  Massachusetts,  1640,  and  resided  some  time 
at  Watertown.  When  a  company  of  people  from  this  place  settled 
at  Martha's  Vineyard,  they  "  procured  "  him  to  be  their  minister. 
But  he  did  not  comply  with  their  invitation.  He  was  ordained  at 
Reading,  November  5,  1645,  where  he  seems  to  have  had  a  previous 
residence.  Johnson  speaks  of  him  as  "a  young  man  of  good 
abilities  and  of  a  very  humble  behaviour. " 

£0.  Thomas  Harrison,  whose  wife  was  Dorothy,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Symonds  at  Ipswich,  and  who  was  pastor  of  a  church  at 
Nansemond,  Va.,  had  recently  come  thence  to  Boston.  His 
people  were  of  those,  collected  by  Knowles  and  the  other  two 
missionaries,  when  in  that  country.  Harrison  was  notified,  that  the 
day  for  his  departure  was  appointed  by  the  Government  there. 
His  church,  connected  with  a  large  congregation,  thought  of  moving 
to  the  Bahama  Islands,  called  Eleutheria,  to  avoid  the  persecution 
they  endured.  Our  authorities  advised  them,  through  him,  to 
remain  where  they  were,  as  long  as  they  could,  in  hopes  of  greater 
leniency.  When  those  missionaries  first  waited  on  the  Virginia 
Governor,  Harrison  was  his  chaplain,  and,  as  he  afterwards  peni- 
tently confessed,  openly  favored  their  mission,  while  he  covertly 
endeavored  to  prevent  its  success.  But  converted  to  their  faith, 
he  entered  on  their  labors,  when  they  were  driven  away,  and  his 
engagedness  subjected  him  to  the  like  exclusion.  After  conference 
with  our  rulers,  he  embarked  for  England.  Here  he,  as  Hubbard 
informs  us,  was  noted  in  his  profession,  received  a  doctorate,  and 
was  latterly  settled  in  Ireland. 

23.  The  Legislature  pass  the  following  order  :*  "  The  master  of 
a  Dutch  ship  made  four  shots  in  our  harbour  the  last  Lord's  day 
after  sunset,  whereby  he  hath  forfeited  40/.  a  shot ;  but  in  regard 
he  is  a  stranger  and  no  man  in  his  ship  can  speak  English,  nor  any 
course  hath  formerly  or  now  was  taken  to  give  notice  of  the  law, 
the  Court  think  fit,  that  the  penalty  be  remitted  to  40/.  and 
some  course  taken  for  giving  notice  to  strangers  of  the  said  order 
and  other  of  like  kind  hereafter." 

The  violent  controversy  between  the  Scots  and  English,  the 
King  and  Parliament,  about  the  form  of  church  government,  is  the 
source  of  much  anxiety  to  our  colonists. 

Eliot  offers  a  petition  f  to  the  General  Court.  Some  extracts 
are  given.  "  As  Indians  have  frequent  recourse  to  the  English 
houses,  and  especially  to  Boston,  where  they  too  often  see  evil 
examples  of  excessive  drinking  in  the  English  ;  and  many  of  them 
greatly  delighting   in  strong  liquors   and   too  well  knowing  the 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


8  TEMPERANCE  MEASURES  —  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

liberty  of  the  law,  which  prohibiteth  above  a  half  pint  of  wine  to 
a  man,  that,  therefore,  they  may  without  offence  to  the  law,  have 
their  half  pint,  and  when  they  have  had  it  in  one  place,  they  may 
go  to  another  and  have  the  like  till  they  be  drunken.  And  some- 
time find  too  much  entertainment  that  way,  by  such  who  keep  no 
ordinary,  only  desire  their  trade,  though  it  be  with  the  hurt  and 
perdition  of  their  souls.  Therefore,  my  humble  request  unto  this 
honoured  Court  is  this,  that  there  may  be  but  one  ordinary  in  all 
Boston,  who  may  have  liberty  to  sell  wine,  strong  drink  or  strong 
liquors  unto  the  Indians."  He  prays,  that  keepers  of  ordinaries 
out  of  Boston,  where  Indians  are  found  intoxicated,  may  be  pun- 
ished. He  proceeds,  "  These  things,  I  am  bold  to  present  unto 
you  for  the  preventing  of  those  scandalous  evils,  which  greatly 
blemish  and  interrupt  their  entertainment  of  the  Gospel,  through 
the  policy  of  Satan,  who  counterworketh  Christ  that  way,  with  not 
a  little  uncomfortable  success." 

Accordingly,  on  the  27th,  William  Philips  is  the  only  person 
authorised  to  sell  wine  to  the  Indians  in  Boston.  Whoever  else  so 
does  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  20/.  for  each  offence. 

While  so  careful  of  those,  born  in  heathenism,  the  Legislature 
take  measures  to  reform  such  as  had  dwelt  under  the  Gospel. 

Oct.  18.  They  pass  the  following  order :  *  "  Whereas  it  is  found 
by  experience,  that  a  great  quantitie  of  wine  is  spent  and  much 
thereof  abused  to  excesse  of  drinkinge,  yea,  vnto  drunkennesse  itselfe, 
notwithstanding  all  the  wholesome  lawes  provided  and  published  for 
the  preventinge  thereof,  which  tendeth  much  to  the  dishonour  of 
God,  the  discredite  of  the  Gospell,  the  shame  of  the  country  and 
very  offensiue  to  all  godly  people  amongst  ourselues,  and  such  as 
are  in  confederation  with  vs,  and  it  is  to  be  feared,  that,  if  it  be  not 
speedyly  prevented,  it  will  (bring)  some  stroake  of  God's  heavie 
hand  vpon  vs,"  it  is,  therefore,  ordered,  that  all  venders  of  wine  or 
beer,  who  conceal  a  drunken  person  on  their  premises,  or  do  not 
procure  a  constable  to  bring  him  before  a  magistrate,  or  neglect  to 
detain  him  until  he  may  be  so  dealt  with,  shall  pay  for  each  offence 
of  this  sort  £5.  Magistrates  are  allowed  to  take  a  constable  with 
them,  and  search  every  "  tavern  or  victualling  house,"  by  night  or 
day,  for  intoxicated  individuals,  and,  if  finding  such,  imprison 
them  or  put  them  in  the  stocks,  as  they  may  see  fit,  until  their 
cases  are  legally  decided. 

November  12.  Eliot  sends  the  subsequent  information!  to 
Winslow  in  London.  Indians  in  various  places  desire  religious 
instruction,  but  cannot  have  teachers  enough.  Those  at  the  South- 
ward are  not  so  inclined,  but  a  few  at  TeticutJ  are.  He  had 
taught  those  at  Nashaway  four  times  this  summer.     Their  Sachem, 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.     f  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  p.  81,  2. 
%  Called  Tecticut,  a  part  of  Bridgewater  and  Middleborough. 


THE   KING    EXECUTED.  0 

1649. 

Shawanon,  had  embraced  Christianity.  The  two  last  springs,  Eliot 
had  visited  Patucket  Falls  at  Merrimack  River,  and  preached  to 
great  numbers  of  the  natives,  assembled  there  to  fish.       For  several 

months,  the  Sagamore,  Pasaconaway,  who  had  previously  opposed 
the  Gospel,  professed  his  belief  in  it  and  wished  that  it  might  be 
declared  among  his  people. 

This  year,  there  is  published  in  England  an  elaborate  work, 
called,  "  A  just  vindication  of  the  Covenant  and  Church  estate  of 
children  of  Church  members,  as  also  their  right  unto  baptism,"  by 
Thomas  Cobbet,  of  Lynn.  While  this  Scribe,  well  "  instructed 
unto  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  lays  his  thoughts  before  the  British 
public,  he  considers  the  remarks  of  John  Spilsbery  and  others, 
which  differed  from  his  own. 

1649.  January  4.  The  Commons,  having  voted,  on  the  27th 
ult,  to  proceed  capitally  against  the  King,*  while  the  Presbyterians 
of  them  protested  against  it,  now  pass  the  following  resolve  : 
"  The  people,  under  God,  are  the  origin  of  all  just  power ;  the 
Commons  in  Parliament  have  the  supreme  authority  of  the  nation 
without  the  King  and  House  of  Peers."  On  the  6th,  the  Scotch 
Commissioners  in  London  decline  to  have  any  part  in  the  trial 
of  his  Majesty.  On  the  9th,  the  Commons  adopt  a  national  seal, 
"  With  the  Cross  for  England  and  the  Harp  for  Ireland  thereon, 
with  the  inscription,  The  Great  Seal  of  England,  and  on  the  reverse, 
the  House  of  Commons  in  session,  with  these  words,  In  the  first 
year  of  Freedom  by  God's  blessing  restored,  1648."  On  the  27th, 
as  the  King  had,  at  four  different  times,  denied  the  jurisdiction  of 
Commissioners  appointed  for  his  trial,  in  Westminster  Hall,  they 
pass  sentence  of  death  on  him,  for  "  treasons  and  crimes  "  laid 
to  his  charge.  On  the  30th,  his  Majesty  is  brought  to  the  scaffold, 
erected  in  the  street  before  White  Hall.  Having  addressed  those 
near  his  person,  vindicated  himself  from  the  accusations  against 
him,  confessed  his  regret  for  consenting  to  the  death  of  Strafford, 
and  expressed  the  forgiveness  of  his  persecutors,  he  is  reminded  by 
William  Juxon,  afterwards  Archbishop,  that  he  had  but  one  short 
stage  more,  though  a  trying  one,  to  heaven.  "  I  go,"  said  Charles, 
"  from  a  corruptible  to  an  incorruptible  crown,  where  no  disturb- 
ance can  arise."  "  You  are  exchanged,"  said  Juxon,  "  from  a 
temporal  to  an  eternal  crown, — a  good  exchange."  The  monarch 
laid  his  head  on  the  block  and  it  was  immediately  severed  from  its 
body.  Thus  he  finished  his  troubled  course,  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  in  his  49th  year  and  24th  of  his  reign.  Lamentable 
scene,  and  equally  so  the  imperfections  of  human  nature,  which, 
were  the  cause  of  its  being  acted ! 

Feb.  3.  The  Scots,  intent  upon  endeavoring  to  suppress  the  In- 
dependents, proclaimed  f  Charles  II.  in  Edinburgh,  to  be  their  King. 

*  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  147-9.  f  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  151. 


10  DEATH  OF  WINTHROP. 

[Mass. 

President  Dunster*  writes  this  month,  to  Dr.  Christianius 
Ravius,  professor  of  Oriental  languages,  in  London.  He  thanks 
him  for  a  box  of  valuable  books  for  the  college.  He  replies  to 
him  learnedly  as  to  orthographical  instruction  to  the  Indians,  and 
that  Eliot  is  laboring  to  bring  their  language  under  the  rules  of 
Grammar  and  Dictionary.  He  observes,. on  the  proposal  of  Ravius 
to  become  an  instructor  at  Harvard,  that  its  patrons  would  feel 
themselves  honored  to  have  him.  Naming  books  needed,  he  says, 
that  the  authorities  would  be  glad  to  receive  them,  and  "  whatso- 
ever Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Syriac  or  Arabic  authors  "  may  be  sent. 
He  continues,  "  A  wonderful  impulse  unto  these  studies  lies  on 
the  spirits  of  our  students,  some  of  which  can  with  ease  dexterously 
translate  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  into  Greek." 

February  8.  Cotton  addresses  a  friend  in  England,f  as  to  "  ac- 
commodation and  communion  "  between  Presbyterians  and  Congre- 
gationalists.  "  If  godly  members  of  a  Congregation  formerly  sub- 
ject to  Episcopacy,  repenting  of  their  sinful  subordination  thereto, 
shall  be  studious  of  reformation  and  shall  solemnly  covenant  to 
endeavour  the  same,  and  shall  choose  their  former  godly  ministers, 
into  the  Pastors  and  Teachers  office,  it  is  not  necessary  they  should 
take  the  ignorant  or  carnal  members  of  the  Parish  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  this  renewed  election  of  their  ministers ;  and  yet  it  is  not 
improbable,  but  the  ministers  may  perform  some  ministerial  acts  to 
them,  as  not  only  to  preach  the  word  to  them,  but  happily  also  to 
baptize  their  children." 

March  26.  The  worthy  Winthrop  is  called  to  rest  from  his  ardu- 
ous labors.  He  was  son  of  Adam  Winthrop,  and  born  at  Groton, 
Suffolk,  England,  January  12,  1588.  He  studied  law  for  his  pro- 
fession, and  physic  for  beneficence  to  others.  None  contributed 
more,  and  few  so  much  as  he,  to  the  desirable  elements  of  New 
England  character.  He  was  vigilant  and  active,  intelligent  and 
conscientious  in  all  his  high  official  stations.  Though  he  had  no 
fortune  to  bequeath  his  children,  having  spent  one  mostly  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Colony,  he  left  them  the  far  better  heritage  of  im- 
perishable fame,  based  on  Gospel  principles. 

His  well  known  Journal  has  been  and  is  of  great  use  to  writers 
of  our  history.  Of  his  manuscripts,  is  his  Model  of  Christian 
Charity.  It  gives  full  proof,  that  he  drank  deeply  from  the  foun- 
tain of  heavenly  wisdom.  Another  is  his  religious  experience. 
This  exhibits  a  mind  and  heart  illumined  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  Oracles  of  Inspiration.  While  uncontradicting  every  correct 
position  of  a  Seneca,  it  takes  a  more  extended  direction  and  harmo- 
niously communes  with  the  deep,  soul-working  sympathies  of  a 
Paul,  convicted  and  clad  in  his  right  mind.  What  Cotton  said  of 
him,  in  a  Sermon,  preached  on  a  Fast-day,  which  the  Church  kept 

*  Belknap  MSS.  t  First  Principles  of-N.  E.  by  I.  Mather,  p.  5. 


UNION   IMPERILED.  11 

164&] 

for  his  recovery,  is  noticeable,  because  exemplary  and  true.  "  Be 
was  a  Governor  that  has  been  a  friend  to  counsel  us ;  like  a  brother, 

not  usurping  authority  over  the  church;  often  speaking  his  advice, 
and  often  contradicted  by  young  men,  and  some  of  low  degree  ; 
yet  not  replying,  but  offering  satisfaction  also,  when  any  supposed 
offences  have  arisen.  A  Governor  who  has  been  to  us  like  a  parent, 
distributing  his  goods  to  brethren  and  neighbors  at  his  first  coming, 
and  gently  bearing  our  infirmities  without  taking  notice  of  them." 
Johnson  states,  "  His  funeral  was  sadly  and  solemnly  performed  by 
a  very  great  concourse  of  the  greater  part  of  this  Colony,  whose 
mournful  looks  and  watry  eyes  did  plainly  demonstrate  the  tender 
affection  and  great  esteem  he  was  in  with  the  people."  The  Gen- 
eral Court,  in  thanking  Boston  for  the  manner  in  which  they 
solemnized  his  funeral,  say,  "  We  account  him  worthy  of  all 
honour." 

May  3.  An  occurrence  takes  place,  suited  to  arrest  the  prosperity 
of  New  England  Puritanism.  The  Massachusetts  Legislature  feel 
themselves  called  to  impose  duties  *  on  all  goods,  brought  "  within 
the  Castle  "  from  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  "  or 
exported  from  any  part  of  the  Bay,"  because  the  Commissioners  of 
the  three  last  Colonies,  as  previously  stated,  had  voted  to  make 
similar  assessments  on  goods  of  Springfield,  carried  through  the 
mouth  of  Connecticut  river. 

Fearful  lest  this  regulation  would  mar  the  best  interests  of  the 
Union,  Boston  petition  the  Court,  on  May  23  of  next  year,  that  it 
may  be  repealed.  These  authorities  reply,  that  as  they  are  inform- 
ed, that  Connecticut  has  ceased  taking  customs  of  Springfield,  they 
intend  to  recall  their  order  next  session,  and  do  now  suspend  it,  as 
to  the  confederate  Colonies,  until  it  is  sure,  that  Connecticut  will 
entirely  relinquish  imposts  on  Springfield  merchandise.  With 
regard  to  this  perilous  subject,  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  argued, 
that  Springfield  should  be  no  more  taxed  on  their  goods  towards 
the  repair  of  Saybrook  fort,  than  any  towns  of  Connecticut  should 
have  their  goods,  coming  into  Boston  harbor,  taxed  to  help  keep 
the  Castle  in  order.  They  further  maintained,  that,  as  Plymouth 
and  New  Haven  united  with  Connecticut,  through  their  Commis- 
sioners, in  the  confederate  administration,  to  make  Springfield  bear 
such  a  burden,  they  felt  constrained  to  lay  duties  on"  goods  from 
the  jurisdictions  of  both  assistants  and  the  principal  in  the  case, 
until  relief  should  be  granted.  They  considered  this  mode  of  pro- 
cedure to  be  consistent  with  right,  though  their  opponents  con- 
strued it  differently. 

9.  Solomon  Franco,  a  Jew,  who  petitioned  for  compensation,  as 
the  factor  of  Imanuel  Perada,  out  of  a  cargo  consigned  to  the 
Major  General,  Edward  Gibbons,  is  not  allowed  his  claim,  because 

*  MS.  Mass. -Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


12  LONG  HAIR  FORBIDDEN. 

[Mass. 

the  property  does  not  appear  as  Perada's;  but  the  Court  allow 
Franco  6/.  a  week,  during  ten  weeks,  "  for  his  subsistence,"  until 
he  obtains  a  passage  to  Holland. 

May  10.  The  Governor  and  the  rest  of  the  magistrates*  say, 
"  Forasmuch  as  the  wearing  of  long  hair  after  the  manner  of  Rus- 
sians and  barbarous  Indians,  has  begun  to  invade  New  England 
contrary  to  the  rule  of  God's  Word,"  we  protest  against  this  fash- 
on,  and  "  we  earnestly  entreat  all  the  Elders  to  manifest  their  zeal 
against  it  in  their  public  ministrations,"  and  deal  with  their  mem- 
bers, who  have  indulged  in  it  and  will  not  reform. 

June  4.  Cotton  writes  to  a  clerical  friend  on  the  ensuing  ques- 
tion.f  Suppose  a  pious  man,  but  not  a  professor  of  religion,  when 
dying,  gives  his  child  to  a  church  member,  who  has  no  children, 
and  the  latter  individual  accepts  it, — can  he  have  it  baptized  ?  The 
writer  remarks,  that  Wilson  and  Eliot,  and,  he  thinks,  Mather, 
hold  with  him  in  the  affirmative.  In  the  same  month,  a  letter  of 
Shepard  has  the  subjoined  passage  :  "  Children  are  members  of  the 
visible  church,  and  their  membership  continues  when  adult,  and 
the  children  of  believers  are  to  be  accounted  of  the  church  until 
they  positively  reject  the  Gospel,  and  the  membership  of  children 
hath  no  tendency  in  it  to  pollute  the  church  any  more  now,  than 
under  the  Old  Testament,  and  children  are  under  church  discipline, 
and  some  persons,  adult,  may  be  admitted  to  baptism,  and  yet  not 
to  the  Lord's  supper." 

27.  George  Harding,  of  Marblehead,  J  presented  for  speaking 
against  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  is  sentenced  to  pay  40/.  or  be 
whipped. 

July  8.  Eliot  communicates  his  purpose  §  to  Whitfield,  for 
translating  the  Bible  into  the  Indian  tongue  and  educating  some 
Indian  youths,  and  mentions  the  need  of  help  from  the  charitable. 
He  previously  communicated  his  opinion,  that  the  Indians  here 
were  of  Hebrew  origin. 

21.  The  Parliament  pass  an  act  ||  for  "  the  promoting  and 
propagating  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  New  England." 
They  appoint  a  Corporation  of  sixteen  persons,  for  this  purpose,  of 
whom  Herbert  Pelham,  Richard  Hutchinson,  and  Robert  Tompson, 
three,  who  had  lived  here,  besides  Edward  Winslow  of  Plymouth, 
and  James  Shirley,  among  the  best  friends  of  the  same  Colony. 
They  authorize  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  or  their 
agents,  to  receive  and  dispose  of  the  funds  to  support  preachers 
"  amongst  the  natives  and  for  the  maintenance  of  schools  and 

*  Hutchinson's  Hist,  of  Mass.  vol.  i.  p.  143.     Harv.  Coll.  Rec. 

f  First  Principles  of  N.  E.  5.  22.  +  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 

§  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  119.  21. 

||  This,  according  to  Hazard  and  Neal,  was  on  the  19th  of  July,  but,  accord- 
ing to  the  acts  and  ordinances  of  England,  as  followed  by  Hutchinson,  was  the 
27th. 


MISSIONARY  CHABTER.  13 

1649.] 

nurseries  of  learning  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the 
natives."  They  speak  of  these,  as  "betaking  themselves  to  one 
wife  and  putting  away  the  rest."     They  provide,  that  collection!  be 

taken  "  throughout  England  and  Wales,  and  that  the  mini 
read  this  aet  and  exhort  the  people  to  a  cheerful  contribution  to  so 
pious  a  work."  The  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  issued 
letters,  calling  on  the  clergy  to  exert  themselves  zealously  for  the 
enterprise.  There  were  not  lacking  opponents  to  this  cause,  in 
England,  who  thought  it  more  chimerical  than  practical.  But 
time  demonstrated  their  error. 

In  a  large  assembly  of  Indians*  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  some  of 
them  discuss  the  question,  whether  they  can  safely  renounce  the 
Powwows.  Part  of  them  assert,  that  whoever  of  them  do,  must 
expect  to  be  immediately  killed.  But  Hiacomes,  the  devoted  fol- 
lower of  Christ,  shows  them,  that  it  is  their  duty  and  happiness  to 
give  up  such  impostors  and  serve  the  true  God. 

Of  AVinslow's  energetic  movements  to  advance  the  conversion  of 
the  natives  here  to  Christianity,  is  his  publishing  in  London,  "  The 
Glorious  Progress  of  the  Gospel  "  among  them.  This  work  con- 
sists principally  of  three  letters  from  Eliot,  and  one  from  Thomas 
Mayhew,  Jr.,  who  speak  from  missionary  experience.  The  Editor, 
in  his  introduction,  takes  the  ground,  that  the  Indians  of  America 
are  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  from  their  traditions  and  ceremonies,  as 
well  as  from  the  opinion  of  various  learned  men. 

Urian,  son  of  Edward  Oakes,f  born  in  England,  graduated  this 
year  at  Harvard.  "  His  prompt  parts,"  as  Cotton  Mather  observes, 
"  adorned  and  advanced  with  the  grace  of  God,  at  such  a  rate  as  to 
make  the  considerate  say  of  him,  as  they  said  of  young  Ambrose, 
*  To  what  will  this  child  grow  ? ' "  Having  taken  his  second 
degree,  he  delivered  his  first  sermon  at  Roxbury,  and  soon  after 
embarked  for  his  native  land.  He  served  as  chaplain  "  for  one  of 
the  most  noted  in  the  nation,"  and  then  wras  settled  in  the  ministry 
at  Titchfield,  Hampshire.  "  There  he  was  a  shining  light  to  his 
flock.  But  the  more  he  shone,  the  sooner  he  was  numbered  " 
among  the  ejected  ministers.  Cast  out  from  the  cure  of  souls,  he 
was  received  by  Colonel  Norton  into  his  family,  "  where  his  pres- 
ence and  prayers  produced  a  blessing  like  that  on  the  house  of 
Obed-Edom."  The  persecution  having  abated,  he  returned  to  his 
profession,  in  a  congregation  w7here  Richard  Symonds  was  his  col- 
league. Invited  to  return  to  Cambridge,  where  his  father  resided, 
and  take  charge  of  the  church  there,  he  complied  in  1671. 

John,  son  of  Edward  Collins  of  Cambridge,  graduates  at  H.  C. 
His  birth  was  in  England,  whither  he  returned  not  long  after  his 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  pp.  114,  5.     Ibid.  p.  69. 
f  Mather's  Magnalia,  vol.  ii.  pp.  114,  5.     Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  349. 


14  COLLINS  —  SHEPARD. 

[Mass. 

graduation.  He  went  to  Scotland,  was  minister  in  Edinburgh, 
1658,  and  chaplain  to  General  Monk,  when  he  returned  from  that 
country  to  London,  1660.  Here  he  was  an  incumbent  of  no 
church  till  after  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  1662.  He  succeeded  Mr. 
Malory,  as  pastor  of  an  independent  congregation.  The  Magnalia 
informs  us,  that  when  Mr.  Collins  was  a  lad,  he  fell  and  was  dan- 
gerously wounded.  While  he  lay  gasping,  Thomas  Shepard,  the 
pastor  of  his  father,  who  held  the  office  of  deacon,  came  and  said, 
"I  have  just  now  been  wrestling  with  the  Lord  for  thy  life;  thou 
shalt  not  die,  but  live." 

His  abilities  as  a  preacher  were  of  high  order.  He  was  among 
the  lecturers  at  Pinners-Hall.  Here,  when  he  lay  sick,  and  prayer 
was  offered  for  his  recovery,  scarcely  a  dry  eye  was  seen  in  the 
great  assembly.  He  closed  his  exemplary  life,  December  3,  1687. 
Calamy  remarks  of  him,  "  He  was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures  ;  one 
of  a  sweet  temper,  and  very  charitable  to  all  good  men,  without 
confining  himself  to  a  party."  In  the  Morning  Exercises,  vol.  in., 
with  the  signature  N.  N.,  is  a  sermon  of  his,  on  the  question, 
"How  the  religious  of  a  nation  are  the  strength  of  it."  Another 
of  his  discourses  is  in  the  London  Collection  of  Farewell  Sermons, 
on  Jude,  3,  "  Earnestly  contend  for  the  faith."  His  correspond- 
ence in  Hutchinson's  Collections,  indicates  his  strong  attachment  to 
New  England. 

A  few  years  before  his  decease,  the  Massachusetts  Legislature, 
May  16,  1683,  say,  "  Being  informed  by  our  present  and  former 
agents  of  the  good  will,  friendship  and  unwearied  pains,  upon  all 
occasions,  of  Mr.  John  Collins,  to  promote  the  welfare  and  prosper- 
ity of  this  Colony,  do,  by  way  of  gratuity  and  acknowledgment," 
grant  him  500  acres  of  land  in  the  "  Nipmuck  country."  Francis, 
his  son,  and  a  merchant  of  London,  petitions  the  same  General 
Court,  May  30, 1705,  that  this  tract  may  be  surveyed  and  confirmed 
to  him,  which  was  accordingly  done. 

August  2o.  Thomas  Shepard  is  called  to  lay  down  his  faithful 
ministry,  in  his  44th  year.  Returning  home  "  from  an  assembly  of 
ministers  at  Rowley,  he  was  taken  sick  with  a  quinsy,  attended 
with  a  symptomatical  fever,"  which  closed  his  life  in  a  few  days. 
His  sayings  to  those  around  his  death-bed,  were  impressive.  Two 
of  them  are  selected.  "Lord,  I  am  vile,  but  thou  art  righteous. 
Love  Jesus  Christ  dearly.  That  little  part  I  have  in  him,  is  no 
small  comfort  to  me  now." 

Mr.  Shepard  had  three  wives,  Margaret  Fonteville,  who  died 
here ;  Joanna,  daughter  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  who  died  April 
28,  1646;  and  Margaret  Boradile,  whom  he  married  Sept.  8,  1647, 
and  who  became  the  wife  of  Jonathan  Mitchell,  his  successor. 
He  had  four  sons,  Thomas,  Samuel,  John  and  Jeremiah.  The  two 
first,  and  last,  survived  him,  and  were  settled  as  ministers.     His 


EUOrS  ADDRKSS  TO   PBTBRS.  UJ 

L649.( 

works,*  published  before  and  after  his  decease,  were  many,  able, 
spiritual  and  highly  appreciated. 

Shepard  was  engaged  in  frequent,  epistolary  correspondence 
with  Hooker,  his  father-in-law.  Such  interchange  of  Btrong,  cul- 
tivated minds  and  sanctified  hearts,  was  no  ordinary  treat.  Neal 
remarks  of  Sliepard,  "  1  le  was  a  person  of  great  piety  and  industry, 
and  an  admirable  preacher,  which  was  one  reason  why  the  Univer- 
sity was  erected  at  Cambridge."  The  words  of  llcv.  James  Fraser, 
of  Brea,  in  Scotland,  17o8,  concerning  him,  are  true  to  the  life. 
"  He  hath  by  the  Lord  been  made  the  interpreter  one  of  a  thousand, 
so  that,  under  Christ,  I  have  been  obliged  to  his  writings  as  much 
and  more  than  to  any  mean  whatever,  for  wakening,  strengthening 
and  enlightening  my  soul.1'  This  language  has  more  glorious 
import  in  the  world  of  perfect  truth,  than  the  greatest  eulogiums 
ever  pronounced  on  the  most  eminent  promoters  of  mere  human 
philosophy. 

September.  Thomas  Scott,  of  Ipswich,  on  his  presentment,!  is 
fined  10/.  unless  he  "  learn  Mr.  Norton's  chatachise  "  by  next  Court. 
The  sequel  shows,  that  the  lesson,  so  appointed,  was  not  learned, 
and  the  fine  was  demanded. 

October  12.  John  Eliot  addresses  J  Peters,  "  The  Lord  hath 
greatly  delighted  to  improve  you,  and  eminently  your  talent  is  in- 
creased to  ten  talents  for  our  Lord  and  Master's  honour  and  use, 
and  doubt  not  but  your  crowne  shall  be  answerable.  You  are 
indeed  much  envyed,  evil  spoken  of,  smitten  with  the  tongue.  No 
matter.  Be  not  troubled  at  what  men  say,  when  they  speak  evill 
of  you,  seeing  you  cannot  but  see,  yea,  all  may  see  it,  God  dealeth 
well  by  you,  the  Lord  doth  improve,  accept,  succeed  you.  I  cannot 
wish  you  in  New  England  so  long  as  you  are  of  such  great  use  and 
service  in  the  Old ;  not  because  I  love  you  not,  but  because  I  love 
you  and  the  cause  of  God,  which  you  do  totis  viribus  pursue  and 
prosper  in.  I  have  a  request  unto  you  in  behalfe  of  these  poor 
Indians.  We  are  about  to  make  a  Town  and  bring  them  to  a 
cohabitation  and  civilty,  for  the  accomplishment  whereof  we  want 
a  magazine  of  all  sorts  of  edge  tools  and  instruments  of  husbandry, 
for  clothing,  etc.  That  successful  and  seasonable  magazine  of  Pro- 
visions, which  you  were  a  lively  instrument  to  procure  so  seasonably 
at  Bristoll,  for  the  relief  of  the  army  at  Pembroke,  doth  incourage 
and  imbolden  me  to  request  this  favour,  that  you  would  be  pleased 
to  use  that  wisdom  and  interest  the  Lord  hath  given  you  in  the 
hearts  of  his  people,  to  further  this  magazine  for  the  poore  Indians." 
Eliot  proceeds  to  advance  ideas,  like  those  in  his  Christian  Com- 
monwealth.    "-The  only  Magna  Charta  in  the  world,  is  the  Holy 

*  They  have  been  lately  published  by  the  Congregational  Board  of  Publication 
in  Boston,  Mass. 

f  Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  52.     MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 
t  Felt's  Memoir  of  Peters. 


16  THE  TEN  TRIBES. 

[Mass. 

Scriptures.  Oh !  what  an  opportunity  hath  the  Parliament  now 
to  bring  in  Christ  to  rule  in  England.  If  they  do  that,  Christ  will 
prosper  and  preserve  them."  The  author  of  these  words,  while 
uttering  his  expressions  of  friendship  and  his  opinion  in  favor  of  a 
Republic,  had  less  cause  to  think  that  the  influence  of  restored 
Royalty  would  reach  across  the  Atlantic  and  compel  him  to  apolo- 
gize, than  Peters  had,  that  his  zeal  for  freedom  would  prove  the 
forfeiture  of  his  life. 

Oct.  18.  The  Legislature  *  write  to  the  like  Body  in  Plymouth. 
They  express  themselves  as  follows  :  "  We  understand,  that  within 
these  few  weeks,  there  have  been  at  Seaconck  thirteen  or  fourteen 
persons  re-baptized,  (a  swift  progress  in  one  town ;)  yet  we  hear 
not  of  any  effectual  restriction  is  intended  thereabouts.  Let  it  not, 
we  pray  you,  seem  presumptuous  in  us  to  remind  you  hereof,  nor 
that  we  earnestly  intreat  you  to  take  care  as  well  of  the  suppressing 
of  errors,  as  of  the  maintenance  of  truth." 

19.  They  order  f  the  subsequent  entry  :  "  Whereas  a  Book  hath 
been  presented  to  the  Court,  intitled  a  Platform  of  Church  Disci- 
pline out  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  being  the  result  of  what  the 
Synod  did  in  the  Assembly  1647,  at  Cambridge,  for  their  consider- 
ation and  acceptance,  the  Court  doth  conceive  it  meet  to  be  com- 
mended to  the  judicious  and  pious  consideration  of  the  several 
churches  within  this  jurisdiction,  desiring  a  return  from  them  the 
next  General  Court,  how  far  it  is  suitable,  to  their  judgments  and 
approbation,  before  the  Court  proceed  any  further  therein." 

30.  Samuel  Straiton  and  wife  are  fined  and  required  to  confess 
before  the  public  Assembly  at  the  Watertown  Lecture,  that  they 
had  done  wrong  in  speaking  against  ministers,  church  members 
and  magistrates,  and  declaring  that  Mrs.  Jones  was  not  a  witch 
and  suffered  wrongfully.  They  are  also  to  acknowledge  the  clem- 
ency of  their  sentence,  pay  the  witnesses  and  give  sureties  for  good 
behavior. 

November  13.  Eliot  informs  J  Winslow  that  he  has  taken 
measures  to  learn  the  praying  Indians  to  cultivate  the  ground, 
practice  labor  of  all  sorts,  and  have  their  children  taught  at  school. 

December  29.  He  expresses  to  Whitfield  his  disinclination  to 
be  called  an  Evangelist.  He  relates  that,  in  the  past  summer,  he 
went,  with  great  hardship,  sixty  miles  westward,  at  the  earnest 
desire  of  the  Sachem  at  Quabagud,  and  preached  to  the  natives 
there,  who  were  anxious  to  be  taught  the  Gospel.  He  repeats  his 
opinion  that  the  Indians  are  from  the  ten  tribes,  and  adduces  the 
testimony  of  Captain  Cromwell,  who  died  lately  in  Boston,  that  he 
had  seen  many  of  them  at  the  Southward,  who  were  circumcised. 
He  states  that  a  Nipnet  Sachem  has  declared  for  Christianity,  and 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  MS.  Middlesex  and  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

$  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  pp.  23,  5,  8,  30. 


DANGER  FROM    LEVELLERS,  IT 

1650.] 

desires  a  preacher  among  hii  people.  lie  proposes  that  Indians 
who  settle  together  shall  be  governed,  in  their  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical concerns,  according  to  the  Scriptures.  While  on  this  sub- 
ject, he  applies  it  to  the  mother  country,  and  exclaims,  «  Oh  the 
blessed  day  in  England,  when  the  Word  of  God  shall  bu  their 
Magna  Charta  and  chief  Law  Book." 

In  his  appeal  for  the  cause  of  missions  here,  the  Rev.  John 
Downam  addresses  his  countrymen  in  England,  "  Come  forth,  ye 
masters  of  money  j  part  with  your  gold  to  promote  the  Gospel. 
Let  the  gift  of  God  in  temporal  things  make  way  for  the  Indian's 
receipt  of  Bpiritualls."  He  also  takes  the  ground  that  the  Indians 
of  New  England  are  of  Jewish  descent. 

This  year,  Edward  Winslow  publishes  the  following  work*  in 
Loudon  :  "  The  Danger  of  tolerating  Levellers  in  a  Civil  State, 
or  an  historical  narrative  of  the  dangerous,  pernicious  practices  and 
opinions,  wherewith  Samuel  Gorton  and  his  levelling  accomplices 
so  much  disturbed  and  molested  the  several  Plantations  of  New 
England.  (Parallel  to  the  positions  and  proceedings  of  the  present 
levellers  in  Old  England.)  " 

1650.  February  22.  The  first  Church  f  of  Boston  agree  that 
none  of  their  members,  or  any  recommended  or  dismissed  to  them, 
shall  "  goe  to  law  one  with  another,  without  the  consent  of  our 
brethren,"  the  committee,  "  but  they  shall  answer  for  it  unto  the 
Church,  as  an  offence  against  it."  On  the  28th,  the  records  of  the 
same  church  give  us  the  following  entry :  "  Our  brother,  James 
Penn,  wras  chosen  by  ye  church  to  be  a  messenger  to  goe  and 
distribute  the  Churches  contributions  to  ye  poore  church  of  Christ, 
yl  was  banished  from  Bermudas  for  the  Gospells  sake  to  Segotea. 
And  he  was  sent  out  to  sea  on  ye  13th  of  ye  3d  mo.,  and  ye  17th 
day  of  ye  4th  mo.,  we  arrived  at  Segotea,  where  I  found  the 
people  in  wants,  who,  when  I  had  given  the  Churches  letters,  and 
declared  the  end  of  my  coming,  they  thanked  God  and  ye  churches, 
and,  after  one  months  stay  with  them,  we  returned  backe,  and 
arrived  at  Boston  the  17th  of  the  6th  mo.,  and  soe  declared  to  ye 
church  ye  good  hand  of  God  vpon  vs  in  our  voyage,  which  was 
matter  of  praise  to  God."  Clarke,  in  his  life  of  Cotton,  J  informs 
us  that  the  Boston  Church  contributed  £200  on  this  occasion,  and 
other  Colonial  Churches,  £500. 

April  4.  Peter  Bulkley  writes  §  to  John  Cotton.  He  refers 
to  what  he  considered  an  excess  of  popular  freedom.  "  Shall  I 
tell  you  what  I  think  to  be  the  ground  of  all  this  insolency,  which 
discovers  itself  in  the  speech  of  men  ?  Truly  I  cannot  ascribe  it 
so  much  to  any  outward  thing,  as  to  the  putting  of  too  much 
liberty  and  power  into  the  hands  of  the  multitude,  which  they  are 

*  British  Museum  Library.  t  Boston  First  Ch.  MS.  Rec. 

%  Clarke's  Life  of  John  Cotton,  pp.  38,  9.      ,  $  Shattuck's  Concord,  p.  155. 
3 


18  NEW  EDITION  OF  THE    SCRIPTURES.      ' 

[Mass. 

too  weak  to  manage,  many  growing  conceited,  proud,  arrogant, 
self-sufficient,  as  wanting  nothing.  And  I  am  persuaded  that 
except  there  be  some  means  used  to  change  the  course  of  things  in 
this  point,  our  churches  will  grow  more  corrupt,  day  by  day  ;  and 
tumult  will  arise  hardly  to  be  stilled.  I  know  not  how  it  can  be 
avoided,  unless  we  make  the  doors  of  the  church  narrower.  But 
our  comfort  is,  God's  end  and  work  shall  go  forward." 

In  a  postscript,  he  says  :  "  I  could  wish  you  would  write  to  Mr. 
Goodwin  to  deal  with  those  that  are  in  place  of  authority  in  Eng- 
land, to  take  care  that  the  Scripture  may  be  printed  more  truly. 
I  intend  to  write  my  nephew,  St.  John,  about  it.  A  word  from 
yourself  to  Mr.  Goodwin,  who  is  a  man  of  so  much  respect  there, 
would  do  much  good." 

May  30.  As,  "  through  the  good  hand  of  God,  many  well 
devoted  persons  have  been  and  daily  are  moved  to  give  sundry 
gifts,  for  the  advancement  of  all  good  literature,  arts  and  sciences, 
in  Harvard  College,  and  to  all  other  necessary  provisions,  that  may 
conduce  to  the  education  of  the  English  and  Indian  youth  of  this 
country,  in  knowledge  and  godliness,"  etc.,  the  Legislature  appoint 
a  corporation  for  this  Institution,  consisting  of  a  President,  five 
Fellows,  and  a  Treasurer  or  Bursar.  The  Body  so  appointed  are 
empowered  to  have  a  common  seal  prepared  for  their  use. 

June  21.  Marmaduke  Matthews  has  leave  *  to  satisfy,  on  the 
28th,  at  William  Phillips'  house  in  Boston,  the  Elders  of  this  town, 
Charlestown,  Roxbury,  and  Dorchester,  with  such  magistrates  as 
choose  to  attend,  relative  to  alleged  errors,  which  he  had  advanced 
in  preaching  at  Hull. 

22.  Should  John  Prescott  not  make  it  appear  before  the  close 
of  next  session  that  Nashaway  is  a  fit  place  for  a  plantation,  so  that 
the  ministry  can  be  instituted  and  maintained  there,  its  inhabitants 
shall  be  recalled. 

As  several  of  the  churches  were  not  acquainted  with  an  order  of 
General  Court,  for  them  to  consider  the  Book  of  Discipline,  and 
return  their  thoughts  on  it,  so  that,  if  requisite,  it  might  be  cor- 
rected, the  Court  renew  f  such  an  order,  and  send  it  to  all  the 
churches  in  their  jurisdiction.  The  same  Body  desire  every  church 
to  procure  "  that  Book  published  by  the  Synod  at  London,  con- 
cerning the  Doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  and  consider  this  book  also  as 
soon  as  it  can  be  gotten."  As  a  specimen  of  conformity  with  the 
latter  request,  we  have  the  subsequent  action:}:  of  the  Dedham 
Church,  21st  of  September.  "  Brethren,  you  have  heard  and  con- 
sidered ye  Confession  of  Faith,  drawn  up  in  England,  and  approved 
by  our  Synode.  If  you  doe  consent  hereunto  in  all  matters  of 
faith  to  be  orthodox  and  sound  for  ye  substance  thereof,  and  doe 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  papers. 

+  MS.  Ch.  Rec. 


CHRISTIAN   EXILES.  19 

1650.] 

give  your  testimonie  thereto,  leaving  ye  matter  of  discipline  to  our 
owne  declaration  thereof,  testify  by  your  usual  sign.  To  this  there 
appeared  to  be  a  full  vote  of  ye  Church."  Another  is  from  John 
Fiske,  pastor  of  Wenham  Church,*  dated  October  9th,  to  the  Court. 
"  Touching  the  London  Confession,  they  unanimously  vote  as  to 
the  substance  of  it,  as  follows  :  Our  ready  acceptance  and  appro- 
bation and  good  liking  thereof,  according  to  what  we  are  able 
hitherto  to  judge,  and  that  the  main  and  marrow  of  the  matter 
therein  contained  should  pass  to  public  view,  as  our  testimony 
jointly  with  others,  to  what  we  are  or  do  judge  we  should  be  in  the 
practice  of,  and  do  hereby  wish  such  a  confession  might  pass  into 
public  from  the  bosom  of  our  churches,  under  the  countenance  and 
approbation  of  the  honoured  Court,  deprecating  any  other  impress 
of  authority  upon  any  of  the  imperfect  draughts  of  frail  man,  as 
should  cause  the  same  to  become,  as  any  compeer  to  the  perfect 
Canon  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  which  only  is  delivered  by  infallible 
inspiration  of  God,  and  a  snare  to  us  or  our  posterity  in  other 
times." 

The  Legislature  require  that  all  strangers  f  above  sixteen  years 
old,  coming  into  the  jurisdiction  in  any  vessel,  shall  be  brought,  by 
the  master  or  mate  with  whom  they  come,  before  the  Governor  or 
his  Deputy,  or  two  other  magistrates,  on  penalty  of  £20,  "  to  give 
an  account  of  their  occasions  and  business  in  the  country,  and  that 
the  law  for  entertaining  strangers  be  strictly  put  in  execution,  and 
this  order  to  be  posted  up  upon  the  several  meeting-houses'  doors 
or  posts,  and  other  public  places  in  the  port  towns."  This  was 
renewed  October  14th  of  the  next  year.  Its  application  was 
evidently  to  persons  of  religious  denominations,  not  desired  for 
inhabitants  here  by  the  authorities  as  well  as  to  others. 

July  17.  A  letter,  from  the  Christian  exiles  at  Segotea,  one  of 
the  Bahama  Islands,  and  subscribed  by  William  Sayle,J  Nathaniel 
White  and  Robert  Ridlye,  in  the  name  of  their  churches,  is  directed 
to  the  beloved  Elders  and  Brethren  of  the  Churches  in  the  Bay. 
"  We  have  received  your  precious  letters  and  plentiful  provisions, 
sent  unto  us  poor  exiles,  for  the  word  of  God  and  the  testimony 
of  Jesus,  by  the  hands  of  those  faithful,  pious  and  prudent  gentle- 
men, Mr.  James  Penn  and  Mr.  Abraham  Palmore,  the  messengers 
of  your  churches."  They  proceed,  at  large,  to  dwell  on  their 
obligations  and  the  blessedness  of  Christian  charity. 

August  21.  At  the  ordination  of  Jonathan  Mitchell  in  Cam- 
bridge, §  Cotton  urges  the  Consociation  of  the  Churches.  Such  a 
position  the  latter  continued  to  maintain. 

September  5. '  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  write  ||  to  William 

*  MS.  Ch.  Eec.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

X  According  to  Winslow's  Salamander,  Sayle  was  at  Boston,  1646. 
§  First  Princ.  of  N.  E. 
II  Commissioners  of  Union  Coll.    MS.  Rec.  Hazard,  ii.  147. 


20  PYNCHON   ON  REDEMPTION. 

[Mass. 

Steele,  President  of  the  Missionary  Society  in  England.  "  Wee 
doe  thankfully  acknowlidge  youer  great  labore  of  loue  to  raise  and 
settle  the  meanes  and  incouragement  that  the  Gospell  of  peace  may 
bee  further  published  to  these  miserable  Indians,  which  haue  long 
layne  in  darknes.  Wee  are  sory  that  a  work  soe  acceptable  to  God 
and  of  such  concernment  to  these  poore  men,  should  meet  with 
opposition.  Mr.  Elliott  hath  allreddy  spent  much  time  and  labore 
in  fitting  himselfe  and  preaching  to  the  Indians.  Mr.  Mahew  hath 
made  a  good  entrance  into  the  same  way  and  worke." 

They  address  Winslow,  in  London,  and  request  that,  with 
collections  made  for  the  mission,  supplies  may  be  sent  over. 

Sept.  7.  Of  his  labors  among  the  natives,  Thomas  May  hew,*  of  the 
Vineyard,  continues  his  narration.  "  There  are  thirty-nine  Indian 
men  of  this  meeting,"  and  more  women  "  looking  this  way,  though 
not  known  by  open  entrance  into  covenant  as  the  men,  but  are  now 
near  it.  These  in  general  have  the  knowledge  of  the  fundamental 
points  of  Religion.  The  way  I  am  now  in,  is  by  a  Lecture  every 
fortnight,  whereunto  men,  women  and  children  do  come.  I  pray 
with  them,  teach  them,  chatechise  their  children,  sing  a  psalm,  and 
all  in  their  own  language.  I  conferre  every  last  day  of  the  week 
with  Hiacoomes  about  his  subject  matter  of  preaching  to  the  Indians 
the  next  day,  when  I  furnish  him  with  what  spiritual  food  the 
Lord  is  pleased  to  afford  me  for  them." 

This  year  a  letter  of  Thomas  Parker,  to  his  sister,f  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Avery,  "  sometimes  of  Newbury,"  England,  is  printed  in 
London.  It  was  dated  Nov.  1648.  Cotton,  Wilson  and  Noyes 
had  written  to  her,  that  she  might  turn  to  her  former  faith.  Her 
brother  observes,  "  You  will  not  join  in  private  prayer  with  your 
own  husband,  but  onely  to  condescend  to  his  infirmities,  for  you 
say>  you  are  above  ordinances,  above  the  Word  and  Sacraments, 
yea,  above  the  blood  of  Christ  himself,  living  as  a  glorified  saint 
and  taught  immediately  by  the  Spirit."  She  seems  to  have  imbibed 
the  delusive  principles  of  George  Fox. 

October  16.  The  Legislature  {  express  their  judgment  of  a  work, 
composed  by  William  Pynchon  of  Springfield,  published  in  London 
and  brought  to  Boston  a  few  days  previously.  Its  title  is,  "  The 
Meritorious  Price  of  our  Redemption,  Justification,  etc.,  clearing  it 
from  some  common  errors  "  As  a  means  of  preventing  its  influ- 
ence here  and  freeing  themselves  from  the  suspicion  §  of  Christian 
brethren  in  England,  as  accessory  to  its  composure  and  publication, 
the  Court  have  the  subsequent  words  recorded.  We  "  protest  our 
innocency  as  being  concerned  in  it  and  declare  our  abhorrence  of 
many  opinions  therein."     From  this  action,  several  of  the  Deputies 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  p.  116,  8.  f  British  Museum  Coll. 

%  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.     British  Mus.  Coll.     Old  South  Ch.  Library. 

§  Mass.  MS.  Rec. 


HOOK    BURNT   PUBLICLY.  21 

165a] 

dissent.  They  are  William  Hawthorn,  Joseph  Hills,  Henry  Bar- 
tholomew, Richard  Walker,  Edward  Ilolyokeand  Stephen  Kinsley. 
The  Legislature  appoint  John  Norton  to  answer  the  speculations 
of  Pynchon,  and  order  the  book  to  be  burned,  next  day  alter  the 
Lecture,  in  Boston  market.  The  latter  injunction  was  literally 
complied  with  by  the  Marshal. 

Pynchon  handled  his  discussion  by  way  of  dialogue  between  a 
Divine  and  a  Tradesman,  in  two  parts.  In  the  preface,  he  states, 
that  various  shades  of  opinion  were  held  on  the  matters  which  he 
examined,  and  that  he  corresponded  with  Mr.  Ainsworth  about 
them,  before  his  decease. 

The  declaration  of  the  Court  is  ordered  by  them  to  receive  the 
Secretary's  signature,  be  sent  to  England  and  there  printed.  A 
requisition  is  passed,  that  Pynchon  be  summoned  to  appear  and 
answer  for  his  opinions  the  first  day  of  next  session. 

The  Legislature,  having  had  letters  on  the  subject  of  resigning 
the  jurisdiction  of  Shawomet,  from  Bradford  of  Plymouth  and 
Easton  of  Rhode  Island  and  William  Arnold,  agree  to,  have  it 
returned  to  the  former  Colony,  provided  they  will  accept  it  and 
protect  its  population. 

21.  Eliot,  in  his  correspondence  with  Whitfield,*  states,  that 
after  much  anxious  delay,  Natick  had  been  recently  selected  as  a 
Township  for  the  Christian  Indians,  and  some  preparations  made 
for  its  being  so  occupied.  He  describes  the  strong  opposition  of 
the  Sachems  through  the  country,  to  the  progress  of  Christianity 
among  their  subjects,  because  such  reformation  weakens  their 
tyranny  in  the  collection  of  tribute. 

December  23.  Nathaniel  Mather,f  in  London,  in  a  letter  to  John 
Rogers,  at  Ipswich,  says:  "'Tis  incredible  what  an  advantage  to 
preferment  it  is  to  have  been  a  New  England  man."  Mr.  Mather 
had  recently  arrived  at  that  metropolis,  as  his  brother  Samuel  did 
about  the  same  time.  The  former  died  in  London,  July  26,  1697, 
aged  67  years  ;  and  the  latter  died  in  Dublin,  October  29,  1671. 
They  possessed  varied  and  distinguished  talents,  thoroughly  cul- 
tivated with  classical  and  sacred  erudition,  and,  far  more  than  these, 
manifested  renewed  hearts,  set  on  doing  the  will  of  their  Saviour, 
and  lives,  abounding  with  the  fruits  meet  for  heralds  of  salvation. 

Here  we  may  set  up  a  passing  memorial  as  to  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  our  churches.  At  no  time  since  the  settlement  of  New 
England  had  these  institutions  given  surer  and  fuller  pledges  of 
their  attachment  to  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  the  Gospel.  They 
had  recently  closed  their  Synod,  wherein  they  adopted  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith,  and  their  Platform  of  Congregational 
Government.     At  no  previous  date  had  they  been  so  thoroughly 

*  Light  Appearing.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  p.  139,  40. 
f  Mather  papers  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 


22  EMIGRATION  TO  IRELAND. 

[Mass. 

agreed,  so  well  girded  and  prepared  to  carry  out  the  plan  of 
their  emigration,  even  the  spread  of  Christian  morals  and  piety. 
They  were  just  entering,  with  zealous  expectation,  on  the  labor 
and  fruition  of  missions  among  the  adjacent  Indians,  for  which 
they  had  long  prayed  and  devised.  Thus  fitted  for  a  holy  war- 
fare, they  prayed  that  their  High  Captain  would  lead  them  to 
conquest. 

Among  the  events  in  the  mother  country,  which  had  been  fol- 
lowed with  the  anxious  attention  of  our  fathers,  is  the  continued 
spread  of  a  denomination  under  the  zealous  labors  of  George  Fox, 
who  begin  to  be  called  Quakers,  as  a  mark  of  reproach. 

This  year,  Mr.  Thorowgood  publishes  a  treatise  in  England, 
entitled  "  Jews  in  America,  or  probabilities  that  the  Americans 
are  of  that  race."  Sewall  states  that  Eliot,  the  missionary,  believed 
that  the  37th  chapter  of  Ezekiel  was  principally  applicable  to  the 
Indians,  as  such  Jews,  and  many  other  parts  of  Scripture ;  that  he 
"  was  wont  to  say  the  New  English  churches  are  a  preface  to  the 
New  Heavens." 

December  31.  On  a  proposition  made  by  Cromwell,  for  the 
colonists  here  to  settle  in  Ireland,  Rev.  Messrs.  Peter  Bulkley, 
Samuel  Whiting,  John  Knowles,  and  Thomas  Cobbett,  Messrs. 
Daniel  Denison  and  John  Tuttle,  write  a  reply  *  to  him.  They 
express  great  satisfaction  with  his  victories  over  the  Papists  of  that 
kingdom.  They  say,  "  Yea,  you  are  studying  which  way  to  lift  up 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  there,  where  it  hath  been  most  vilely 
trampled  upon,  and  where  you  are  called  to  chief  place  of  rule, 
there  to  take  effectual  care  that  Jesus  Christ  alone  may  reign,  and 
that  desolate  Ireland,  which  hath  been  drenched  and  steeped  in 
blood,  may  be  moistened  and  soaked  with  waters  of  the  sanctuary, 
for  which  end  your  Honour  is  pleased  to  cast  your  eyes,  as  upon 
godly  people  and  ministers  in  England,  so  upon  such  like  in 
America  also,  whose  hearts  the  Lord  may  move  to  so  blessed  a 
work."  They  thank  him  for  such  an  invitation,  and  his  offers  of 
encouragement  to  them  for  carrying  it  into  effect.  They  propose, 
on  another  paper,  the  subsequent  conditions,  on  which  they  feel 
inclined  to  undertake  the  enterprise.  That  they  may  enjoy  the 
Congregationalism  there  which  they  do  here ;  that  their  prominent 
men  may  have  suitable  houses  and  lands  from  Parliament ;  that 
territory  may  be  set  apart  for  a  free  school  and  college  ;  that  they 
may  choose  their  military  governor,  or  nominate  him  ;  that,  as  they 
live  in  a  pure  air,  they  may  have  a  healthy  situation ;  that  help  may 
be  granted  by  England  to  remove  poor  emigrants ;  that,  "  for  some 
years,"  they  may  be  freed  from  public  charges  ;  that  no  Irish  may 
live  among  them,  except  such  as  they  like.     In  accordance  with 

*  Ellis's  Letters,  2  s.  vol.  iii.  p.  361-4.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  4,  vol.  ii.  p. 
115-7. 


OVERTHROW   OF  ANTICHRIST. 

1647-6.] 

the  preceding,  Hutchinson  remarked,  that  "  Cromwell  had  been 

very  desirous  of  drawing  off  the  New  Englanders  to  people  [re- 

land  after  his  successes  there."  It  does  not  appear  that  any  of  them 
complied  with  the  Protector's  proposal. 

John  Knowles  soon  leaves  Watertown*  for  his  native  country. 
Here  he  was  minister  in  the  cathedral  of  Bristol,  "  in  great  credit 
and  service."  In  1658,  he  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  sold  land  which 
they  owned  in  Lynn.  On  the  restoration,  he  lost  his  place,  and, 
in  1662,  was  silenced.  He  subsequently  preached  in  London,  as 
he  found  opportunity.  When  his  friends  advised  him  to  desist, 
lest  he  should  be  imprisoned,  he  replied :  "  In  truth,  I  had  rather 
be  in  jail,  where  I  might  have  a  number  of  souls  to  whom  I  might 
preach  the  truths  of  my  blessed  Master,  than  live  idle  in  my  own 
house,  without  any  such  opportunities."  During  the  royal  indul- 
gence to  dissenters,  he  ministered  statedly  to  a  congregation  at  St. 
Catharine's.  While  the  plague  raged  in  London,  1665,  he  was 
ready  to  every  good  work.  In  1681,  a  document  mentions  him  as 
having  renewed  his  pastorate  in  Bristol.  He  was  highly  esteemed 
for  his  talents,  learning,  and  piety.  He  died  November  10,  1685, 
after  a  long  life,  conscientiously  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  Re- 
deemer. 

Johnson,!  in  speaking  of  great  mortality,  which  had  prevailed 
this  year,  especially  among  children,  supposed  that  it  was  a  provi- 
dential dispensation  to  stir  up  the  Colonists  "  to  prepare  for  the 
great  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist  and 
calling  of  the  Jews,  which,  in  all  likelihood,  *is  very  suddenly  to 
be  performed."  His  impression  was  a  common  one  here  and  in 
England,  with  those  whose  sympathies  accorded  with  the  purpose 
of  our  settlements. 


PLYMOUTH. 


1647-8.  March  16.  Fast  at  Barnstable,t  "  principally  for  Old 
England,  requested  by  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  and  the  Parliament,  in 
regard  of  many  fears  of  the  Presbyterians,  with  many  others,  to 
raise  up  new  wars  in  the  land,  and,  notwithstanding  all  their 
troubles,  much  pride  and  excess  abounding,  with  an  unframed 
spirit  to  humble  themselves  by  praying  and  seeking  unto  God." 

1648.  August.  In  the  model  of  church  discipline  §  presented  to 
the  Synod  assembled  at  Boston,  by  Ralph  Partridge,  was  the  sub- 

*  Mather's  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  537,  8.     Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  605. 

f  Wonder  Working  Prov.  p.  205,  6. 

X  Barnstable  Ch.  Rec.     N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.  vol.  x.  p.  38. 

§  First  Principles  of  New  England. 


24  BRADFORD'S  DIALOGUE. 

[Pltm. 

sequent  passage  :  "  The  persons  unto  whom  the  sacrament  of  bap- 
tism is  dispensed  (and,  as  we  conceive,  ought  to  be)  are  such  as, 
being  of  years,  and  converted  from  their  sins  to  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  do  join  in  communion  and  fellowship  with  a  particular  visi- 
ble church,  as  also  the  children  of  such  parents,  as  having  laid  hold 
of  the  covenant  of  grace,  (in  the  judgment  of  charity,)  are  in  a 
visible  covenant  with  his  church,  and  all  their  seed  after  them,  that 
cast  not  off  the  covenant  of  God  by  some  scandalous  and  obstinate 
going  on  in  sin."  Though  this  subject  was  generally  discussed 
through  our  Colonies,  yet  it  continued  long  to  engage  the  public 
attention. 

This  year,  Governor  Bradford  wrote  his  dialogue  *  between  young 
and  ancient  men.  Several  questions,  put  by  the  former,  and  an- 
swers to  them  by  the  latter,  will  be  noticed.  What  is  meant  by 
the  assertion,  that  the  church  of  England  is  no  true  church  ?  Not 
that  it  has  no  pious  members ;  not  that  it  is  no  part  of  the  catholic 
church ;  not  that  no  communion  should  be  had  with  any  parts  of 
its  worship ;  but  that  its  hierarchal  form  of  government  is  contrary 
to  the  Gospel.  What  is  "  the  difference  between  the  rigid  Brown- 
ists  and  Separatists,  and  others  ?  The  name  Brownists  is  but  a 
nickname,  as  Puritan  and  Huguenot."  Our  ministers,  "  therefore, 
do  not  amiss  to  decline  the  odium  of  it  in  what  they  may."  The 
author,  by  his  reference  to  Cotton,  would  be  understood  to  mean, 
that  while  the  Brownists  renounced  all  communion  with  the  na- 
tional churches,  as  no  churches,  the  Separatists  or  Puritans  with- 
drew from  what  they  counted  corruptions  in  such  churches,  though 
holding  them  in  some  respects  as  true  churches. 

Our  ministers  differ  about  Synods.  Robinson  approved  of  them, 
"  so  they  infringe  no  order  of  Christ,  or  liberty  of  the  brethren, 
not  differing  herein  from  Mr.  Davenport  and  the  principal  of  our 
ministers.  They  differ  about  the  exercise  of  prophecy,  that  is,  that 
men  out  of  office,  having  gifts,  may  upon  occasion  edify  the  church 
publicly,  and  apply  the  Scriptures."  This  is  an  ancient  Scrip- 
tural practice,  and  may  well  be  continued.  Robert  Baylie,  in  his 
book  against  Puritanism,  says  it  came  from  Leyden  to  New  Eng- 
land, spread  here,  and  "by  eminent  hands  from  thence  into  Old 
England.  The  most  who  settled  in  the  land  did  agree  to  model 
themselves  after  Mr.  Robinson's  pattern.  We  agree  with  Mr. 
Cotton,  there  was  no  agreement  by  any  solemn  or  common  consulta- 
tion ;  but  that  it  is  true  they  did,  as  if  they  agreed,  by  the  same 
spirit  of  truth  and  unity,  set  up,  by  the  help  of  Christ,  the  same 
model  of  churches,  one  like  to  another ;  and  if  they  of  Plymouth 
have  helped  any  of  the  first-comers  in  their  theory,  by  hearing  and 
discerning  their  practices,  therein  the  Scripture  is  fulfilled,  that  the 

*  Bradford's  MSS.  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 


CHURCH   AT  AMSTERDAM.  85 

1649.] 

kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and 
hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  until  all  was  leavened." 

Was  Brown  the  first  inventor  of  Independency?  "No.  Prophets, 
Apostles,  and  Evangelists  have,  in  their  authentic  writings,  laid 
down  the  ground  thereof  .Many  of  the  martyrs,  both  former  and 
latter,  have  maintained  it,  as  is  to  be  seen  in  the  acts  and  monu- 
ments of  the  Church." 

What  was  the  church  at  Amsterdam  ?  Before  their  division, 
they  had  300  communicants,  Pastor  and  Teacher,  four  grave,  Rul- 
ing Elders,  and  three  able  Deacons.  They  had  "  one  ancient 
widow  for  a  Deaconess,  who  did  them  service  many  years,  though 
she  was  sixty  years  of  age  when  she  was  chosen.  She  honored  her 
place,  and  was  an  ornament  to  the  congregation.  She  usually  sat 
in  a  convenient  place  in  the  congregation,  with  a  little  birchen  rod 
in  her  hand,  and  kept  little  children  in  great  awe  from  disturbing 
the  congregation.  She  did  frequently  visit  the  sick  and  weak, 
especially  women,  and,  as  there  was  need,  called  out  maids  and 
young  women  to  watch  and  do  them  other  helps,  as  their  necessity 
did  require,  and,  if  they  were  poor,  she  would  gather  relief  for 
them  of  those  that  were  able,  or  acquaint  the  Deacons,  and  she  was 
obeyed  as  a  mother  in  Israel,  and  an  officer  of  Christ." 

1649.  June  6.  A  person  is  presented*  for  profaning  the  Lord's 
day  by  attending  on  tar-pits.  For  this  he  was  set  in  the  stocks. 
Another  is  admonished  for  carrying  a  barrel  to  these  pits  on  the 
same  day. 

Samuel  Newman,  minister  of  Rehoboth,  is  arraigned  for  deliver- 
ing such  things  in  public  preaching,  as  imply  defamation  of  the 
magistrates.  An  individual  of  his  sterling  reputation  must  have 
supposed  that  he  had  sufficient  cause  so  to  speak.  It  is  probable 
that  he  represented  them  as  not  sufficiently  vigilant  to  hinder  the 
enlargement  of  the  Baptists  in  that  town. 

October.  A  majority  of  the  Legislature  are  so  affected  by  the 
appearance  of  public  affairs  in  England,  that  they  wish  to  dissolve 
the  Court.  But  their  proposal  for  this  is  prevented  by  the  Gov- 
ernor's advice. 

29.  Obadiah  Holmes  complains  of  Samuel  Newman  for  slander. 
The  latter  had  reported,  that,  according  to  the  assertion  of  several 
men,  Holmes  had  taken  a  false  oath.  Holmes  proved  to  the  Court 
that  the  information  so  given  was  incorrect,  which  Newman,  in  view 
of  the  testimony,  allowed  ;  but  he  left  a  paper  with  the  Legislature, 
certified  by  his  informants,  that  he  had  related  no  more  than  they 
told  him. 

Mr.  Holmes  was  granted  land  at  Salem,  1639,  and  admitted  to 
the  church  there,  March  24,  1640.  The  next  March  30,  he  was 
presented  "  for  reproachfully  speaking  against  the   ordinance   of 

*  MS.  Plymouth  Col.  Rec. 


26  BAPTIST   CONTROVERSY. 

[Pltm. 

God."  He  came  to  dwell  at  Rehoboth  about  1646.  He  subse- 
quently united  with  others,  and  formed  a  Baptist  Society  in  this 
place. 

November  15.  A  day  of  humiliation  *  is  kept  by  the  Barnstable 
Church,  "  principally  for  Old  England,  and  also  for  our  own  par- 
ticulars, God's  hand  being  on  us,"  many  of  us  being  visited  with 
diseases,  and  M  many  children  in  the  Bay  dying  by  the  chin  cough" 
and  small  pox. 

As  stated  by  Baylies,f  John  Mayo  this  year  relinquishes  his 
ministry  at  Eastham,  and  goes  to  Boston.  Here  a  new  society 
was  lately  formed,  of  which  the  latter  afterwards  became  pastor. 

1650.  June  5.  Edward  Hunt  is  fined  J  2/.  for  shooting  at 
deer  on  the  Lord's  day. 

Obadiah  Holmes  and  Joseph  Torrey,  Baptists,  are  before  the 
General  Court,  and  bound  for  each  other,  to  appear  at  the  Octo- 
ber session.  So  arraigned,  as  Holmes  relates,  they  meet  four  peti- 
tions, adverse  to  their  course  at  Rehoboth.  One  of  these  documents 
was  from  their  own  Town,  with  thirty-five  signatures,  another  from 
the  Taunton  Church,  a  third  from  all  the  Ministers  of  the  Colony, 
except  two,  and  a  fourth  from  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 

Xeal  remarks,^  "The  separation  of  the  Anabaptists  from  the 
churches  of  the  country,  began  last  year  (1650)  at  Rehoboth,  in 
Plymouth  Patent,  after  this  manner.  Mr.  Obadiah  Holmes  and 
seven  or  eight  more,  withdrew  from  Mr.  Newman's  church."  He 
mistakes  as  to  the  time  and  place  of  the  first  appearance  of  this 
denomination  in  New  England.  They  were  early  at  Providence 
under  Williams ;  in  other  Towns  before  the  date,  at  which  they 
were  noticed  by  Neal  at  Rehoboth.  Massachusetts  issued  a  law 
against  them  in  164-4. 

Chiefly  in  view  of  this  controversy,  the  Legislature,  on  the  10th, 
pass  the  following  orders. 

"  Forasmuch  as  there  are  risen  up  amongst  us  many  scandalus 
practices,  which  are  likely  to  prove  destructiue  to  our  churches  and 
common  peace;  that  whosoever  shall  hereafter  set  up  any  churches 
or  publicke  meetings  diverse  from  those  allreddy  set  up  and  approued, 
without  the  consent  and  approbacon  of  the  government,  or  shall 
continew  any  otherwise  set  up  without  consent  as  aforesaid,  shalbe 
suspended  from  having  any  voyce  in  towne  meetings  and  presented 
to  the  next  Generall  Court  to  receive  such  punishment  as  the  Court 
shall  think  meet  to  inflict.  Whosoever  shall  villifie  by  opprobrious 
tearmes  or  speeches  any  church  or  minestry  or  ordinance,  being 
heerof  lawfully  convicted  shall  forfeite  and  pay  to  the  use  of  the 
Colonie  10/.  for  eveiy  default. — Whosoever  shall  prophane  the 
Lord's  day  by  doeing  any  servill  worke  or  any  such  like  abusses 
shall  forfeite  for  euery  such  default  10/.  or  be  whipte." 

*  Gen.  Reg.  vol.  x.  p.  38.  f  Hist,  of  Plymouth  Col.  vol.  ii.  p.  221. 

%  MS.  Plymouth  Col.  Rec.         §  "Seal's  Hist.*  of  New  England,  vol.  i.  p.  298. 


PRESENTMENT  OF   BAPTIST&  ft 

1649.] 

June  7.  With  reference  to  Gortonists,  Commissioners  having 
been  appointed  by  Massachusetts  to  treat  with  similar  officers  of 
Plymouth,  as  to  the  "title  of  land  called  Shawwamett  and  Pautuxit 
and  protection  of  the  English  and  Indians  there  according  to  an 
engagement  repairing  all  private  injuries  according  to  law  and  jus- 
tice," the  General  Court  here  give  up  all  their  claim  to  such  places 
to  the  Bay  authorities. 

October  2.  John  Hazell,  Edward  Smith  and  wife,  Obadiah 
Holmes,  Joseph  Torrey  and  wife,  and  the  wife  of  James  Mann, 
William  Deuell  and  wife,  Baptists,  of  Rehoboth,  are  presented* 
for  continuing  to  meet  from  house  to  house,  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  Court  "  charged  f  them  to  desist  from  their  separation,  and 
neither  to  ordain  officers,  nor  to  baptize,  nor  to  break  bread  togeth- 
er, nor  to  meet  on  the  first  days  of  the  week.  But  Holmes  and 
his  friends  woidd  make  no  promise,  but  insisted  upon  the  convic- 
tion of  their  own  consciences,  and  that  it  was  better  to  obey  God 
than  man." 

Hazell  died  soon  after  Sept.  5,  1651,  near  Boston.  The  rest  of 
them,  subsequent  to  this  date,  moved  to  Newport,  R.  L,  where 
Smith,  Torrey,  Mann  and  Deuell  were  admitted,  May  IT,  1653,  as 
freemen. 

Note.  Morton  relates,  as  a  subject  for  moral  improvement,  that  cater- 
pillars abounded,  this  year,  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  where  they  stripped 
the  leaves  from  peas  and  trees. — Memorial,  168,  9. 


MAINE. 


1648.  February.  The  king  of  France  J  grants  a  commission  to 
D'Aulney.  In  it  he  observes,  that  he  is  assured  of  D'Aulney's 
exertions  for  "  the  conversion  of  the  savages,  having  built  a  sem- 
inary under  the  direction  of  a  good  number  of  Capuchin  Friars, 
for  the  instruction  of  said  savages'  children,  and  driving  the  foreign 
Protestants  out  of  the  Pentagoet  Fort."  Louis,  also,  commends 
him  for  preserving  his  territory,  to  the  Kennebeck,  against  such 
Protestants.  He  instructs  him  to  have  all  the  people,  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  Virginias,  taught  the  religion  of  France.  The 
spirit  of  this  order,  so  far  as  the  Jesuit  missionaries  from  this  king- 
dom had  power  and  opportunity,  with  savages,  was  zealously  ful- 
filled. 

1649.  July.  As  the  heirs  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  are  unable 
to  sustain  their  claims  to  Maine,  because  royalty  was  crushed,  for  a 
time,  in  England,  the  inhabitants  of  his  jurisdiction  form  them- 
selves §   into    a  social    compact.      The    convention  of  Gorgeana, 

*  MS.  Plymouth  Col.  Rec.  f  Xeal's  Hist,  of  N.  Eng,  vol.  i.  p.  298,  9. 

X  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.      §  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  1,  vol.  i.  p.  102,  3. 


28  D'AULNEY'S  DEATH. 

[Maine, 

Wells,  Kittery,  and  probably  of  those  on  part  of  the  Isle  of  Shoals, 
for  such  a  purpose,  is  the  first  of  these  places. 

Among  several  presentments  to  their  Court,  is  one  against  Adam 
Goodwine,  for  denying  the  morality  of  the  fourth  commandment ; 
and  another  against  Kittery,  for  not  having  their  children  and  youth 
taught  the  catechism,  and  educated  according  to  law. 

1650.  August.  Sir  Alexander  Rigby,  proprietor  of  Lygonia, 
dies  *  in  England,  esteemed  and  lamented.  Among  those  compos- 
ing the  Court  of  Assistants  in  this  Province,  is  Robert  Jordan.  He 
had  been  married  to  a  daughter  of  John  Winter,  and  continued  to 
be  a  prominent  partaker  in  the  events  of  his  adopted  country. 

About  the  close  of  this  year,  D'Aulney,  the  strenuous  advocate 
and  promoter  of  Romanism  among  the  Indians  at  Penobscot,  and 
other  parts  of  Nova  Scotia,  as  then  bounded,  pays  the  last  debt  of 
nature.  He  leaves  his  territory  to  the  strange  vicissitude  f  of  soon 
having  La  Tour,  his  vanquished  and  disappointed  rival,  for  its 
governor  and  the  husband  of  his  widow. 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

1648.  March.  Ezekiel  and  Nathaniel  Rogers,  and  John  Nor- 
ton, are  to  visit  Exeter  and  endeavor  to  settle  J  the  religious  diffi- 
culties there. 

October  18.  The  Bay  authorities,  being  informed  that  much 
trouble  existed  at  Dover,  through  the  profession  of  "  anabaptistry  " 
by  Edward  Starbuck,  they  appoint  Thomas  Wiggin  and  George 
Smith  to  try  his  case. 

16.  Governor  Winthrop  writes  §  to  his  son  John  at  New  Lon- 
don, that  Samuel  Dudley  thought  of  leaving  Exeter,  and  would 
come  and  preach  at  the  former  town,  if  they  would  give  him  suit- 
able encouragement. 

The  next  year,  Mr.  Dudley  is  appointed,  with  two  others,  to 
keep  Courts  in  Norfolk  County,  and  to  give  oath  to  commissioners 
for  small  causes  in  the  towns  of  the  same  shire.  He  was  son  of 
Governor  Dudley,  born  in  England  1606,  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Governor  Winthrop,  and  had  a  large  family. 

1649.  April  2.  In  a  contract  ||  of  Hampton  with  John  Legat, 
to  instruct  their  school,  is  the  ensuing  clause  :  "  And  allso  to  teach 
and  instruct  them  once  in  a  week,  or  more,  in  some  orthodox 
catechise  provided  for  them  by  their  parents  and  masters." 

*  Sullivan's  Maine,  p.  318.     "Williamson's  Maine,  vol.  i.  p.  328. 
f  MS.  Council  Rec.  of  Mass.     Charlevoix  Nouv.  France,  vol.  i.  p.  412. 
X  Mass.  Gen.  Court  MS.  Papers.  §  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.  Appendix,  p.  356. 

II  Dow's  Hist.  Address. 


ARRIVAL  OF  GORTON.  £• 

1648.] 

1650.  Robert  Tufton,  heir  to  the  territory  which  was  owned  by 
his  uncle  Mason,  and  whose  surname  he  adopted,  becomes  of  age. 
This  circumstance  opened  expectations  of  immediate  action,  as  to 
such  claims,  which  had  long  slept. 

October.  About  this  time,  Mr.  Reyner,*  of  Dover,  gives  the 
views  of  his  Church  to  the  Legislature  on  the  Platform  of  Ecclesi- 
astical Order,  as  he  was  requested. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

1648.  March.  Complaints  are  made  to  the  Bay  Legislature,! 
that  Gortonists  had  destroyed  the  corn,  planted  last  year  by  the 
Indians  at  Shawomet,  and  wronged  the  English  there.  Order  is 
given,  that  three  messengers  proceed  to  require  satisfaction  of  such 
aggressors,  and  command  them  to  depart.  If  the  messengers  do 
not  succeed,  they  are  to  visit  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  and 
inform  the  authorities  there,  and  inquire  whether  they  mean  to 
countenance  such  intruders. 

May  13.  Samuel  Gorton  having  arrived  at  Boston  from  England, 
the  Legislature,  by  a  majority  of  one,  consent {  that  he,  "now 
a  shipboard,  upon  request  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  hath  one  full 
week,  after  the  date  hereof,  allowed  him  for  the  transportation  of 
himself  and  goods  through  our  jurisdiction  to  the  place  of  his 
dwelling,  he  demeaning  himself  inoffensively  according  to  the 
contents  of  the  said  Earl's  letter,  and  that  the  marshal  or  some  other 
be  appointed  to  show  him  a  copy  of  this  order,  or  to  fix  it  to  the 
main-mast  of  the  ship,  in  which  he  is." 

16.  Rufus  Barton  and  Capt.  Clark,  both  friends  of  Gorton,  are 
deputed  §  by  the  General  Court,  held  at  Providence,  to  visit  Boston 
and  endeavor  to  settle  the  Shawomet  difficulties.  They  came  on 
their  mission  to  Dedham,  but  learning  there  that  the  Bay  authori- 
ties had  adjourned,  Barton  addressed  a  note  to  the  Governor  on 
the  subject.  A  reason  for  these  visits  was,  evidently,  that  the 
Gortonists  perceived  that  their  cause,  as  developed  in  London, 
was  losing  its  credibility. 

25.  William  Coddington,  at  Newport,  writes  to  Winthrop.  He 
states,  that  Alexander  Partridge,  the  bearer,  William  Balstone  and 
"  some  others  of  this  island,  are  in  disgracement  with  the  people  in 
Providence,  Warwick  and  Gorton's  adherents  on  the  island,  for 
that  we  will  not  enterposse  or  meedle  at  all  in  their  quarrills  with 
the  Massachusetts  and  the  rest  of  the  Colonies  ;  and  doe  much  feare 

*  The  communication,  with  others  of  the  kind,  in  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  MS.  Coll. 
f  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.  p.  317.  {  Mass.  Gen.  Court  MS.  Papers. 

I  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.  p.  323.     R.  I.  Coll.  Rec. 


30  ADMISSION  TO   THE  UNION. 

[R.  Island, 
that  Gorton  will  be  a  thome  in  their  and  our  sides,  if  the  Lord  pre- 
vent not." 

August  31.  Roger  Williams,  in  view  of  contentions  prevailing, 
proposes  *  means  of  reconciliation.  Passages  from  his  pen,  on  this 
subject,  follow  :  "  Since,  dear  friends,  it  is  an  honor  for  men  to 
cease  from  strife ;  since  the  life  of  love  is  sweet,  and  union  is  as 
strong  as  sweet ;  and  since  you  have  been  lately  pleased  to  call  me 
to  some  public  service,  and  my  soul  hath  been  long  musing  how 
I  might  bring  water  to  quench,  and  not  oil  or  fuel  to  the  flame,  I 
am  now  humbly  bold  to  beseech  you  to  be  willing  to  be  pacinable. 
The  Colony  now  looks  with  the  torn  face  of  two  parties,  and  that 
the  greater  number  of  Portsmouth,  with  other  loving  friends' 
adhering  to  them,  appear  as  one  grieved  party;  the  other  three 
towns,  or  greater  part  of  them,  appear  to  be  another."  He  then 
recommends  mutual  referees.  This  advice  was  complied  with,  and 
the  result  was  favorable. 

September  7.  William  Coddington  and  Alexander  Partridge 
petition  f  the  Commissioners  of  the  Confederation,  in  behalf  of  a 
majority  of  Rhode  Island,  that  they  may  be  received  into  the  Union 
and  thus  be  entitled  to  its  protection.  The  Commissioners  answer 
the  next  day,  that  they  find  the  Island  "  full  of  confusion  and  dan- 
ger and  no  security  from  the  Indians."  They  state,  that  according 
to  the  Patent  of  New  Plymouth,  the  Island  falls  within  the  line  of 
that  Colony,  and  if  a  major  part  of  the  Islanders  will  acknowledge 
themselves  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Plymouth,  they  can  be 
received  as  members  of  the  Confederation  and  be  entitled  to  all  its 
privileges.     It  is  well  known,  that  this  proposal  was  not  accepted. 

23.  In  a  communication  {  from  Roger  Williams  to  John  Win- 
throp,  Jr.,  is  the  following  extract :  "Our  neighbor  Mr.  Codding- 
ton and  Capt.  Partridge  ten  dayes  since,  returned  from  Plymouth 
with  propositions  from  Rode  Island  to  subject  to  Plymouth,  to 
which  himselfe  and  Portsmouth  incline,  our  other  three  townes 
decline  and  Mr.  Holden  and  Mr.  Warner  of  Warwick  came  from 
thence  allso,  and  they  say  gave  satisfaction  why  they  dare  not  (the 
other  3  Townes)  depart  from  the  Charter.  In  this  division  of  our 
neighbours,  I  have  kept  myself  uningaged  and  presented  motions 
of  pacification,  amongst  which  I  was  bold  to  propose  a  reference  to 
your  worthy  selfe  and  some  other  friend  to  be  chosen.  Our  Towne 
yields  to  it." 

1649.  January.  Roger  Williams  communicates  §  histhoughts  to 
John  Winthrop,  Jr.  "  Oure  poor  Colonie  is  in  civill  dissention. 
Their  last  meetings,  at  which  I  have  not  bene,  have  fallen  into 
factions.     Mr.  Cottington  and  Capt.  Partridge,  etc.,  the  heads  of 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  204,  5.     Knowles's  Roger  Williams,  p.  214,  5. 
f  Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  99.     Com.  MS.  Bee. 
I  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  CoU.  s.  3,  vol.  ix.  p.  270,  1. 
§  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  ix.  p.  279. 


CODDINGTON   GONE  TO    ENGLAND.  81 

1650.] 

the  one,  and  Capt  Clarke,  Mr.   Eaaton,  etc.,  the  heads  of  (he  other 
faction.    I  receave  letters  from  both,  inviting  me,  etc.,  but  I  resolve, 

if  the  Lord  please,  not  to  ingage,  unles  with  great  hopes  of  peace 
making.'1 

!>.)(J.  He  writes  to  the  same.  "Mr.  Coddington  went  to  the  Bay 
with  his  daughter  for  England,  and  left  Capt.  Partridge  in  trust 
with  all,  the  last  weeke,  at  New  Tort." 

May  8.  The  Bay  authorities,  being  in  session,decline*  to  modify 
the  banishment  of  Randal  llolden,  as  he  had  requested,  so  that  he 
may  visit  their  jurisdiction  on  business.  They  consent  no  further, 
than  that  he  may  appear  there  by  an  attorney.  They  receive  a 
communication  from  John  Smith  in  behalf  of  Warwick,  excusing 
its  people  from  the  charge  of  aggression,  laid  to  them  by  the 
Indians. 

July  31.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  reply  f  to  the  Gor- 
tonists.  "  We  received  a  letter  from  you  on  the  26th,  wherein 
you  propound  several  inquiries  offered  to  you  by  the  Indians,  and 
desire  to  be  informed  whether  we  have  not  received  an  injunction 
from  the  Parliament  in  England  to  act  in  your  defence.  No  such 
thing  hath  been  commanded  thence  to  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Colonies  on  your  behalf,  nor  by  you  can  rationalle  be  expected  from 
us  in  the  state  where  in  you  now  stand.  But  we  shall  be  ready  to 
attend  their  late  direction  as  any  opportunity  is  presented  to  find 
under  what  Colony  your  plantation  (Warwick)  doth  fall  and  then  in 
all  future  proceedings  both  with  the  English  and  Indians  endeavor 
to  act  according  to  rules  of  truth  and  righteousness." 

August  8.  A  question  having  arisen,  whether  Massachusetts 
should  continue  their  jurisdiction  over  Warwick,  as  the  Commission- 
ers of  the  Confederation  agreed  in  1643,  or  Plymouth  should  take 
back  the  place  under  their  authority,  as  within  the  bounds  of  their 
Patent,  the  Commissioners  of  New  Haven  and  Connecticut  do  not 
feel  authorized  to  determine  it,  but  advise,+  that  the  parties  make 
a  friendly  settlement  "  about  the  charges  expended,  and  how 
Pumham  and  Sacononoco  with  their  people  may  be  governed  and 
protected." 

1650.  May  23.  The  Bay  Legislature  §  allow  Jane  Hawkins, 
through  the  petition  of  her  sons,  to  spend  a  month  in  their  juris- 
diction during  the  summer,  and,  if  she  satisfy  the  queries  of  the 
Assistants,  to  live  there  permanently. 

30.  They  send  notice  to  some  inhabitants  of  the  Island,  War- 
wick, Providence  and  others,  and  caution  them  against  inflicting 
any  further  injuries  on  William  Arnold  and  associates,  Pumham 
and  Sacononoco,  'Sagamores.  They  also  inform  them,  that  they 
shall  have  a  speedy  hearing  of  their  complaints. 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  135. 

X  Com.  MS.  Rec.     Hazard's  Coll.  p.  143,  4.  §  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


32  JURISDICTION  OF  WARWICK. 

[R.  Island, 

June  1.  They  appoint  commissioners  to  treat  with  Plymouth 
about  the  title  to  Shawomet  and  Patuxet,  as  occupied  by  those 
whom  they  so  shield  with  their  protection. 

7.  Plymouth  relinquish  to  Massachusetts  their  right  to  these 
two  places,  which  as  Governor  Bradford  and  six  other  principal 
men,  assert  "were  the  just  rights"  of  the  said  Sagamores,  when 
they  subjected  themselves  to  the  latter  Colony,  and,  by  the  said 
Englishmen,  when  they  came  under  the  same  jurisdiction.  They 
except  such  lots  as  may  belong  to  any  individual  of  Providence. 

20.  Shawomet  and  Patuxet  are  annexed  by  Massachusetts  to 
their  County  of  Suffolk.  Thus  the  English  and  Indians,  on  these 
sections  of  territory,  who  had  been  again  received  under  the  civil 
and  religious  authority  of  the  Bay,  are  brought  more  immediately 
to  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  privilege. 

21.  The  magistrates  of  the  County  Court,  to  be  held  in  Boston, 
July  next,  are  empowered  to  treat  with  Gorton's  company  about 
any  difficulty  as  to  Shawomet  and  Patuxet's  belonging  to  Massa- 
chusetts. 

September  5.  The  Commissioners*  of  Connecticut  and  New- 
Haven  are  informed,  that  Massachusetts  had  offered  to  resign  their 
jurisdiction  of  Warwick  and  vicinity  to  Plymouth,  if  they  would 
protect  and  govern  the  English  and  Indians  thereon,  but  that  the 
latter  Colony  declined  and  reconfirmed  the  same  to  the  Bay. 

Such  Commissioners  are  told,  how  Massachusetts  had  endeavored 
to  obtain  satisfaction  from  the  Gortonists  for  charges  against  them 
by  Indians  and  English.  They  have  a  letter  laid  before  them 
from  Easton,  President  of  Rhode  Island,  giving  assurance  that 
they  and  Warwick  are  bound  to  support  one  another.  They  are 
asked  to  advise  how  Massachusetts  shall  act  in  view  of  these  facts. 
They  accordingly  propose,  as  the  most  probable  means  of  reducing 
the  Gortonists  to  order,  who  will  not  submit  to  Massachusetts,  that 
Plymouth  "  do  forthwith  reassume  the  right  they  formerly  had  by 
patent "  to  the  lands  of  Pumham  and  Sacononoco,  including  War- 
wick; and  exercise  a  just  government  over  the  people  thereof.  But 
if  Plymouth  decline  this  proposition  and  the  Gortonists  remain 
obstinate,  the  Commissioners  say,  "  Justice  must  have  its  course," 
and,  consequently,  they  signify,  that  the  Bay  authorities  must  have 
this  work  done. 

October  18.  Under  this  date,  the  Legislature  f  at  Boston,  in 
answer  to  a  communication  of  Governor  William  Bradford  and  in 
compliance  with  advice  of  the  Commissioners  of  Connecticut  and 
New  Haven,  reassign  Shawomet  to  Plymouth  Colony,  and  instruct 
the  English  and  Indians  there,  under  their  protection,  to  act 
accordingly.  They  also  order  a  letter  requiring  Rhode  Island  to 
forbear  all  acts  of  jurisdiction  over  Shawomet ;  and  another  for  the 

*  Com.  MS.  Rec.  Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  153.       f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


HOURS   OF   SABBATH.  33 

1648.] 

Indians  and  English  here  to  comply  with  the  instructions,  to  them 
from  Plymouth. 

21.  Eliot  described  a  recent  visit,*  which  two  of  the  Indians, 
who  waited  on  his  ministry,  made,  in  July,  to  Providence  and 
Warwick.  One  of  them  put  this  question,  "  What  is  the  reason, 
that  seeing  those  English  people  where  he  had  been,  had  the  same 
Bible,  that  we  have,  yet  do  not  speake  the  same  thing?"  He 
then  assigned  the  cause  of  his  inquiry  as  follows.  They  maintained, 
that  there  was  no  other  heaven  and  hell,  than  in  the  hearts  of  good 
and  bad  people ;  that  baptism  of  children  was  a  foolish  custom  ; 
that  ministers  and  magistrates  were  needless.  He  also  particular- 
ized the  replies,  which  he  made  to  these  positions,  and  Avhich  Eliot 
approved  as  essentially  correct. 

2(3.  The  Legislature  enact,  that  no  person  shall  be  banished 
from  the  Colony,  "  any  law  or  clause  thereof  formerly  made  not- 
withstanding,! and*  that  there  shall  be  no  divorce  but  for  adultery." 

November  21.  Joshua  Verm,*  who  had  returned  from  Provi- 
dence in  its  first  settlement  to  Salem,  because  of  difficulty  as  to  his 
not  being  willing  that  his  wife  should  attend  on  the  meetings  of 
Mr.  Williams  so  often,  as  some  of  the  congregation  wished  her  to 
do,  writes  from  the  latter  place  to  the  deputies  of  the  former,  and 
claims  his  share  of  its  territory.  He  was  answered,  that  if  he 
would  appear  there  and  prove  his  title,  it  should  be  allowed  to 
him. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1648.  January  31.  To  restrain  the  inclination  of  some  persons 
to  infringe  on  holy  time,  the  General  Court  of  New  Haven  require, 
that  the  Sabbath  shall  be  from  sunset  to  sunset,  and  that,  during 
this  time,  none  shall  engage  in  common  employments,  works  of 
necessity  and  mercy  excepted. 

"  Those  that  were  behind  in  payment  of  the  College  Corn,  were 
desired  to  carry  it  to  the  several  Collectors." 

February  14.  Robert  Newman,  Ruling  Elder,  desires  the  Court, 
that  they  would  grant  land,  near  the  meeting-house,  to  Edward 
Wigglesworth,  for  a  small  house  and  garden,  "  because  he  is  so 
lame,  that  he  is  not  able  to  attend  public  worship,  and  so  is  many 
times  deprived  of  the  ordinances,  when,  if  he  was  near,  he  might 
enjoy  them."     This  petition  was  granted. 

May  8.  Henry' Smith,  of  Weathersfield,  dates  his  will.  This 
mentions  his  wife,  sons  Samuel,  Noah,  Peregrine,  two  daughters 
married,  and  other  children  unmarried.     It  contains  the  clause, 

*  Light  Appearing.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  p.  136,  7. 
t  MS.  R.  I.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  J  Knowles's  Roger  Williams,  p.  13&, 

5 


34  INDICTMENT  FOR  WITCHCRAFT. 

[Conn. 

"  First,  I  doe  professe  my  faith  and  hope  to  bee  in  the  free  grace 
aloane  of  God  in  Jesus  Christe,  whose  I  wholly  am,  and  to  whome  I 
haue  foreuer  given  vpp  myselte,  both  soule  and  body,  being  fullv 
perswaded  of  his  vnchangable  loue  and  good-will,  both  in  life  and 
death  to  mee  and  mine,  according  to  his  covenant."  It  closes,  "  I 
desire  the  Church,  whose  servant  I  now  am,  to  take  care  and  over- 
sight of  my  family,  that  they  may  bee  brought  vp  in  the  true  feare 
of  God ;  and  to  see  that  this  my  will  bee  faithfully  performed." 
He  seems  to  have  died  in  the  year  of  his  will's  being  dated.  As  a 
Commissioner  of  the  Bay  to  and  in  the  first  government  of  Con- 
necticut, and  as  a  messenger  of  the  Gospel,  he  showed  himself 
worthy  of  strong  confidence  and  high  approbation. 

June  21.  Governor  Hopkins  appears,  from  the  subsequent  ex- 
tract, to  have  asked  the  advice  of  YVinthrop,  Sen.,  about  his  going 
back  to  England  in  a  state  of  revolution.  "  I  find  a  general  con- 
currence almost,  with  your  thoughts  therein,  by  all  I  consulted 
with,  so  that  I  dare  not,  having  such  a  stream  of  advice  to  the  con- 
trary, resolve  to  return,  until  more  of  the  mind  of  the  Lord  appear 
that  way,  though  I  find  not  my  heart  so  quieted  in  that  determina- 
tion, as  I  hoped  it  would.  Your  prayers  I  need  and  beg,  that  the 
Lord  would  at  length  satisfy  me  with  himself  in  this  sad  and  great 
trial,  which  almost  overwhelms  my  spirits." 

August  1.  At  Xew  Haven  Court,  Henry  and  Joseph  Peck  are 
arraigned  "for  coming  too  late  with  their  arms  on  Lord's  day 
in  the  morning ;  they  answered  that  the  night  before  they  watched 
and  had  no  rest,  and  when  they  came  home,  they  went  to  take  a 
little  rest,  that  so  they  might  be  the  fitter  for  the  ordinances  and 
not  sleep."     This  plea  was  accepted  for  an  excuse. 

October.  A  Letter  *  from  Governor  Eaton  to  Governor  Stuyve- 
sant,  remarks  as  follows.  "  As  one  that  desireth  by  all  just  means 
to  follow  peace  with  all  men,  but  especially  with  a  Christian  nation, 
both  you  and  I  (though  all  questions  be  fairly  composed)  may  have 
exercise  enough  with  the  wild  natives,  who  being  over  plentifully 
furnished  with  guns,  powder  arrd  shot,  are  apt  to  be  injurious,  but 
if  they  find  us  divided  and  at  difference,  they  will  grow  insolent 
and  full  of  provocations." 

17.  Peter  Bussaker  is  ordered  f  by  the  Connecticut  Legislature, 
on  account  of  excessive  profanity,  to  be  imprisoned,  and  be  so  kept 
"  till  the  sermon,  and  then  stand  in  the  time  thereof  in  the  pillory 
and  after  sermon  bee  severely  whipped." 

December  6.  The  same  Court  require,  that,  on  the  20th  inst., 
"  there  bee  a  day  of  humiliation  by  all  the  churches  in  this  jurisdic- 
tion, to  seeke  the  face  of  the  Lord  in  behalfe  of  his  churches." 

7.  A  bill  of  indictment  {  is  found  against  Mary  Johnson,  "  that 
she  is  guilty  of  witchcraft." 

*  New  Haven  Coll.  Rec.  Appendix,  p.  529.        f  MS.  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 
I  MS.  Conn.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


DISCIPLINE   OP   MR.  CHEEVER.  88 

1649.] 

Lady  Mary  Fenwick,  whose  husband  was  a  principal  propri 

and  director  of  the  Saybrook  patent,  dies  this  year.  She  was  in- 
terred on  the  margin  of  Connecticut   river,  where   her  monument 

still  remains.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  worth.  Her  sympathies 
and  influence  were  efficiently  exercised  for  the  cause  of  Puritanism. 
1649.  April  11.  Governor  Eaton  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant,  remarks,  as  follows,  on  the  recent  death  of  Governor  Win- 
throp.  "  I  am  assured  he  is  a  rich  gainer  by  his  remove,  the  loss 
is  ours,  and  accordingly  I  believe  his  death  will  be  lamented 
through  all  the  Colonies."     On  the  4th  of  the  next  month,  Stuy- 

O  'J 

vesant  replied,  i(  I  do  really  condole  with  you,  we  being  all  of  us,  in 
these  parts,  participants  in  the  sad  loss  of  one,  whose  wisdom  and 
integrity  might  have  done  much  in  composing  matters  between  us." 

May  £0.  On  the  third  instant,  the  noted  school-master,  Ezekiel 
Cheever,  of  the  New  Haven  Church,  charged  its  Elders  with  par- 
tiality and  usurpation,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Thorp,  who  was  censured. 
Being  required  to  make  satisfaction,  he  said,  that  he  apprehended 
"  the  Elders  had  walked  faithfully  according  to  their  light,  but 
refused  to  clear  them  of  partiality."  At  this,  some  of  the  brethren 
were  offended  and  made  complaint  to  the  Ruling  Elder.  One  of 
the  charges  against  Mr.  Cheever  was,  that  he  and  W.  Thorpe, 
speaking  together  about  the  Elders,  the  former  of  these  two  ob- 
served, "  TTe  have  nothing  to  do  now,  but  to  say,  Amen;  we  are 
all  Clerks  now."  It  was  voted,  that  Mr.  Cheever  "  be  cast  out  of 
the  body  till  the  proud  flesh  be  destroyed  and  he  brought  into  a 
more  member-like  frame."  To  this  he  replied  in  sixteen  pages. 
Such  a  difference  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  was  the  probable  occasion 
of  his  moving  to  Ipswich,  on  the  30th  of  December,  1650,  where 
he  was  welcomed  as  an  excellent  instructor  of  youth.* 

June  25.  The  Xew  Haven  Court  order,  that  in  accordance  with 
the  law  of  Massachusetts,  Elders  of  Churches,  deacons  and  school- 
masters be  exempted  from  training,  watching  and  warding. 

It  was  reported  by  the  Governor,  that  complaints  of  bakers  had 
been  heard,  that  they  made  their  bread  too  small.  Therefore  the 
Court  desired  him  to  prepare  rules  as  to  the  size  of  the  loaves, 
so  "  that  the  baker  may  have  a  due  profit  and  the  buyer  not 
wronged,  "f 

July  25.  A  movement,  made  by  Xew  Haven,  before  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Union,  though  not  seconded  now,  for  their  plant- 
ing at  Delaware,  was  probably  made,  as  one  means  of  spreading 
Puritanism  to  counteract  its  opposite,  expected  and  feared  in  the 
refuge  for  Cavaliers,  as  provided  by  a  large  grant  of  territory  be- 
tween Rappahannock  and  Potowmac,  to  Lords  Hoopton,  Berkeley 
and  Culpepper.^ 

*  Cheever's  MS.     Felt's  Ipswich,  p.  lb.  t  Xew  Haven  MS.  Rec. 

%  Holmes's  Annals,  vol.  i.  p.  290. 


36  LUDLOW'S  CODE   OF  LAWS. 

[Conn. 

September  10.  On  account  of  the  hostile  bearing  assumed  by 
the  Indians,  the  New  Haven  Court*  order  that  "the  guard  be 
doubled  on  the  Lord's  days  and  Lecture  days,  and  that  men  whose 
turn  it  is  not  to  bring  arms,  yet  bring  their  swords." 

13.  The  General  Court  of  Connecticut,!  considering  that  John 
Whittmore,  late  of  Stamford,  had  been  murdered,  and  the  conduct 
of  the  Indians  adjacent  to  that  place  was  hostile,  "  doe  declare 
themselves,  that  they  doe  judge  it  lawfull  and  according  to  God  to 
make  warr  vppon  them." 

November  12.  William  Paine  desired  of  these  authorities,  that, 
as  he  had  three  small  children,  lives  far  off,  and  his  wife  is  lame 
and  cannot  help  him  bring  them  to  meeting,  he  may  be  excused 
from  bringing  his  arms  to  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  and  Lec- 
ture days.     This  request  was  granted. 

December  6.  The  Connecticut  Legislature  sentence  a  man,  for 
indecent  and  profane  speech  and  carriages,  "  to  lye  in  prison  till 
next  Thursday  morning  after  the  catechising,  and  then  to  bee  pub- 
lickly  whipt,  and  so  return  to  prison  againe  for  a  month  after  that, 
except  hee  flnde  bayle  to  appeare  when  hee  is  called  for  againe  to 
receive  a  second  correction." 

1650.  April  3.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  ordered  J 
"  that  if  any  person  shall  be  found  standing  or  sitting  without  the 
meeting-house  in  the  time  of  the  ordinances,  upon  the  Sabbath  or 
Lecture  days,  when  necessity  of  weakness  doth  not  compel  them, 
or  that  they  cannot  give  sufficient  reason  of  their  being  there,  he 
or  they  shall  forfeit  for  every  default  2/'.  a  person,  and  the  corporals 
upon  the  several  days  of  bringing  arms  are  desired  to  take  their 
time  to  go  out  now  and  then  to  see  to  prevent  disorders  of  this 
kind." 

May  6.  They  were  "  informed  §  that  the  contributions  for  the 
Church  Treasury  are  by  degrees  so  much  abated,  that  they  afford 
not  any  considerable  maintenance  to  the  Teaching  Officers,  and 
that  much  of  wampum  brought  in,  is  such  and  so  faulty,  that  the 
officers  can  hardly  or  not  at  all  pass  it  away  in  any  of  their  occa- 
sions. The  Court  thought  the  matter  weighty,  and  worthy  of 
speedy  and  serious  consideration,  if  men  from  corrupt  frame  with- 
draw from  so  bounden  a  duty,  it  will  be  necessary  to  order  and 
settle  some  other  course,  according  to  the  law."  A  Committee  are 
chosen  to  "  consider  by  what  means  comfortable  maintenance  may 
be  raised  and  duly  paid  to  uphold  the  ordinances,  and  encourage 
the  officers." 

Among  the  laws,  drawn  up  by  Roger  Ludlow,  and  now  adopted 
by  Connecticut  Legislature,  we  have  the  following : 

For  every  instance  a  person  "  swears  rashly  and  vainly,"  he  shall 

*  New  Haven  MS.  Rec.  t  MS.  Conn.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 

;  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  New  Haven  Rec.  j  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  New  Haven  Rec. 


CONTRIBUTIONS  FOR   STUDENTS.  o7 

1650.] 

be  fined  10/.  or  put  in  the  stocks  not  less  than  one  hour,  nor  more 
than  three. 

Whoever  plays  at  Shuffle  Board  shall  forfeit  5/.  for  each  time, 
and  the  person  allowing  such  game  in  his  house  shall  pay  20/.  So 
as  to  every  unlawful  game. 

Whoever  above  fourteen  years  of  age  willfully  publishes  a  lie, 
injurious  either  to  an  individual  or  the  public,  shall  pay  10/.  for 
the  first  offence,  or  be  put  in  the  stocks,  not  beyond  three  hours ; 
for  the  second,  pay  20/.,  or  be  whipped  on  the  naked  body  not 
above  twenty  stripes  ;  for  the  third  offence,  40/.,  or  receive  not 
more  than  thirty  stripes.  Children  who  are  under  such  age  and 
tell  falsehoods,  thus  detrimental,  must  be  whipped  by  their  parents, 
in  presence  of  some  officer,  if  any  magistrate  so  appoint. 

Children,  above  sixteen  years  old,  who  have  had  proper  educa- 
tion, and  been  treated  kindly  by  their  parents,  and  strike  such 
parents,  shall  suffer  death.     So  with  a  rebellious  son. 

Whoever  refuses  to  pay  his  "  meet  proportion  "  towards  the 
support  of  the  ministry,  shall  be  rated,  and  if  he  still  decline  to 
pay,  it  shall  be  collected  like  other  debts. 

Whoever  disturbs  a  preacher  in  the  Congregation  shall  be  con- 
vented  and  reproved  by  the  Magistrate  at  some  Lecture,  and  bound 
for  good  behavior.  For  a  second  like  offence,  he  shall  pay  £5,  or 
stand  openly  two  hours  on  a  block  or  stool  four  feet  high  on  a 
Lecture  day,  with  a  paper  on  his  breast,  having,  in  capital  letters, 
An  Open,  An  Obstinate  Contemner  of  God's  Holy  Ordinances, 
"  that  others  may  feare  and  bee  ashamed  of  breaking  out  into  the 
like  wickedness." 

Every  person  is  required  to  attend  public  worship  on  the  Sab- 
bath, Fast,  and  Thanksgiving  days,  on  penalty  of  5/.  for  each 
offence,  unless  sufficient  excuse  can  be  given. 

A  proposition  of  Commissioners  for  the  support  of  scholars  at 
Cambridge,  is  confirmed.  Two  men  in  each  town  are  to  call  on 
every  family  once  a  year  for  contribution,  and  "  the  same  bee 
brought  into  some  roome."  Such  collections  were  made  chiefly  in 
grain. 

The  following,  as  additional  to  the  means  used  by  the  Missionary 
Society,  is  passed  :  "  Judging  it  necessary  that  some  meanes  should 
bee  vsed  to  conuey  the  lighte  and  knowledge  of  God  and  of  his 
Worde  to  the  Indians  and  nations  amongst  vs,  doe  order  that  one 
of  the  teaching  Elders  of  the  Churches  in  this  Jurisdiction,  with 
the  helpe  of  Thomas  Stanton,  shall  bee  desired,  twice  at  least  in 
every  yeare,  to  goe  amongst  the  neighbouring  Indians,  and  indea- 
uour  to  make  knowne  to  them  the  councells  of  the  Lord,  and 
thereby  to  draw  and  stirr  them  vp  to  direct  and  order  all  theire 
wayes  and  conversations  according  to  the  rule  of  his  Worde." 

"  Forasmuch  as  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Churches  and  mem- 
bers thereof,  as  well  as  Ciuill  rights  and  Libberties  are  carefully  to 


38  SACHEMS  OPPOSE  THE    GOSPEL. 

[Conn. 

bee  maintained,  It  is  ordered  by  this  Courte,  and  decreed,  that  the 
Ciuill  Authority  heere  established  hath  power  and  libberty  to  see 
the  peace  and  ordinances  and  rules  of  Christe  bee  observed  in 
every  Church,  according  to  his  Word  ;  as  allso  to  deale  with  any 
Church  member  in  a  way  of  Ciuill  (justice)  notwithstanding  any 
Church  relation,  office,  or  interest,  so  it  bee  done  in  a  Ciuill,  and 
not  in  an  Ecclesiasticall  way.  Nor  shall  any  Church  censure,  de- 
grade, or  depose  any  man  from  any  Ciuill  dignitye,  office,  or  author- 
ity hee  shall  have  in  the  Commonwealth." 

June  6.  Samuel  Stone,  minister  of  Hartford,  writes  to  Richard 
Mather  :  *  "  I  conceive  that  children  of  church  members  have  a  right 
to  church  membership  by  virtue  of  their  father's  covenant,  it  being 
granted,  that  they  are  in  Abraham's  covenant.  There  hath  been  a 
sinful  neglect  of  such  children  in  New  England.  I  spake  with 
Mr.  Warham,  and  we  question  not  the  right  of  children,  but  we 
conceive  it  would  be  comfortable  to  have  some -concurrence,  which 
is  that  we  have  waited  for  a  long  time.  And  I  think  unless  there 
may  be  some  conference  of  Elders,  this  year,  in  the  Bay,  that  we 
may  see  some  reason  to  the  contrary,  our  churches  will  adventure 
to  practice  according  to  their  judgment,  i.  e.,  take  in  all  such  chil- 
dren as  members.  I  much  desire  that  there  may  be  some  meeting 
of  the  Elders  this  year,  that  these  things  may  be  considered  and 
settled  in  the  churches,  according  to  the  mind  of  Christ." 

September  5.  A  Court  of  Commissioners,!  beginning  their  ses- 
sion in  Hartford,  at  this  time,  are  waited  on  by  Uncas,  Sachem  of 
the  "Monohegen  Indians."  He,  like  the  chiefs  of  the  New  England 
tribes,  was  anxious  lest  the  Gospel  should  be  preached  among  his 
people,  and  thereby  he  should  lose  his  power  over  them.  On  this 
account,  he  expressed  his  unwillingness  to  have  them  taught  Chris- 
tianity. But  his  plea,  however  offered  in  sincerity,  could  find  little 
sympathy  with  those  who  knew  the  worth  of  so  blessed  a  dispensa- 
tion. 

This  year,  Thomas,  son  of  Rev.  Thomas  James,  formerly  of 
Charlestown,  Mass.,  is  settled  as  minister  of  East  Hampton,  Long 
Island.  He  died  in  1696,  and,  at  his  request,  was  buried  in  the 
grave-yard,  with  his  head  to  the  east,  so  that,  in  the  resurrection, 
he  might  meet  his  people  face  to  face. 

As  Hutchinson  states,  part  of  New  Haven  inhabitants  intended 
to  conform  with  the  wish  of  Cromwell,  that  people  of  New  Eng- 
land would  emigrate  and  plant  their  religious  institutions  in  Ireland 
after  his  conquests  there,  but  that  they  relinquished  their  inten- 
tion. 

Henry  Whitfield J  leaves  his  parish  at  Guilford,  and  embarks 
for  England.    "  The  whole  town  accompanied  him  unto  the  water- 

*  First  Principles  of  New  England.  t  MS.  Conn.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 

X  Magnalia  of  1855,  vol.  i.  p.  593. 


LIGHT   APPEARING,  89 

it  BO.] 

side,  with  a  Bpring  tide  of  tears,  because  they  should  see  hia  face 
no  more."  On  his  way,  he  stopped  at  .Martha's  Vineyard,  and 
tarried  there  ten  days.  While  so  detained,  he  made  himself  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  the  labors  of  Mayhew  among  the  Lndians, 

and    published    an   account  of  them,  in   London,  1651,  under  the 

title,  "  The  Light  appearing  more  and  more;  towards  the  perfect 
Day."  He  settled,  as  minister,  in  the  city  of  Winchester,  tie 
had  a  large  family  of  children,  and  died  about  the  Restoration.  He 
excelled  in  his  profession,  and  thus  honored  the  eause  of  his  Re- 
deemer. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Massachusetts.  Presbyterianism.  —  Edward  Gibbons.  —  Indian  Mission.  — 
Henry  Butler.  —  The  Cross.  —  Discipline  —  Witchcraft.  —  Pynchon  on  Re- 
demption.—  Norton's  Reply.  —  Confession  of  Faith  and  Discipline. — Pre- 
sentments.—  Cotton's  address  to  Cromwell.  —  Scotch  prisoners  sold.  —  Bio- 
graphical notices.  —  Baptists.  —  Seekers.  —  Half-way  Covenant.  —  Indian 
Town.  —  National  events.  —  Objections  to  the  mission.  —  Cromwell's  answer. 

—  Synod.  —  Excess  in  apparel.  —  Power  of  the  Council  for  New  England 
feared.  —  Proposed  emigration  to  Ireland.  —  Blasphemy  punished.  —  Denial 
of  the  Scriptures.  —  Oath  of  fidelity.  —  Aid  for  poor  scholars.  —  Toleration. 

—  Orthodox  Evangelist.  —  Power  of  Magistrates.  —  Errors.  —  Learned  min- 
istry. Plymouth.  Presentment.  —  Seipican.  —  Delaware.  —  French.  —  Pub- 
lic worship.  —  Shawomet.  —  Holmes.  —  Seekers.  —  Preaching  to  Indians. — 
Address  to  London  Baptists.  —  Offences. — Thanksgiving.  —  Dialogue,  by 
Bradford.  Maine.  French  correspondence.  —  Indian  catechumens.  — 
Boundary.  —  Banishment.  —  Subjection  of  towns.  —  Rigby's  communica- 
tion.—  Privileges  of  Freemen.  New  Hampshire.  Difficulties.  —  Mason 
claim.  —  Artists.  —  North  line.  Rhode  Island.  Patents  for  territory. — 
Fugitives.  —  Trial  of  Baptists.  —  Matters  of  conscience.  —  Seekers.  —  Gor- 
tonists.  —  Agents  for  England.  —  Slaves.  —  Slander.  —  Treason.  —  Publica- 
tions. Connecticut.  Gospel  privileges.  —  Fugitives.  —  Witchcraft.  —  Bap- 
tism of  children.  —  Delaware  Colony.  —  Church.  —  Treasury.  —  College  at 
New  Haven.  —  Indians. — Davenport's  Knowledge  of  Christ. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

1651.  January  1.  As  an  occurrence,*  anxiously  anticipated  by 
Congregationalists  of  Old  and  New  England,  Charles  Stuart  is 
crowned  by  the  Scots  at  Scone.  One  condition  of  his  being  so 
made  king,  as  it  was  of  his  being  thus  proclaimed  at  Edinburgh 
Cross,  the  previous  July  15,  was  that  he  should  support  and 
encourage  Presbyterianism  in  the  three  kingdoms.  The  Presby- 
terians of  England  unite  in  the  plan  for  such  a  purpose. 

20.  Edward  Gibbons  received  a  commission,f  under  this  date, 
from  Lord  Baltimore,  to  be  one  of  the  Council,  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace  and  Admiral  of  Maryland.  He  accepted  it,  resided  at  St. 
Mary's,  and  left  a  widow  there  with  small  means  of  support.  He 
died  December  9,  1654,  and  an  account  of  his  insolvent  estate  was 

*  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  vol.  iv.  p.  42.     Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  153. 
f  Bozman's  Maryland,  p.  411,  2.     Hazard,  vol,  ii.  p.  33,  4. 


OBJECTIONS  TO  THE   MISSION.  41 

1651.] 

laid  before  the  Probate  Court  at  Boston  in  the  same  month  and 
year.  Though  adventurous  in  his  deeds,  he  was  extensively  useful 
and  highly  respected,  from  the  time  of  his  profession  of  religion 
at  the  formation  of  Salem  Church,  as  a  patriot  and  a  Christian. 

April  17.  A  letter  from  William  Steele  for  the  Missionary  Cor- 
poration, is  received  by  the  Commissioners.  Several  extracts  fol- 
low :  "  As  the  care  of  providing  lyeth  vpon  vs  heer,  soe  the  care 
of  distribution  and  improuement  will  rest  vpon  yourselues,  for  the 
Vnited  Col  Ionics  there,  of  whose  faithfulnesse  wee  haue  not  the 
least  cause  to  doubt.  Many  ministers  in  London  have  promoted 
the  Act,  that  were  resolued  against  it,  and  wee  beleeue  the  like  in 
the  country.  'Tis  strange  to  see  what  and  how  many  objections 
arise  against  the  work.  Som  from  the  ill-management  of  former 
gifts  bestowed  on  New-England,  of  which  no  account  hath  been 
given  to  the  donors.  Som  personally  reflecting  vpon  Mr.  Wells 
(Weldj  and  Mr.  Peters.  Som  vpon  ourselues,  as  if  wee  had  so 
much  per  pound  of  what  is  collected,  or  might  feast  ourselues 
liberally  therewith,  whereas,  through  mercy  wee  never  yet  eat  or 
drank  of  the  fruit  or  charge  of  y* ;  and  neither  haue  had  or  expect 
a  penny  or  pennyworth  for  all  the  paines  wee  shall  take  therein, 
but  contrary  wise,  account  it  a  mercy  God  giving  vs  an  opportunity 
to  bee  exercised  in  a  work  wherein  his  glory  and  the  salvation  of 
soe  many  is  so  nearly  concerned.  As  for  Mr.  Peters  and  Mr. 
Wells,  they  haue  sufficiently  satisfied  vs  with  what  hath  been  for- 
merly ans  wared. 

"  Wee  haue  sent  you  for  the  present  som  few  hoes  and  iron 
tools  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Summer,  and  hope  that  by  the 
next  shipp  wee  shalbee  able  to  send  you  som  woolen,  shoes  and 
stockens,  according  to  your  direction.  Wee  find  the  proceeds  of 
the  Collection  goes  slowly  on,  both  in  Citty  and  Country,  and  that 
it  wilbee  long  worke."  The  Commissioners  are  desired  to  confer 
with  Messrs.  Eliot  and  Mayhew  as  to  what  meeting-houses,  min- 
isters, school-masters  and  mistresses  will  be  needed  next  year, 
among  the  Indians.  They  are  requested  to  consider  whether  it 
wrould  not  be  better  "  to  treine  vp  English  and  Indian  together  for 
obtaining  each  other's  language." 

At  the  same  time,  Winslow  addresses  *  the  Commissioners  on 
the  same  matter.  He  states  several  objections  made  in  England  to 
the  mission  here :  "  As  what  haue  wee  to  doe  to  raise  great  summs 
to  promote  the  Gospell  amongst  naked  people  ;  the  Gospell  is  goe- 
ing  away  from  vs,  and  wee  healp  it  forward  ;  wee  had  more  need 
to  support  learning  at  home  than  abroad.  And  then  our  leuelers, 
they  will  haue  nothing  to  doe  to  promote  humaine  learning  ;  there 
is  too  much  of  it  allreddy." 

28.  Eliot  writes  f  to  the  Missionary  Society  in  England.    Speak  - 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  174-6,  8,  9. 

f  Strength  out  of  Weakness.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  s.  3,  vol.  iv.  p.  168. 


42  FALSE  DOCTRINE  EXAMINED. 

[Mass. 

ing  of  the  settlement  at  Natick  by  Indians,  under  his  instruction, 
he  remarks  :  "  We  have  set  out  some  part  of  the  town  in  several 
streets ;  many  have  planted  apple-trees.  It  is  now  planting  time, 
and  they  be  full  of  business.  The  present  week  I  am  going  to 
Paw  tucket,  the  great  fishing  place  vpon  Merimak,  where  I  hear 
sundry  doe  expect  my  coming,  with  a  purpose  to  submit  themselves 
unto  the  Lord's  hand." 

May  7.  Henry  Butler*  is  admitted  freeman  of  the  Massachusetts 
Company.  He  had  lately  come  from  England,  where  he  was  born, 
in  Kent,  and  took  his  second  degree  at  Cambridge.  He  remained 
in  our  country  about  ten  years  as  an  instructor  and  preacher,  and 
then  went  back  to  his  kindred.  So  returned,  he  passed  a  year  or 
two  at  Dorchester,  and  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Yeovil,  Som- 
ersetshire, where  he  was  displaced  August  24,  1662.  In  that 
town  and  other  places,  he  persevered  in  dispensing  the  truths  of 
Revelation,  though  continually  fined  and  imprisoned.  Liable  to 
such  trials,  he  became  pastor  of  a  people  at  Withamfrary.  Some- 
times he  met  his  congregation  in  private  houses,  and  at  others, 
in  Sir  Edward  Seymour's  woods.  After  a  useful  ministry,  and 
exhausted  with  labors  and  sickness,  he  breathed  his  last  April  24, 
1696,  aged  72.  His  expiring  words  were,  "  A  broken  and  a 
contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise." 

As  evidence  f  that  the  opposition  of  the  Legislature  to  the  display 
of  the  Cross,  as  an  ensign  of  Papacy,  had  much  diminished,  they 
have  the  subsequent  entry  recorded  :  "  As  this  Court  conceives 
the  Old  English  Colours,  now  used  by  the  Parliament  of  England, 
to  be  a  necessary  badge  of  distinction  betwixt  the  English  and  other 
nations,  till  the  State  of  England  shall  alter  the  same,  which  we 
much  desire,"  it  authorizes  the  Captain  of  the  Castle  to  show  such 
Colors  on  all  necessary  occasions. 


They  forbid  dancing  at  Taverns,  on  penalty  of  5 


Marmaduke  Matthews  is  cited  to  appear  J  the  15th.  He  obeys 
and  hears  the  charge  against  him  of  having  uttered  in  his  sermons 
"  unsafe  and  unsound  expressions."  Some  of  these,  as  charged  to 
him,  follow  :  "  Saints  have  more  varieties  of  righteousness  than 
Christ,  for  Christ  hath  only  a  double  righteousness  and  the  saints 
have  a  treble  one.  When  the  body  of  Christ  was  lifted  up  on  the 
cross,  his  soul  was  in  hell  where  the  devil  rules  and  reigns.  Ps. 
16.  'lis  foolishness  if  you  think  that  Christ  doth  not  come  but  in 
a  conditional  promise."  A  Committee  of  the  Legislature  are 
designated  to  meet  at  the  Ship  Tavern  in  Boston,  on  June  11th,  to 
consider  allegations,  that  he  had  formerly  and  recently  preached 
erroneous  doctrines,  and  they  had  leave  to  ask  advice  of  the  Elders. 
The  Maiden  Church  are  cited  to  answer  for  settling  him,  contrary 
to  the  protest  of  magistrates,  ministers  and  churches.     He  is  fined 

*  Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  388.  f  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Papers.  %  Ibid. 


apology  OF  MATTHEWS.  43 

1651.] 

£10  for  consenting  to  be  thus  connected  with  them  and  not  making 
a  suitable  apology  therefor.  As  the  Marshal,  when  he  endeavored 
to  satisfy  this  demand  from  the  property  of  Matthews,  found 
nothing  but  his  library,  the  Court  allowed  the  execution  "  to  be 
respited  until  other  goods  appear  besides  books." 

On  this  occasion,  Matthews  presented  a  paper  of  June  13,  which 
contained  the  substance  of  various  sermons,  that  he  had  preached, 
at  Hull  and  Maiden,  as  a  specimen  of  his  real  belief.  At  the  close 
of  such  an  exposition,  he  confesses  that  some  of  his  language  might 
have  been  better  selected.  His  words  were  :  "  I  easily  yield,  that 
not  only  wiser  men  probably  would,  but  also  I  myself  possibly 
might,  have  made  out  Christ's  mind,  and  my  own  meaning,  in 
terms  more  sound  and  more  safe  than  I  have  done,  had  I  not  been 
too  much  wanting,  both  to  his  Sacred  Majesty,  whose  unworthy 
messenger  I  was,  and  also  to  myself  and  my  hearers ;  for  which  I 
desire  to  be  humbled,  and  of  which  1  desire  to  be  healed  by  the 
Author  of  both." 

Fifteen  of  the  Deputies  dissented  from  the  proceedings  of  the 
Court,  in  this  case. 

Offended  with  Thomas  Lynde,  one  of  their  members,  who  testi- 
fied as  to  the  offensive  expressions  of  Matthews,  the  Church  soon 
proceed  to  deal  with  him  even  to  excommunication.  But  the 
Council  interposed,  and  desired  that  the  question  might  be  submit- 
ted to  a  few  of  the  adjacent  churches,  as  earnestly  requested  by 
Lynde. 

Richard  Leader  is  required  to  answer*  for  language  which  had 
offended  the  Church  of  Lynn  and  others,  and  was  construed  as  a 
threat  and  slander  of  the  Government.  He  is  ordered  to  make  an 
acknowledgment  and  pay  £50.  He  does  the  former  of  these  on 
the  22d,  and  is  bound  for  the  same  sum  to  appear  the  next  session, 
and  for  another  like  amount  to  keep  the  peace. 

13.  Mary,  wife  of  Hugh  Parsons  of  Springfield,!  is  indicted  as 
follows  :  "  About  the  end  of  February  last  at  Springfield  to  have 
familiarity  or  consulted  with  a  familiar  spirit,  making  a  covenant 
with  him  and  have  used  divers  devilish  practices  to  the  hurt  of 
Martha  and  Rebeckah  Moxon,  against  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
laws  of  this  Jurisdiction. "  The  two,  so  injured,  were  children  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Moxon.  She  plead  not  guilty  and  was  cleared  from  the 
charge  of  witchcraft,  though  proceeded  $  with  on  the  accusation  of 
murdering  her  child.  She  was  condemned  to  death,  but  reprieved 
on  the  29th,  her  trial  having  been  hastened,  because  she  was  so 
weak  as  not  expected  to  live.§  Her  husband  was  cleared,  June  1 
of  next  year,  from  the  charge  of  witchcraft. 

William  Pynchon  owns  himself  author  of  the  book  on  Redemp- 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Papers.  f  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Papers. 

%  Holland,  in  his  "Western  Massachusetts,  supposes  that  she  died  in  prison. 

6  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


44  PYNCHON   ON  REDEMPTION. 

[Mass. 

tion.  The  Court,  "  out  of  their  tender  respect  to  him  offered  him 
liberty  to  confer  with  all  the  elders  now  present,  or  such  of  them  as 
he  should  choose."  His  reply  accompanies  such  permission  as 
succeeds  :  "  According  to  the  Court's  advice,  I  have  conferred  with 
Mr.  Cotton,  Mr.  Norrice  and  Mr.  Norton,  about  some  points  of  the 
greatest  consequence  in  my  book,  and  I  hope  I  have  explained  my 
meaning  to  them  as  to  take  off  the  worst  construction,  and  it  hath 
pleased  God  to  let  me  see  that  I  have  not  spoken  in  my  book  so 
folly  of  the  price  and  merit  of  Christ's  suffering,  as  I  should  have 
done ;  for,  in  my  book,  I  call  them  but  trials  of  his  obedience,  yet 
intending  thereby  to  amplify  and  exalt  the  mediatorial  obedience  of 
Christ  as  the  only  meritorious  price  of  man's  Redemption.  But 
now  I  am  much  inclined  to  think,  that  His  sufferings  were  appointed 
by  God  for  a  further  end,  namely,  as  the  due  punishment  of  our 
sins  by  way  of  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  for  man's  Redemption." 

The  Court,  judging  that  Mr.  Pynchon  was  in  a  "  hopeful  way  to 
give  good  satisfaction,"  grant  his  wish  to  return  home,  on  account 
of  troubles  in  his  family,  one  day  next  week,  and  that  he  take  Mr. 
Norton's  answer  to  his  book  with  him,  to  consider  it,  so  that  he 
may  give  all  due  satisfaction  the  next  session. 

The  reply  of  Norton  to  Pynchon,  in  1651,  and  published  in 
London  in  165-3,  has  the  subsequent  title  :  "  A  Discussion  of  the 
great  Point  in  Divinity,  the  Sufferings  of  Christ ;  and  the  questions 
about  his  righteousness,  active,  passive  ;  and  the  imputation  thereof. 
Being  an  answer  to  a  Dialogue,  entitled  the  Meritorious  Price  of 
our  Redemption,  Justification,  etc." 

As  counter  to  the  propositions  of  Pynchon,  Norton  endeavors  to 
prove  the  following. 

"  I.  The  imputation  of  the  disobedience  of  the  Elect  unto  Christ. 

"  II.  That  Christ  as  God-man,  Mediator  and  our  Surety,  fulfilled 
the  Law  by  his  original  conformity,  and  active  and  passive  obedi- 
ence thereunto  for  the  Elect. 

"  III.  The  Imputation  of  that  obedience  unto  the  believer  for 
justification." 

On  page  15  of  Norton's  Answer  to  Pynchon,  the  latter  says  : 
"  They  place  the  price  of  our  Redemption  in  his  (Christ)  suffering 
God's  wrath  for  us  in  the  full  weight  and  measure,  as  it  is  due  to 
our  sins  by  the  curse  of  the  Law.  I  place  the  price  of  our  redemp- 
tion in  the  merit  of  his  Mediatorial  obedience,  whereof  his  Media- 
torial sacrifice  of  Atonement  was  the  Master-piece."  Norton  re- 
plies, "  We  place  it  not  only  in  Christ's  sufferings,  but  also  in 
Christ's  sufferings  and  God's  acceptation."  On  page  14,  Norton 
had  observed,  "It  is  very  true  that  the  mediatorly  obedience  of 
Christ  is  the  meritorious  and  full  price  of  redemption,  but  most 
untrue  in  the  sense  of  your  mediatorial  obedience ;  for  you  leave 
out  and  reject  from  thence  Christ's  obedience  to  the  Law  of  works 
as  God-man,  his  judicial  bearing   of  sin,  his   suffering  the  punish- 


vn:w>   OP  JUSTIFICATION.  1  > 

1651.] 

ment  duo  for  sin,  in  way  of  satisfaction  to  divine  justice,  and  all 
this  as  the  surety  of  the  Elect." 

In  the  end  of  Norton's  volume  *  is  a  letter  from  John  Cotton, 
Richard  Mather,  Zechariah  Symmes,  .John  \\  ilson  and  William 
Thompson.  Such  a  communication  was  in  answer  to  another,  from 
M brethren  in  Old  England,  in  the  behalf  ot*  Mr.  Pynchon."  Jt 
shows  their  view  of  the  case,  and  is  some  explanation  of  the  con- 
troversy, as  then  considered  and  conducted.  An  extract  from  it 
of  such  an  import,  follows  :  "  The  General  Court  do  believe  and 
profess,  (as  ourselves  likewise  do,)  that  the  obedience  of  Christ  to 
the  whole  Law  (which  is  the  Law  of  righeousness)  is  the  matter 
of  our  justification,  and  the  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ,  (and 
thereupon  his  suffering  the  sense  of  the  wrath  of  God  upon  him 
for  our  sins,)  and  the  imputation  of  his  obedience  and  sufferings 
are  the  formal  cause  of  our  justification,  and  that  they  that  do  deny 
this,  do  now  take  away  both  these,  both  the  matter  and  form  of 
our  justification,  (as  this  book  doth,)  and  take  away  also  our  justifi- 
cation, which  is  the  life  of  our  souls  and  our  Religion,  and,  there- 
fore, called  the  justification  of  life,  Eom.  5.  18.  As  for  the  notion, 
which  you  conceive  he  (Pynchon)  declineth,  of  infinite  wrath,  we 
readily  conceive  with  you,  that  though  God's  wrath  be,  (as  himself 
is,)  infinite,  yet  no  creature  can  bear  infinite  wrath,  but  be  swallowed 
up  of  it ;  and,  therefore,  the  wicked  are  put  to  suffer  finite  wrath 
in  an  infinite  time ;  yet  this  suffering  in  an  infinite  time  is  acci- 
dental, in  regard  of  the  finiteness  of  the  creature,  but  Christ  being 
infinite  God,  as  well  as  finite  man,  his  manhood  suffering,  though 
in  a  finite  measure,  the  sense  of  God's  wrath  both  in  soul  and  body, 
the  infiniteness  of  his  Godhead  (whereto  his  manhood  was  united 
in  one  person)  made  his  finite  suffering,  in  a  finite  time,  to  become 
of  infinite  value  and  efficacy,  for  the  satisfaction  of  God's  justice, 
and  transaction  of  our  Redemption." 

The  Legislature^  "  taking  into  consideration  how  far  Satan  pre- 
vails amongst  us  in  respect  of  witchcraft,  as  also  by  drawing  awav 
some  from  the  Truth  to  the  profession  and  practice  of  strange  opin- 
ions, and,  also,  considering  the  condition  of  England,  Ireland  and 
Scotland,  and  the  great  things  in  hand  there,"  appoint  June  18  for 
a  Fast-day. 

"  Whereas  this  Court  did  in  1646,  give  encouragement  for  an 
Assembly  of  the  Messengers  of  the  Churches  in  a  Synod  holden  at 
Cambridge  and  did  desire  their  Counsel  and  help  for  the  drawing 
up  a  Confession  of  the  Faith  and  Discipline  of  our  Churches 
according  to  the  Word  of  God;  this  Court  doth  account  itself 
obliged  to  acknowledge  the  pious  zeal  and  labours  of  the  Assembly 
in  that  work,  which  doth  appear  by  that  draught  of  Discipline  pre- 
sented to  the  last  General  Court  for  their  approbation  and  allowance 

*  This  was  answered  bv  Pvnchon  in  1655  and  1662.  f  Mass.  MS.  Rec. 


46  SYSTEM   OF  DISCIPLINE   COMMENDED. 

[Mass. 

and  by  them  commended  to  the  consideration  of  the  several 
Churches  in  this  Jurisdiction,  many  of  whom  were  pleased  to 
present,  the  last  session  of  the  last  Court,  by  the  Deputies  of  the 
several  Towns,  several  objections  against  the  said  draught  of  Disci- 
pline or  several  particulars  therein,  whereupon  the  Court  judged 
it  inconvenient  and  conducing  to  peace  to  forbear  to  give  their 
approbation  thereto  unless  such  objections,  as  were  presented,  were 
cleared  and  removed,  for  which  purpose  this  Court  doth  order  the 
Secretary  to  draw  up  the  said  objections,  or  the  principal  of  them, 
and  to  deliver  the  same  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton  within  one  month, 
to  be  communicated  to  the  Elders  of  the  several  churches,  who  are 
desirous  to  meet  and  clear  the  said  doubts  or  any  other,  that  may 
be  imparted  to  them  by  any  other  person  concerning  the  said 
draught  of  Discipline,  and  to  return  their  advice  and  help  herein  to 
the  next  session  of  this  General  Court,  which  will  be  always  zealous 
according  to  their  duty  to  give  their  testimony  to  every  truth  of 
Jesus  Christ,  though  they  cannot  see  light  to  impose  any  forms  as 
necessary  to  be  observed  by  the  churches  as  a  binding  Rule." 
Four  of  the  Deputies  dissented  from  this  proposal. 

June  1.  Richard  Pipponcott,  for  withdrawing  communion  from 
the  first  church  in  Boston,*  and  giving  no  reason,  is  excommuni- 
cated. He  said  that  he  "  wanted  a  commission  to  speak."  On  July 
13,  John  Spurr  is  cut  off  from  the  same  church  because  he  ceased 
to  commune  with  them,  on  the  belief  that  their  baptism,  singing  of 
psalms  and  covenant  were  "  humaine  inventions."  Nicholas 
Upshall  was  similarly  dealt  with  on  Sept.  10,  and  also  Ann  Burden 
the  28th,  by  the  same  church,  for  neglecting  and  aenying  Gospel 
ordinances.  Here  are  instances  of  speculations,  then  professed  by 
the  Seekers  of  England  and  this  country. 

24.  Edmund  Marshall  of  Manchester,!  is  presented  for  absence 
from  public  worship  and  "  for  reproaching  Mr.  Thomas  Dunham 
in  saying  that  he  had  preached  blasphemy." 

William  Witters,  of  Lynn,  is  alike  dealt  with  "for  absenting 
himself  from  the  public  ordinances  nine  months  or  more  and  for 
being  rebaptized,"  and  Joseph  Rednap,  of  the  same  place,  "  for  his 
usual  departing  from  the  Congregation  at  the  time  of  administration 
of  the  seal  of  baptism." 

July  28.  Cotton  addresses  a  letter  J  to  Cromwell  and  justifies 
his  course  with  regard  to  "  purging  the  Parliament  and  presenting 
the  King  to  publique  tryall."  He  adds  :  "  I  am  fully  satisfyed,  that 
you  have  all  this  while  fought  the  Lord's  battells,  and  the  Lord 
hath  owned  you,  in  all  your  expeditions,  which  maketh  my  poor 
prayers  the  more  serious  and  faithfull  and  affectionate  (as  God 
helpeth)   in  your  behalfe.     In  like  frame   (as  I  conceive)  are  the 

*  MS.  Rec.  of  First  Boston  Ch.  f  Essex  Court  MS.  Rec. 

%  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  233,  4. 


COVENANTERS    fRANSPORTED.  41 

1651.] 

spirits  of  our  brethren  (the  elders  and  churches  of  these  parts) 
carried  forth,  and  the  Lord  accept  us  and  help  you  in  Christ"    He 

apologizes,  as  a  stranger  to  Cromwell,  for  writing  to  him,  but  gives 

the  reason,  that  the  latter  had  wished  to  be  particularly  remembered 
to  him,  in  letters  which  he  recently  sent  over  to  Mr.  Hook,  of 
New  Haven. 

In  reference  to  prisoners,  transported  to  this  Colony,  Cotton  thus 
expresses  himself  to  Cromwell :  "  The  Scots  whom  God  delivered 
into  your  hands  at  Dunbarre,  and  whereof  sundry  were  sent  hither, 
we  have  been  desirous  (as  we  could)  to  make  their  yoke  easy. 
Such  as  were  sick  of  the  scurvy  or  other  diseases,  have  not  wanted 
phvsick  and  chyrurgery.  They  have  not  been  sold  for  slaves  to 
perpetuall  servitude,  but  for  6  or  7  or  8  yeares,  as  we  do  our  ownc  ; 
and  he  that  bought  the  most  of  them  (I  heare)  buildeth  houses  for 
them,  for  every  4  an  house,  layeth  some  acres  of  ground  thereto, 
which  he  giveth  them  as  their  owne,  requiring  3  dayes  in  the 
weeke  to  worke  for  him  (by  turnesj  and  4  dayes  for  themselves, 
and  promiseth,  as  soone  as  they  can  repay  him  the  money  he  layed 
out  for  them,  he  will  set  them  at  liberty."  Thus  fared  the  Cove- 
nanters, who,  in  defence  of  the  King  and  Presbyterianism,  were 
captured  by  the  English  forces  and  sent  over  to  this  Colony.  The 
ensuing  November  11,  nearly  300  more  of  them  wrere  about  to  sail 
from  London,  who  arrived  in  due  time,  at  Boston,  and  were  alike 
sold  into  bondage. 

Ichabod,*  son  of  President  Chauncey,  born  in  England,  1635, 
takes  his  first  degree  at  Harvard.  He  went  to  his  native  country 
and  was  chaplain  in  the  regiment  at  Dunkirk,  commanded  by  Sir 
Edward  Harley,  when  the  Act  of  Uniformity  wras  passed.  He  was 
in  Bristol,  in  1681-2,  where  he  practiced  medicine.  In  1684,  he 
was  obliged,  for  his  non-conformity,  to  leave  the  kingdom.  He 
removed  with  his  family  to  Holland.  On  the  proclamation  of 
James  II.,  declaring  liberty  to  Dissenters,  he  went  back  to  Bristol. 
Here  he  died  July  25,  1691,  aged  56.  He  published  a  narrative 
of  proceedings  against  him  in  the  court  of  sessions  in  that  city. 
Though  called  to  experience  trials,  he  steadily  pursued  the  course 
of  obligation  and  shared  in  its  consolations,  as  his  progress  was 
onward. 

Isaac  Chauncey,  brother  of  Ichabod,  takes  his  first  degree  at 
Harvard  College.  He  was  born  August  23,  1632.  He  embarked 
for  the  land  of  his  fathers,  and  there  became  minister  at  Wood- 
borough,  Wiltshire.  After  his  ejectment,  he  was  pastor  of  a  Con- 
gregational church  at  Andover.  He  subsequently  located  himself 
in  London,  to  practice  medicine.  In  1681-2,  he  lived  in  "  Blew 
Boar  Court,  Friday  Street."     While  so  employed,  he  was  called, 

*  Nonconformist  Memorial,  vol.  ii.  p.  610.  Wilson's  Dissenting  Churches, 
vol.  i.  p.  289,  90. 


48  TRIAL   OF   BAPTISTS. 

[Mass. 

October,  1687,  to  take  charge  of  the  people,  whose  pastor,  before 
the  last,  was  Dr.  Owen.  He  accepted  their  invitation  and  preached 
for  them  14  years.  Palmer  states  that  he  was  divinity  tntor  in  the 
Dissenter's  Academy,  of  the  same  metropolis.  Believing  it  best  for 
him  to  relinquish  his  pastoral  relation,  he  did  so,  and  left  his  Soci- 
ety to  the  care  of  Isaac  Watts,  who  had  assisted  him  above  two 
years.  Several  of  his  works  were  published.  Calamy  says,  "  that 
he  was  a  zealous  writer  against  Xeonomianism."  He  died  February 
28,  1712,  in  his  80th  year.  He  was  a  talented,  learned  and  excel- 
lent man.  The  life,  which  he  lived,  was  for  the  benefit  of  others 
and  for  the  honor  of  his  Redeemer. 

July  30.  The  trial  of  John  Clark,*  Obadiah. Holmes  and  John 
Crandal,  at  the  Quarterly  Court  of  Assistants  in  Boston,  excites 
much  attention.  They  were  committed  the  22d  to  the  prison  here, 
charged  with  coining  from  Newport,  R.  I.,  to  Lynn,  for  the  purpose 
of  promoting  their  opinions  and  practices  of  baptism. 

About  this  time,  Giles  Firmin  f  returns  to  his  native  country. 
He  came  to  this  Colony,  in  1630,  with  his  father,  of  the  same 
Christian  name,  who  had  been  an  apothecary  at  Sudbury,  England  ; 
settled  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  died,  deacon  of  the  church 
there,  September,  1634.  He  became  pious  when  a  school-boy, 
through  a  remark  of  Mr.  Rogers  of  Dedham,  who,  seeing  him  and 
others  pressing  into  the  church  on  a  week  day,  said  :  "  Here  are 
some  young  ones  come  for  a  Christ.  Will  nothing  serve  but 
you  must  have  a  Christ  ?  Then  you  shall  have  him."  This  ad- 
dress deeply  impressed  his  mind  and  was  the  means  of  his  conver- 
sion. He  spelt  his  name  Gyles  Fyrmin ;  had  land  granted  him  at 
Ipswich,  1638-9 ;  was  made  freeman,  1639,  and  wrote  to  Governor 
Winthrop,  December  29  of  this  year,  that,  while  practicing  physic, 
he  was  strongly  inclined  to  study  divinity.  In  1642,  he  was  a 
Ruling  Elder,  and  dismissed,  February,  1643—4,  from  the  Boston 
Church  to  the  Ipswich  Church,  where  "  he  hath  long  inhabited." 
He  married  Susan,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Xathaniel  Ward.  On 
his  passage,  he  was  shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  Spain.  At  the 
very  time  he  was  thus  suffering,  a  little  daughter,  whom  he  left 
behind  with  his  wife,  lay  crying  out,  occasionally,  all  night,  My 
father !  my  father !  and  could  not  be  stilled.  This  led  the  family 
to  fear,  that  he  was  in  great  trouble,  and  they  prayed  earnestly  for 
his  relief  and  preservatibn.  He  was  spared  to  reach  the  port  of  his 
destination.  He  continued  in  England  some  time,  then  came  back, 
took  his  family  with  him,  returned  thither,  and  became  minister  of 
Shalford,  when  he  was  nigh  40  years  old.  Whatsoever  his  hands 
found  to  do  in  his  holy  calling,  he  did  with  all  his  might.  While 
delivering  a  sermon  to  the  Parliament  and  the  Westminster  Assem- 
blv,  he  said  in  reference  to  Xew  England  :  "  I  have  lived  in  a  country 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  536.      f  Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  295.     Brook,  vol.  ii.p.  422. 


A   SEEKER'S   PUBLICATION.  19 

1651.] 

Beven  yean,  and  all  that  time  I  never  heard  one  profane  oath,  and 

all  thai  time  never  did  Bee  a  man  drunk  in  thai  land."  \<>  doubt 
that  this  was  true  as  to  the  observation  of  Mr.  Fyrmin,  but  there 
were  profane  and  intemperate  persona  here,  during  the  period  he 
mentions,  as  may  be  Been  on  the  General  Court  Records.     Still  his 

statement  shows,  that  such  vices  were  tar  less  prevalent  in  our  land 
at  that  time,  than  they  have  been  in  modern  years.  Alter  his 
ejectment,  Mr.  Fyrmin  resided  at  Ridgewell,  about  eight  miles 

distant,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  days.  He  continued  to 
preach  frequently  and  practice  physic.  His  prescriptions  for  the 
poor  were  tree,  and  for  all  others  reasonable.  Of  his  many  publi- 
cations, the  Real  Christian  held  a  prominent  rank.  He  closed  his 
laborious  and  useful  life,  April,  1697,  above  80  years  old.  "  He 
Was  a  man  of  excellent  abilities  and  a  general  scholar ;  eminent  for 
acquaintance  with  the  oriental  languages,  and  well  read  in  the 
fathers,  schoolmen  and  church  history.  He  went  about  doing  good, 
and  therein  was  his  chief  delight." 

The  activity  of  the  Baptists  to  disseminate  their  belief,  that  none 
but  adults  ought  to  hold  any  membership  in  the  Church,  rendered 
the  supporters  of  the  opposite  opinion  more  desirous  to  strengthen 
their  own  position.  Richard  Mather  addresses*  a  friend  as  follows  : 
"  My  thoughts  have  been  this  long  time,  that  our  churches  in 
general  do  fall  short  in  their  practice  of  that,  which  the  Rule 
requires  in  this  particular,  which  I  think  ought  to  be  thus,  viz., 
that  the  children  of  church  members,  submitting  themselves  to  the 
discipline  of  Christ  in  the  church,  by  an  act  of  their  own,  when 
they  are  grown  up  to  men's  and  women's  estate,  ought  to  be 
watched  over  as  other  members,  and  to  have  their  infants  baptized, 
but  themselves  not  to  be  received  to  the  Lord's  Table,  nor  to  voting 
in  the  church,  till  by  the  manifestation  of  faith  and  repentance, 
they  shall  approve  themselves  to  be  fit  for  the  same.  But  we  have 
not  yet  thus  practiced,  but  are  now  considering  of  the  matter,  and 
of  sending  to  other  churches  for  advice.  Help  us,  I  pray  you, 
with  your  prayers,  that  we  may  have  grace  to  discern,  and  do  the 
Lord's  mind  and  will  herein." 

August  -i.  Eliot  writes  to  some  brother f  in  the  ministry  :  "Mr. 
TTilliams  sent  me  this  booke  to  read  (sent  him  from  England). 
The  author  is  (I  judge)  a  holy,  able,  and  pure  seeker.  It  is  well 
worth  the  labour  to  answer  and  needfull."  The  part  about  "  the 
seekers  "  does  not  meet  his  approbation.  Not  able  from  his  en- 
gagements to  carry  on  the  work,  he  therefore  sends  it  by  other 
hands.  As  to  reviewing  the  contents,  he  observes  :  "  If  the  Lord 
should  put  it  into  your  heart  to  vndertake  it,  I  doe  hope  your 
labour  would  be  both  very  acceptable  and  much  blessed." 

*  First  Principles  of  Xew  England,  p.  11. 

f  Endorsed  on  the  back  to  Hooker,  but  he  -was  dead  before  1651.     Hutch- 
inson MSS.  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 


50  APOSTOLIC  OFFICE. 

[Mass. 

The  friend,  so  addressed,  complies  with  the  invitation.  In  his 
preface  to  a  short  discussion  of  several  points,  which  he  forwarded 
to  Eliot,  he  says  :  "  It  is  not  long  since  you  sent  me  a  Booke 
entitled,  A  Sober  Word  to  a  Serious  People.  The  intent  of  ye 
Booke  is  to  take  off  the  people  of  God  from  attending  to  Church 
communion  and  to  the  ministry."  He  hopes,  that  if  Williams 
lent  him  the  treatise  to  draw  him  from  his  mission  among  the 
Indians,  "  for  want  of  Apostolic  office,"  the  Lord  will  enable  him 
to  be  strong  in  so  holy  and  honorable  an  enterprise.  He  remarks  : 
"  Now  the  office  of  all  Pastors  and  Teachers  is  questioned,  yea, 
and  the  standing  of  all  Christian  churches,  and  ye  present  admin- 
istration of  all  the  public  Gospell  ordinances  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

6.  The  Indians,  under  the  ministry  of  Eliot,  having  settled  at 
Natick,  fix  on  a  form  of  civil  government,*  as  he  advised  them. 
This  was  in  accordance  with  the  counsel  of  Jethro  to  Moses,  for 
the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness.  The  Indians  choose  one  ruler  of 
a  hundred,  two  of  fifties,  and  ten  of  tens.  Then  they  enter  into  a 
covenant.  The  besdnnin^  of  it  is  as  follows  :  "  We  are  the  sons 
of  Adam.  We  and  our  forefathers  have  a  long  time  been  lost  in 
our  sins  ;  but  now  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  beginneth  to  find  us  out 
again.  Therefore,  the  grace  of  Christ  helping  us,  we  do  give  our- 
selves and  our  children  to  God,  to  be  his  people.  He  shall  rule 
over  us  in  all  our  affairs,  not  only  in  our  religion  and  affairs  of  the 
Church,  but  also  in  all  works  in  affairs  of  this  world." 

September  10.  A  letter  from  the  Commissioners  f  to  Mr.  Steel, 
is  dated.  Extracts,  literal  and  substantial,  are  given :  "  Wee  are 
sorry  that  any  objections  or  impediments  should  lye  in  your  way, 
and  would  gladly  answare  and  remoue  them,  but  those  ancient 
gifts  and  summs  of  money  raised  for  New  England  were  most  (as 
wee  conceaue)  expended  in  foundation  work,  not  only  before  the 
Collonies  did  combine,  but  before  two  of  them  had  any  being." 
Were  the  persons  intrusted  with  these  funds  all  alive  and  present, 
they  might  render  a  satisfactory  account  of  their  being  expended. 
Supplies  for  the  Indian  plantation  at  Natick  had  been  received. 
"  As  wee  shall  see  more  of  the  counsell  of  God  in  carrying  on 
this  great  work,  wee  shall  impart  our  apprehensions  conserning 
minesters,  school-masters  for  the  Indian  education  of  the  children. 
Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Mayhew  continew  theire  pius  labours  in  sowing 
sperituall  seed  amongst  them,  and  Mr.  Leweridge,  Mr.  Blinman, 
Mr.  Person,  etc.,  are  studying  the  language,  that  they  may  the 
better  treat  with  them  concerning  the  things  of  theire  peace." 

In  their  communication  to  Winslow  in  London,  is  the  passage  : 
"  It  is  apprehended  by  som,  that  according  to  the  entent  of  the 
act  of  Parliament,  an  eye  may  bee  had  in  the  destributions  (for  the 

*  Gookin's  Coll.  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  130,  1. 
f  Com'rs  MS.     Hazard  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  174,  5. 


Maviikw  CONGRATULATED.  ,       51 

Indian  mission)  to  the  enlargment  of  the  Colledge  of  Cambridge 
whereof  there  is  great  need  and  furtherance  of  learning  ool  boo 
immediately  respecting  the  Indian  designe,  though  wee  fully  con- 
cur not,  yet  desire  to  know  what  the  apprehensions  of  the  honored 
Corporacon  arc  herein.  If  the  one  might  receave  som  encurag- 
ment  without  prejudice  to  the  other,  wee  hope  the  kingdome  of 
our  Lord  Jesus,  the  generally  professed  end  of  all  interested  in  the 
worke,  may  be  advanced  thereby."  They  state  that  Edward  J  taw- 
son,  of  Boston,  has  been  chosen  by  them,  Treasurer  of  the  Mission- 
ary funds  received  from  England. 

V2.  In  reply  to  a  communication  for  them  from  Eliot,  the  Com- 
missioners mention*  various  subjects  of  the  Indian  mission.  They 
speak  of  his  continued  hope  "  that  the  Indians  doe  really  embrace 
the  Gospell."  They  advise  that  caution  be  exercised  lest  any  of 
them  abuse  his  confidence,  for  the  sake  of  improving  their  temporal 
condition  only.  They  suspect,  that  some  who  had  been  under  his 
instruction,  were  drawn  off  from  their  profession,  when  visiting 
other  Indians.  They  probably  had  cause  for  their  suspicion. 
It  would  have  been  remarkable,  in  view  of  human  nature  as  it  is, 
that  such  men,  lately  turned  from  long  confirmed  habits  of  heathen- 
ism, should  all  have  stood  unimpeachably  to  their  covenant.  In 
addition  to  Blinman,  Leveridge  and  Pierson,  who  were  learning 
the  Indian  tongue  and  thus  fitting  themselves  to  instruct  the  natives, 
they  mention  John  Higginson  as  having  learned  the  same  formerly, 
and  recommend  him  and  them  for  the  missionary  work.  They 
speak  of  having  Indians  instructed,  so  that  they  may  be  able  to 
teach  others. 

The  Commissioners  congratulatef  Mayhew  for  the  success  of  his 
Gospel  labors  among  the  Vineyard  Indians.  In  view  of  it,  they 
desire  to  "  waite  vpon  the  great  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would 
send  forth  more  labourers  into  his  vinyard  and  soe  bedew  theire 
labours  with  the  former  and  latter  showers  of  his  Spiret,  that  this 
barren  wildernes  become  a  fruitfull  field."  They  inform  him, 
that  the  Corporation  in  London  have  bought  him  £30  worth  of 
books. 

In  reply  to  the  request  +  of  Dunster,  President  of  the  College, 
for  help,  they  agree  that  they  "  will  propound  to  and  improve  their 
several  interests  in  the  Colonies,  that  by  pecks,  half  bushels  and 
bushels  of  wheat,  according  as  men  are  free  and  able,  the  College 
may  have  some  considerable  yearly  help  towards  their  occasions, 
and  herein  if  the  Massachusetts  please  to  give  a  leading  example, 
the  rest  may  probably  the  more  readily  follow." 

The  ensuing  passage  is  from  an  address  §  to  Parliament  by  Whit- 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  185,  6. 
f  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  186,  7. 
X  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  197. 
§  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  103,  4. 


52  CROMWELL'S  LETTER  TO   COTTON. 

[Mass. 

field,  in  his  "Light  More  and  More,"  etc.  "Some  are  heard  to 
question  the  affections  of  New  England  towards  the  Parliament  and 
present  State.  To  which  I  must  answer,  that  the  magistrates, 
ministers  and  generally  the  people  of  New  England  so  farre  as  I 
know  or  have  observed,  or  can  learn,  have  been  faithful  and  cordial 
to  the  Parliament  from  the  first,  and  do  own  this  present  Govern- 
ment and  Commonwealth,  giving  in  this  as  a  reall  argument,  in 
being  your  Honours'  Remembrancers  at  the  throne  of  grace,  both 
praying  to  God  for  you  in  your  straits,  and  praising  God  for  the  en- 
largement of  his  good  hand  upon  you."  He  petitions  Parliament 
to  favor  New  England,  but  especially  to  encourage  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  Indians  here,  a  work  hopefully  commenced. 

October  2.  Under  this  date,  Cromwell  replies  *  to  the  letter, 
which  Cotton  had  sent  him.  "  I  received  yours  a  few  dayes 
sithence.  It  was  welcome  to  me,  because  signed  by  you  whome  I 
love  and  honour  in  the  Lord,  but  more  to  see  some  of  the  same 
grounds  of  our  actings  stirring  in  you,  that  does  in  us  to  quiet  us 
to  our  work  and  support  us  therein,  which  hath  greatest  difficulty 
in  our  engagement  in  Scotland,  by  reason  we  have  had  to  do  with 
some,  who  were  (I  verily  think)  godly,  but  through  weakness  and 
the  subtilty  of  Sathan,  involved  in  interests  against  the  Lord  and 
his  people.  When  all  the  power  was  devolved  into  the  Scottish 
Kinge  and  the  malignant  partie,  they  invading  England,  the  Lord 
has  rayned  upon  them  such  snares  as  that  of  their  whole  armie, 
when  the  narritive  was  framed,  not  five  had  returned.  I  am  readie 
to  serve  you  and  the  rest  of  our  brethren  and  the  churches  with 
you.     Pray  for  me,  salute  all  Christian  friencles  though  unknown." 

14.  At  their  session,  beginning  now,f  various  subjects  come  be- 
fore the  Legislature.  In  view  of  the  reply  made  by  the  Elders  to 
objections  against  the  Synod's  result,  they  express  themselves  after 
this  manner.  "  The  Court  having  perused  the  said  answer,  do 
thankfully  acknowledge  their  learned  pains  therein  accounting 
themselves  called  of  God,  especially  at  this  time  when  the  Truth 
of  Christ  is  so  much  opposed  in  the  World  to  give  their  Testi- 
mony to  the  said  Book  of  Discipline,  that  for  the  substance  thereof 
is  that  we  have  practiced  and  do  believe." 

Though  the  Court  had  made  several  declarations  against  excess 
in  apparel,  both  of  men  and  women,  yet  they  failed  to  receive 
proper  compliance.  Their  language  is  :  "  We  cannot  but  to  our 
grief  take  notice,  that  intolerable  excess  and  bravery  have  crept  in 
upon  us  especially  amongst  people  of  mean  condition  to  the  dis- 
honour of  God,  the  scandal  of  our  profession,  the  consumption  of 
estates  and  altogether  unsuitable  to  our  poverty."  They  pass  an 
order  to  meet  the  complaint. 

*  Brooks's  Lives  of  the  Puritans  has  this  dated  1652. 
f  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  236,  7.     Mather  MSS. 


CIVIL   AM)   CHURCH    row  BR.  58 

1651.] 

Matthews  and  the  Maiden  Church  appear  on  the  24th   before 

the  Court.  These  authorities  require  the  Church  to  deal  with  him 
tor  errors  of  doctrine,  or,  ii'  they  decline,  the  Churches  of  Cam- 
bridge, Charlestown,  Lynn  and  Reading  are,  in  way  of  advice,  to 
perform  such  duty  by  their  messengers.  Other  Churches  are  not 
excluded  from  being  represented  in  the  Council. 

The  Church  so  arraigned  present,  on  the  26th,  a  respectful  re- 
monstrance. They  say  :  "  We  know  of  no  law  of  Christ,  or  of  the 
country,  that  hinds  any  church  of  Christ  not  to  ordain  their  own 
officers  without  advice  of  magistrates  and  churches."  The  Act  of 
1641  empowered  the  civil  authority  to  forbid  any  church  to  be 
gathered,  without  such  consultation,  and  also,  "  to  see  the  peace, 
ordinances  and  rules  of  Christ  be  observed  in  every  church." 

On  this  basis  the  subsequent  opinion  is  offered.  "  The  Magis- 
trates do  conceive  that  although  the  Civil  and  Church  powers  may 
proceed  concerning  offenders  in  their  several  ways  without  inter- 
fering one  with  another,  yet  in  this  case  upon  some  considerations 
they  judge  it  doth  stand  with  wisdom  to  have  the  churches  act  be- 
fore themselves."  They  therefore  propose,  that  the  Maiden  church 
deal  with  Matthews,  for  "  his  errors  and  unsafe  expressions,"  and 
that  if  he  satisfy  them  "  under  his  hand  "  and  the  Council  have 
such  result  "  within  six  weeks,  the  matter  at  present  may  so  rest, 
else,  the  Secretary  shall  give  notice  to  the  churches  of  Cambridge, 
Charlestown,  Lynn  and  Heading  to  send  their  messengers  in  way 
of  Council  and  advice  unto  the  church  of  Maiden,  and  with  them 
to  debate  the  doctrines  there  delivered  by  Mr.  Matthew's"  and  now 
in  question."  The  Deputies,  not  consenting  to  this  measure,  in 
some  of  its  features,  ask  for  a  conference.  This  appears  to  have 
been  conceded,  and,  as  the  Records  showr,  the  above  course,  laid 
out  by  the  Magistrates,  was  adopted,  with  the  addition,  that  other 
churches,  if  needed,  might  be  represented  on  the  occasion,  with  the 
four  particularized. 

Matthews  laid  before  the  Court,  on  the  28th,  a  written  submis- 
sion to  their  pleasure.  Among  his  concessions  is  this :  "  I  doe 
acknowledge  y1  in  severall  of  those  expressions,  refered  to  the  ex- 
aminacon  of  the  honoured  Committee,  I  might,  (had  the  Lord  seen 
it  so  good)  have  expressed  and  delivered  myselfe  in  terms  more 
free  from  excepcon.  And  it  is  my  desyre  (the  Lord  strengthening) 
as  much  as  in  me  lyeth,  to  avoyd  all  appearances  of  euill  therein 
for  tyme  to  come,  as  in  all  other  respects  whatsoeuer."  He  closes 
thus  :  "  I  humbly  desyre  your  hearty  prayers  for  me,  and  in  spetiall 
that  I  may  take  heed  to  the  ministrie  committed  to  me,  yl  I  may 
fulfill  it  to  the  prayse  of  God  and  profitt  of  his  people." 

Accompanying  this  paper  is  a  petition,  subscribed  by  36  females 
of  his  parish,  who  desire  the  Court,  that  he  may  be  excused  for 
some  imperfections  and  continue  his  labors  among  their  Congrega- 
tion.    The  apology,  on  his  part,  did  not  fully  satisfy  them.     As 


54  FOREIGN  GOVERNOR  DREADED. 

[Mass. 

the  Church  justified  their  course,  the  Legislature  fine  them  £50 
for  ordaining  Matthews,  without  requisite  permission,  but  not  so 
as  to  include  the  members,  who  had  given  satisfaction.  The  fine 
of  £10,  laid  on  him,  is  respited.* 

That  Pynchon  "if  possible  may  be  reduced  into  the  way  of 
Truth  and  that  he  might  renounce  the  errors  and  heresies,  published 
in  his  book,"  decision,  upon  his  case,  is  suspended  till  the  Court  in 
May.    He  is  instructed  to  appear  there  and  answer,  or  forfeit  £100. 

The  reply  of  Norton  to  his  work  is  ordered  to  be  forwarded  and 
printed  in  England.  This  step  is  taken  to  prevent  the  religious 
public  there  from  entertaining  the  suspicion,  that  the  particular 
views  of  Redemption  and  Justification,  advanced  by  Pynchon,  have 
any  countenance  from  the  New  England  Churches.  As  an  emoli- 
ent  of  their  proceedings  against  Pynchon,  the  Court  commission 
Henry  Smith  of  the  Deputies,  his  son-in-law,  to  govern  in  the 
affairs  of  Springfield.  So  appointed,  Smith  desired  and  obtained 
leave  to  go  home  immediately.  This  he  is  likely  to  have  done, 
that  he  might  discharge  the  duties  of  his  new  office,  if  accepted,  or 
perhaps,  because  he  concluded  that  his  father  was  not  treated  with 
due  leniency. 

A  communication  from  Winslow,  in  London,  is  read  to  the 
Legislature.  It  informs  them,  that  the  Council  of  State,  appointed 
by  Parliament,  had  power  to  place  Governors  and  Commissioners 
in  the  Colonies  here,  as  they  should  deem  most  advisable,  and  that 
they  would  like  for  Massachusetts  to  take  out  a  new  Patent.  He 
also  mentions  that  they  expect  an  answer  from  this  Colony  on  so 
important  a  subject.  Such  tidings  are  far  from  being  welcome  to 
the  ears  and  hearts  of  our  fathers.  They  had  hopefully  watched 
the  progress  of  freedom,  in  the  mother  Country,  though  with 
unequal  and  hazardous  pace,  as  a  means  of  deliverance  from  the 
long  continued  efforts  of  the  royalists  to  nullify  their  charter.  But 
to  have  the  matter  of  relinquishing  this  valued  pledge  of  their  civil 
and  religious  privileges,  brought  up  in  a  quarter  where  they  ex- 
pected it  would  have  strong  support,  must  have  filled  them  with 
emotions  of  bitter  disappointment.  Their  language  in  a  petition  to 
Parliament,  at  this  time,  follows  :  "  These  things  make  us  doubt  and 
fear  what  is  intended  toward  us.  About  three  or  four  and  twenty 
years  since,  seeing  just  cause  to  feare  the  persecution  of  the  then 
bishops  and  high  commission,  for  not  conforming  to  the  ceremonies 
then  pressed  upon  the  consciences  of  those  under  their  power,  we 
thought  it  our  safest  course  to  get  to  this  outside  of  the  world,  out 
of  their  view  and  beyond  their  reach.  We  hoped  that  our  posterity 
should  reap  the  fruit  of  our  labours  and  enjoy  the  liberties  and 
privileges  we  had  obtained  for  them,  and  for  which  we  have  payd 
soe  dear  and  run  soe  great  hazards.    For  our  carriage  and  demeanour 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Papers.  f  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


J 


FAITHFULNESS  TO    PARLIAMENT. 
1651.] 

to  the  honourable  Parliament,  for  these  tea  years,  since  the  first 
beginning  of  your  differences  with  the  late  King,  and  the  warre 
that  ensuied,  we  have  constantly  adheared  to  you,  not  withdrawing 
ourselves  in  your  weakest  condition  and  doubtfuliesl  times,  Imt  by 
our  fasting  and  prayers  for  your  good  successe,  and  our  thanks- 
giving alter  the  same  was  attained,  in  days  of  solemnity  set  apart 
for  that  purpose,  as  alsoe  by  OUT  sending  over  useful  men  (others 
alsoe  going  voluntarily  from  us  to  help  you)  who  have  been  of 
good  use  and  done  acceptable  services  to  the  army,  declaring  to  the 
world  heerby,  that  such  was  the  duty  and.  the  love  we  beare  unto 
the  Parliament,  that  we  were  ready  to  rise  and  fall  with  them  ;  for 
which  we  have  suffered  the  hatred  and  threats  of  other  English 
colonies,*  now  in  rebellion  against  you,  as  alsoe  the  losse  of  divers 
of  our  shippes  and  goods,  taken  by  the  King's  party  that  is  dead, 
by  others  commissioned  by  the  King  of  Scotts,  and  by  the  Por- 
tugalls.  All  which  if  you  shall  pleas  justly  and  favourably  to  con- 
sider, we  cannot  but  hope,  but  that,  as  you  have  formerly  conferred 
many  favours  upon  us,  soe  it  shall  goe  noe  worse  with  us,  than  it 
did  under  the  late  King,  and  that  the  frame  of  our  government 
shall  not  be  changed ;  wherein  if  our  hopes  should  deceave  us 
(which  God  forbid)  we  shall  have  cause  to  say,  we  have  fallen  into 
hard  times  and  sit  downe  and  sigh  out  our  too  late  repentance  for 
our  coming  hither." 

They  proceed  to  specify  instances  of  the  Parliament's  kindness 
towards  them,  and  especially  in  promoting  the  mission  among  the 
Indians  of  this  quarter. 

The  Court  address  a  letter  to  Cromwell.  They  speak  of  a  pro- 
posal from  him  for  some  of  the  colonists  here  to  return  and  settle 
in  Ireland.  They  express  their  fullest  belief,  that  he  intends  it 
for  the  highest  benefit  of  all  concerned,  but  still  they  apprehend 
that  he  has  been  misinformed,  and  that  such  an  enterprise  would 
injure  the  Colony.  They  then  offer  several  reasons  why  no  such 
removal  is  necessary.  One  is,  that  there  is  no  defect  as  to  the 
enjoyment  of  Gospel  liberties  in  their  purity.  Another,  "  God  is 
pleased  hitherunto  to  maintayne  unto  us  all  his  ordinances,  both  in 
Church  and  Commonwealth,  whereby,  spreading  errors  in  judge- 
ment are  suppressed,  and  prophanenes  and  wickednes  in  practice 
punished  according  to  the  rule  and  the  best  light,  God  is  pleased 
to  vouchsafe  unto  us."  Further,  "  God  hath  made  this  colonie  to 
be  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  some  of  the  natives  amongst 
us,  and  many  more  are  hopefull  to  submitt  to  the  Gosple  and  be- 
leeve  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  that  worke  is  brought  to  this  perfection 
alreadie,  that  some  of  the  Indians  themselves  can  pray  and  proph- 
esie,  in  a  comfortable  manner,  to  the  rest,  with  great  gravetie,  rev- 
erence and  zeale,  and  can  write  and  read  English  and  Indian  com- 

*  Virginia,  Bermudas,  Barbadoes  and  Antego. 


56  RELINQUISHMENT   OF   CHARTER. 

[Mass. 

fortably.  And  many  scores  of  them  assemble  together  upon  their 
lecture  days,  and  are  well  affected  to  the  Gosple."  After  presenting 
six  arguments,  the  Legislature  state,  that  the  "  report  of  so  many 
invited  and  intending  to  transplant  themselves  in  Ireland,"  had 
produced  a  general  discouragement  and  created  a  prejudice  against 
the  Commonwealth.  They  inform  him  of  their  address  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  desire  that  he  would  use  his  influence  for  the  obtainment 
of  its  requests,  so  that,  as  they  observe,  "  we  may  not  be  hindered 
in  our  comfortable  proceedings  in  the  worke  of  God  heere  in  this 
wildernes."* 

From  these  two  papers,  it  is  plain,  that  our  Bay  authorities  did 
not  mean  to  relinquish  their  Charter  until  they  had  tried  all  proper 
means  in  their  power  to  the  contrary.  While  they  laid  before  the 
Long  Parliament  forcible  reasons  for  the  retention  of  this  document, 
they  imitated  the  wise  policy  of  their  predecessors  in  1634,  when 
receiving  a  mandate  of  the  Council  for  New  England,  that  it  be 
immediately  delivered  into  their  hands.  Thus  imitating  a  prudent 
example,  they  availed  themselves  of  the  favor,  which  they  had 
specially  found  with  Cromwell,  by  desiring  him  to  exert  his  power 
so  that  such  a  calamity  might  be  averted  from  their  experience. 
It  appears  that  their  application  to  him  had  its  intended  effect, 
as  the  Parliament  ceased  to  press  their  singular  injunction  any 
further. 

October  16.  Thomas  Mayhew  f  of  the  Vineyard,  dates  a  commu- 
nication to  Rev.  Henry  Whitfield.  He  relates,  that  several  Powows, 
whose  influence  was  great  among  their  people,  had  renounced  their 
practices  and  joined  with  the  worshipers  of  God.  He  states,  that 
199  men,  women  and  children,  had  thus  thrown  off  their  idolatry ; 
"  that  there  are  two  meetings  kept  every  Lord's  day,  the  one  three 
miles,  the  other  about  eight  miles  off  my  house.  Hiacomes  teach- 
eth  twice  a  day  at  the  nearest,  and  Muinanequem  accordingly  at 
the  fartherest.  The  last  day  of  the  week  they  come  unto  me  to  be 
informed  touching  the  subject  they  are  to  handle.  I  have  also 
undertaken  to  keep  two  lectures,  which  will  be  each  once  a  fort- 
night." The  friends  of  the  mission  here,  who  live  in  England, 
say  that  they  have  collected  these  testimonials,  because  some,  who 
return  from  the  Colonies,  "  labour  to  blast  the  worke,  by  reporting 
that  there  is  no  such  work  afoote  in  the  country ;  or  if  it  be,  it  is 
but  for  the  loaves,  and  if  any  be  truly  converted,  'tis  not  above  five 
or  seaven  at  most." 

October  27.  Governor  Endicott  writes  J  to  the  President  of  the 
Corporation  in  England  relative  to  his  late  attendance  on  a  lecture 
to  the  Indians  at  Natick,  being  about  100  of  both  sexes.  He  re- 
marks :  "  I  rode  on  purpose  thither  being  distant  from  my  dwelling 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  E.  Mayhew' s  Indian  Converts,  p.  289. 

X  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  189-91. 


PUNISHMENT  OF   BLASPHEMY.  >>~ 

lfiSl.] 

about  88  or  40  miles,  and  truly  I  account  it  one  of  the  best  JOUT- 
neyea  1  have  made  these  many  years.  There  came  to  lia  upon  the 
80th  of  this  instant  moneth,  at  the  Generall  Court,  one'Pumma- 
kuniniini.  Sachem  of  Qunnubbagge,  dwelling  amongst  or  Deer  to 
the  Narragansets,  who  offered  himselfe  and  his  men  to  worship 
God  and  desired  that  some  English  may  be  sent  from  the  Massa- 
chusetts Government  to  plant  his  River,  that  thereby  he  may  be 
pai  taker  of  Government,  and  may  be  instructed  by  the  English  to 
know  God.  We  shall,  I  hope,  take  some  care  and  course  about  it, 
and  1  hope  we  shall  have  more  help  to  carry  on  that  work  also, 
for  there  are  some  scholars  amongst  us,  who  addict  themselves  to 
the  study  of  the  Indian  Tongue." 

~8.  Wilson  dates  a  letter  to  Mr.  Steele.  He  accompanied  En- 
dicott  to  Natick.  He  says  that  he,  as  well  as  himself,  addressed 
the  Indian  Congregation  in  their  newly  made  fort.  He  expresses 
much  satisfaction  in  the  appearance  and  improvement  of  the  natives 
at  the  settlement.  He  also  gives  an  account  of  a  recent  visit  from 
Homonequem,  distinguished  for  his  piety  and  intelligence,  from 
the  Vineyard,  who  preached  a  sermon  to  the  Indians  at  Dorchester 
Mills,  with  good  acceptance.  He  relates,  that  this  convert  attended 
worship  with  his  congregation,  and  adds,  "  truly  my  reverence  to 
him  was  such,  as  there  being  no  room,  I  prayed  our  brethren  to 
receive  that  good  Indian  into  one  of  their  pewes,  which  they  did 
forenoon  and  afternoon."  Speaking  of  the  influence  which  the 
Gospel  exerted  among  the  natives,  Wilson  closes  :  <(  The  Lord 
vouchsafe  to  be  the  Omega  among  them  as  well  as  the  Alpha  of 
the  blessed  change."  * 

At  the  General  Court,f  John  Grossman  is  sentenced  to  be 
severely  whipped,  branded  on  the  forehead,  with  a  hot  iron  with 
the  letter  B,  presently  after  lecture  in  Boston,  the  30th,  and  be 
banished  from  the  jurisdiction  forever  from  November  20th,  for 
uttering  blasphemy  against  God. 

30.  The  wife  of  Christopher  Collins,  now  in  prison,  charged 
with  witchcraft,  is  allowed  to  be  bailed  till  the  Court  of  Assistants 
in  March  next,  and  then  appear  to  answer. 

This  year,  George  Gardyner+  of  England,  speaking  of  the 
Churches,  mentions  some  particulars,  which  show  the  continuation 
of  what  has  been  previously  mentioned.  "  The  Ruling  Elder  to 
order  the  Assemblies,  visit  from  house  to  house,  oversee  the  mem- 
bers, while  the  Pastor  and  Teacher  give  themselves  to  word  and 
doctrine,  and  all  of  them  together  govern  the  Church.  The 
Deacon  to  have  care  of  the  Treasury,  to  supply  the  poor  even 
before  they  crave  help  of  the  Church.     To  the  Deacon's  office,  we 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  176-9.     Mayhew's  Ind.  Conv.  p.  12-4. 
t  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  +  British  Museum  Coll. 


58  LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 

[Mass. 

add  Deaconnesses,  where  such  may  be  had,  according  to  which, 
they  should  be  widows  of  the  Church,  faithful,  approved  and  full 
of  good  works,  who  may  give  themselves  to  works  of  mercy  cheer- 
fully, and  to  be  serviceable  to  those  that  are  sick,  when  the  Deacons 
so  conveniently  cannot,  and  sometimes  so  modestly  may  not,  send 
their  help  as  that  sex  may." 

Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence*  speaks  of  Newbury. 
"  It  consists  of  about  seventy  families.  The  soules  in  church  fel- 
lowship are  about  an  hundred.  The  teaching  Elders  of  this  Con- 
gregation have  carried  it  very  lovingly  toward  their  people,  permit- 
ting of  them  to  assist  in  admitting  of  persons  into  Church-society, 
and  in  Church-censures,  so  long  as  they  act  regularly,  but  in  case 
of  their  male-administration,  they  assume  the  power  wholly  to 
themselves."  Though  this  use  of  Independent  and  Presbyterian 
government  in  the  same  church,  had  not  produced  "  hot  conten- 
tions," yet  it  afterwards  did  to  a  degree  subversive  of  peace  and 
preventive  of  spiritual  prosperity. 

Propositions  are  made  f  concerning  Ecclesiastical  Peace  between 
the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  Churches.  An  extract  follows : 
"  That  there  may  bee  freedome  betwixt  us  and  Lutherans  to  com- 
municate together  in  thinges  tending  to  the  good  of  all  Evangelicall 
Churches  and  yfc  all  other  purposes  may  bee  set  a  worke,  which  shall 
bee  found  fit  to  advance  the  overthrow  of  Antichristianitie  and  to 
undermine  the  powerfull  policie  as  upheld  the  kingdome  of  Satan. 
To  which  effect  these  following  heads  have  been  shortly  thus  con- 
cerned and  contriued  by  some  to  bee  in  due  tyme  proposed  unto 
others,  that  every  true-hearted  Israelite  here,  who  wisheth  well  to 
Jerusalem  both  here  and  elsewhere,  may  know  assuredly  y4  there 
bee  many  beiond  seas,  men  of  note  and  authoritie,  men  of  con- 
science, zeale,  judgment  and  learning,  that  are  desirous  to  ioyne 
hands  and  hearts  with  them  in  this  worke,  that  it  may  bee  brought 
to  passe  and  fullie  perfected  to  God  his  glory.  Which  wee  beseech 
the  Lord  in  mercy  to  us  and  his  distressed  churches  beiond  seas  to 
prosper,  confirnie  and  perfectly  to  effectuate." 

Succeeding  this  in  such  a  direction,  are  the  "  Meanes  to  pacifie 
the  churches." 

A  work,  welcomed  by  the  Christian  public  of  London  and 
issued  from  the  press  there,  is  the  Fountain  of  Life,  in  Sixteen 
Sermons  ;  written  by  John  Cotton. 

A  controversial  volume  against  opinions  of  this  and  another  of 
our  noted  divines,  is  published  in  the  same  metropolis.  Its  title 
follows  :  The  Inconsistency  of  the  Independent  Way  with  the 
Scripture  and  itself,  manifested  in  a  threefold  Discourse.  I.  Vindi- 
ciae  Vindicarum  with  Mr.  Cotton.  II.  A  Review  of  Mr.  Hooker's 
Survey  of  Church  Discipline,  the  first  part.     III.  A  Diatribe  with 

*  P.  68,  9.  f  Hutchinson,  MS.  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  163. 


REVOLUTION   OF   ENGLAND, 
1651.] 

the  same  Mr.  I  looker  concerning  baptism  of  infanta  of  non-confed- 
erate parents,  cap.  2  of  his  third  part,  by  Daniel  ( 'aw dic\ .  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  and  late  preacher  at  Martins-in-the- 
Fields. 

Among  the  influences  exerted  by  our  Colonists,  are  those  of 
persons  who,  by  this  time,  as  others  did  afterwards,  had  gone  to 
England  and  contributed  to  the  revolution  there,  in  civil  and 
religious  concerns.  With  his  eye  on  this  fact,  Johnson*  expresses 
himself  accordingly.  Having  reverted  to' Peters  and  Weld,  as 
prominent  actors  for  such  a  change,  he  adds,  that  it  was  also  pro- 
moted "  by  divers  other  godly  ministers,  who  have  since  gone  from 
hence,  both  young  students  and  others,  to  the  number  of  twenty  or 
thereabout,  besides  some  who  were  eminent  in  the  civil  govern- 
ment here,  both  gracious  and  godly  servants  of  Christ,  and  some 
who  have  been  magistrates  here,  to  the  number  t)f  five  or  six. 
The  Lord  grant  they  may  all  endeavor  the  advancement  of  his 
truths,  both  in  churches  and  civil  government.  But  before  the 
author  ceases  to  speak  of  England,  he  is  bold  to  say,  that  the  Lord 
Christ  will  overturn,  overturn,  overturn,  till  he  hath  caused  such 
a  government  to  be  set  up,  as  shall  become  nursing  fathers  to  his 
new  planted  churches." 

About  this  year,  Thomas  Allen  leaves  Charlestown  for  the  land 
of  his  birth  and  education.  Mather  f  informs  us  that,  wThile  here, 
he  "  approved  himself  a  pious  and  painful  minister  of  the  Gospel ;  " 
and  that  his  surname  "  being  but  our  pronunciation  of  the  Saxon 
word,  Alwine,"  or  "  beloved  of  all,"  was  expressive  of  his  reputa- 
tion "  among  the  generality  of  the  well  disposed."  During  his 
abode  here,  he  published  u  An  invitation  unto  thirsty  sinners  to 
come  unto  Christ,"  and  composed  "  a  most  learned  and  useful  " 
work,  called  "  A  Chain  of  Scripture  Chronology,"  printed  in  Lon- 
don, 1659.  Keferring  to  this  book,  a  noted  divine,  William 
Greenhill,  observed  :  "  Many  of  our  reverend,  learned  and  godly 
brethren,  driven  into  America,  by  looking  unto  God  and  searching 
the  Scriptures,  received  and  found  much  light,  concerning  the 
church  and  the  times,  and  have  made  us  and  ages  to  come,  be- 
holden to  them  by  communicating  the  same."  Mr.  Allen  also 
published,  "  The  Way  of  the  Spirit  in  bringing  Souls  to  Christ," 
and  several  sermons  on  "  The  glory  of  Christ  set  forth,  with  the 
necessity  of  faith."  Calamy  J  relates,  that  he  returned  to  Norwich 
and  continued  his  ministry  there  till  ejected  in  1662.  Subse- 
quently, he  "  preached  upon  all  occasions  that  offered,  in  a  Congre- 
gational Church  there,"  until  his  decease  in  September,  1673,  aged 
65.  "  He  was  a'  religious,  able,  practical  preacher."  There  is 
cause  to  believe  that  the  Saviour,  whom  he  specially  honored  be- 

*  "Wonder  Working  Providence,  p.  224.  f  Magnalia,  b.  3,  p.  215. 

X  Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  476. 


60  MISREPRESENTATION   OF  THE  MISSION. 

[Mass. 

fore  men,  took  care  that  his  faithfulness  should  not  go  unrewarded 
before  saints  and  angels. 

1652.  JanuaryS.  The  minister  just  spoken  of  gives*  his  strong 
testimony  in  favor  of  the  progress  made  by  missions  among  the 
Indians  in  New  England.  He  did  this  to  counteract  the  reports 
spread  in  the  mother  country,  to  discourage  contributions  towards 
such  a  work.  He  remarks  :  "  Such  as  dare  affirme  the  contrary, 
may  as  well  say,  that  the  sunne  doth  not  shine  at  noone  day,  when 
the  skie  is  cleere,  and  doe  indeed  deserve  a  publique  witnesse  to  be 
borne  against  them  for  so  notorious  an  untruth/' 

With  reference  to  this  mission,f  eighteen  ministers  of  England, 
in  their  address,  have  the  subsequent  passage  :  "  When  other 
nations,  who  have  planted  in  those  farthest  parts  of  the  Earth,  have 
only  sought  their  owne  advantage,  that  the  Lord  should  be  pleased 
to  make  use  of  our  brethren  that  went  forth  from  us  to  make  mani- 
fest the  savour  of  Christ  among  the  people,  and  to  winne  their 
soules  to  him ;  How  should  wee  rejoice  that  the  Lord  hath  so 
farre  prospered  such  an  undertaking." 

March  4.  Having  been  informed  that  the  Church  of  Maiden  J 
intended  to  excommunicate  Thomas  Lynde  for  having  deposed, 
before  the  General  Court,  that  Mr.  Matthews  had  preached  erro- 
neous doctrine  there,  the  Council  of  the  Colony  write  to  them. 
They  say,  that  "  without  any  intention  or  desire  in  the  least  to 
infringe  the  liberty  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  purchased  for  the 
Churches,"  they  would  advise  them  to  take  the  opinion  of  three  or 
four  of  their  neighboring  churches  before  they  proceed  any  further 
in  the  case. 

April  15.  Sir  Henry  Vane  writes  ^  and  desires,  that  the  magis- 
trates would  deal  gently  with  Pynehon,  "  in  a  brotherly  way,  and 
encourage  him  in  the  improvement  of  his  excellent  abilities,  for 
further  service  of  the  Churches." 

25.  Cotton,  Wilson,  and  two  brethren  of  their  Church  are 
chosen,!|  "  at  the  request  of  ye  Church  of  Maiden,  to  be  assistant  to 
them  in  ye  agitation  of  such  matters  as  ye  cause  would  require  by 
reason  y1  foure  other  churches  were  sent  by  ye  Governor  and 
Counsell,  to  deale  with  y*  Church  vppon  some  offence  conceived 
they  had  given." 

About  this  date,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,U  on  the  publication  of 
"  111  News  from  New  England,"  writes  to  these  two  clergymen. 
In  reference  to  the  severity  exercised  by  the  Massachusetts  iluthori- 
ties  towards  Clark,  Crandal  and  Holmes,  he  expresses  himself 
strongly.     His  words  are :   "  It  doth  not  a  little  grieve  my  spirit 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  194. 

t  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  15S.     Sewall's  New  Haven,  p.  46. 

I  Mass.  Gen.  Court  MS.  Papers.  §  See  Answer  of  Oct.  20,  16-52. 

||  First  Boston  Ch.  MS.  Rec. 

1  Sketch  of  Haverhill,  Mass.     Hist.  Soc.  Coll,  2  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  171. 


DENIAL  OF  THE  sriiirn  BE8.  (>1 

i  •;;»>.] 

to  heare  what    Badd   thiogl  are  reported  dajly  of  your  tyranny  and 

peraecutiona  in  New  England,  aa  thai  you  ryne,  whip,  and  Impriton 
men  for  their  conacienoea.  First,  yon  compel]  such  to  come  into 
your  aaaembiyea  aa  you  know  will  not  joyne  with  you  in  worship, 
and  when  they  Bhew  their  dialike  thereof,  and  witnea  against  it, 

then  you  Btyrre  up  your  magiatratea  to  punish  them  for  such  (as 
you  conceyve)  their  publicke  affronts." 

He  proceeds  to  Bay,  that  action  of  this  kind  led  some  to  deny 
their  faith,  and  hecome  hypocrites.  He  adds  :  "  These  rigid 
waves  have  laved  you  very  Lowe  in  the  hearts  of  the  saynts.  I 
doe  assure  you  I  have  heard  them  pray  in  the  publique  assemblies 
that  the  Lord  would  give  you  meeke  and  humble  spirits,  not  to 
strvve  soe  much  for  uniformity  as  to  keepe  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace.  When  I  was  in  Holland,  about  the  beginning 
of  our  wanes,  I  remember  some  Christians  there,  that  then  had 
seiious  thoughts  of  planting  in  New  England,  desired  me  to  write 
to  the  Governor  thereof,  to  know  if  those  that  differ  from  you  in 
opinion,  vet  houlding  the  same  foundation  in  religion,  as  Anabap- 
tists, Seekers,  Antinomians,  and  the  like,  might  be  permitted  to 
live  among  you,  to  which  1  received  this  short  answer  from  your 
then  Governor,  Mr.  Dudley.  God  forbid  (said  he)  our  love  for  the 
truth  should  be  growne  so  could  that  we  should  tolerate  errours. 
I  hope  you  doe  not  assume  to  yourselves  infallibilitie  of  judg- 
ment." The  reply  to  this  by  Cotton,  gives  a  different  view  of  the 
subject. 

May  26.  At  a  session  of  the  Legislature,  now  begun,*  the  ensu- 
ing proceedings  took  place  :  "  The  holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  being  written  by  the  prophets,  apostles,  and  holy 
men  of  God,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  containing  in  them  the 
infallible  and  whole  will  of  God,  which  he  purposed  to  make 
known  to  mankind,  both  for  his  own  worship  and  service,  and, 
also,  for  the  instruction,  obedience,  faith,  and  salvation  of  man, 
which  yet  by  heretics  in  former  ages,  and  now  of  late  by  others, 
have  been  oppugned  and  denied  so  to  be,  which,  if  connived  at, 
would  manifestly  tend  to  the  overthrow  of  all  true  religion  and 
salvation,"  it  is  therefore  ordered,  that  "  what  person  or  persons 
soever  professing  the  Christian  Religion  above  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  that  shall  within  this  jurisdiction  wittingly  and  willingly 
deny,  either  by  word  or  writing,  any  of  the  books  of  the  Old  or 
New  Testament,"  shall  be  fined  not  above  £50,  or  be  severely 
whipped  not  Over  forty  stripes,  unless  he  or  they  recant,  and  then 
pay  not  above  £10,  or  be  whipt.  Any  person,  for  a  second  offence 
of  this  kind,  "  shall  be  banished  or  put  to  death."  In  this  act,  the 
books  of  Scripture,  forbidden  to  be  denied,  are  the  same  in  name 
and  numbers  as  those  in  our  common  version  of  the  Bible. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


62  CONTRIBUTION  FOR  THE  COLLEGE. 

[Mass. 

As  strangers  "  receiving  protection  from  this  Government  have, 
as  we  are  informed,  uttered  offensive  speeches  whereby  their 
fidelity  may  be  justly  suspected,  and  also  divers  strangers  of  foreign 
parts  of  whose  fidelity  we  have  not  that  assurance  which  is  com- 
monly required  by  all  Governments,"  it  is  ordered,  that  they  have 
an  oath  of  fidelity  administered  to  them.  Such  an  engagement 
requires  that  they  pledge  themselves  "  not  to  plot,  contrive,  or  con- 
ceal any  thing  that  is  to  the  detriment  or  hurt "  of  this  Common- 
wealth. 

The  Messengers  of  Churches  in  Charlestown,  Cambridge,  Lynn 
and  Reading,  report  their  dealing  with  Matthews  and  his  Church. 
Part  of  the  report  follows. 

Signifying  unto  him  "  what  offence  we  took  at  some  unworthy 
expressions  of  his  in  misapplying  Rev.  15.  2.  to  impeach  the  civil 
magistrates'  power  in  matters  of  Religion.  We  hope  by  what  he 
expresseth,  that  in  the  general  he  doth  indeed  see  cause  more 
than  formerly  to  bewail  the  use  of  any  such  unsound  expressions 
in  time  past,  and  to  forbear  the  use  of  them  for  time  to  come,  and 
we  in  charity  judge  that  he  will  make  conscience  of  his  solemn 
promise  now  made  for  that  end ;  yet  could  also  wish  that  Mr. 
Matthews  did  not  too  much  labor  to  put  too  fair  a  gloss  upon  his 
former  expressions,  which  in  themselves  are  very  unsavory  and 
ungrounded  upon  Scripture  pattern."  The  account  given,  is  not 
entirely  approved  by  the  Court,  though  they  "  accept  of  it  so  as  to 
pass  it  by." 

The  Confederate  Commissioners  had  proposed  sending  to  Eng- 
land for  assistance  to  Harvard  College,  as  a  principal  dependence 
for  ministers  to  support  their  congregations.  The  President  and 
Fellows  of  the  Institution  petition  the  Legislature  to  carry  out  such 
a  proposal.  But  the  latter  Body  conclude  to  delay  action  in  this 
respect,  until  they  hear  from  the  Missionary  Corporation.  They 
also  advise  the  petitioners  to  address  the  Elders  of  our  churches 
for  a  voluntary  contribution  in  their  respective  towns.  * 

June  4.  Mrs.  Holgrave,  of  Gloucester,  f  is  presented  for  saying 
"  y*  if  it  were  not  for  the  Law  she  would  never  come  to  the  meet- 
ing, the  Teacher  was  soe  dead  and  accordinglye  she  did  seldome 
come  and  with  all  perswaded  Gudwife  Vincent  to  come  to  her 
house  on  the  Sabbath  daye  and  reade  good  bookes,  affirming  that 
the  Teacher  was  fitter  to  bee  a  Ladye's  chamberman  than  to  be  in 
ye  pulpit." 

This  year,  "  Strength  out  of  Weakness,  or  a  glorious  manifesta- 
tion of  the  further  progress  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  in 
New  England,"  is  printed  in  London. 

Cotton  answers  the  communication  of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall, 
respecting  the  sentences  against  Clark,  Crandal  and  Holmes.    "  My 

*  Dunster's  MSS.  among  Belknap  Papers.  f  Essex  MS.  Court  Rec. 


LIMITED  TOLERATION.  c; 

1668.] 

brother  Wilson  and  selfe  doc  both  acknowledge  your  love  in  the 
late  lines  wee  received  from  you,  that  you  grieve  in  spirit  to  h< 
daily  complaints  against  us.  Wee  are  amongst  those  whom  (if  you 
know  us  better)  you  would  account  of  peaceable  in  Israel, 
neither  are  wee  bo  vast  in  our  indulgence  or  toleration,  as  to  thinke 
the  men  you  speake  of,  suffered  an  unjust  censure.  For  one  of 
them  (Obadiah  Holmes)  being  an  excommunicate  person  himself* , 
out  of  a  church  in  Plymouth  patent,  came  into  this  jurisdiction, 
and  took  upon  him  to  baptize,  which  I  thinke  himselfe  will  not 
sav  he  was  compelled  here  to  performe.  And  he  was  not  ignorant 
that  the  rebaptizing  of  an  elder  person,  and  that  by  a  private  per- 
son out  of  office  and  under  excommunication,  are  all  of  them  mani- 
fest contestations  against  the  order  and  government  of  our  churches, 
established  (we  know)  by  God's  law,  and  (he  knoweth)  by  the 
lawes  of  the  country.  As  for  his  whipping,  it  was  more  voluntarily 
chosen  by  him  than  inflicted  on  him."  He  then  states,  that  persons 
were  ready  to  pay  Holmes's  fine,  so  that  he  might  be  cleared  from 
the  lash,  but  he  would  not  consent,  as  Clark  did.  He  remarks, 
that  men  are  required  to  attend  public  worship,  not  that  they 
might  sin  but  do  their  duty. 

He  proceeds  :  "  We  believe  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
men's  inventions  and  God's  institutions.  Wee  fled  from  men's 
inventions,  to  which  wee  else  should  have  been  compelled.  Wee 
compell  none  to  men's  inventions.  If  our  wayes  (rigid  waves  as 
you  call  them)  have  layd  us  low  in  the  hearts  of  God's  people,  yea, 
and  of  the  saints  (as  you  stile  them),  wee  doe  not  believe  it  is  any 
part  of  their  saintship.  Neverthelesse,  I  tell  you  the  truth,  wee 
have  tolerated  in  our  church  some  anabaptists,  some  antinomians 
and  some  seekers,  and  do  so  still  at  this  daye — though  seekers  of  all 
others  have  least  reason  to  desire  toleration  in  church  fellowship. 
For  they  that  deny  all  churches  and  church  ordinances  since  the 
apostasy  of  Antichrist,  cannot  continue  in  church  fellowship  but 
against  their  owne  judgment  and  conscience ;  therefore  4  or  5  of 
them  who  openly  renounced  the  church  fellowship,  which  they  had 
long  enjoyed,  the  church  said  amen  to  their  act,  and  (after  serious 
debate  with  them  till  they  had  nothing  to  answer)  they  were  re- 
moved from  their  fellowship.  Others  carry  their  dissent  more  pri- 
vately and  inoffensively  and  soe  are  borne  withall  in  much  meek- 
nesse.  We  are  far  from  arrogating  infallibility  of  judgment  to 
ourselves  or  affecting  uniformity.  Uniformity  God  never  required, 
infallibility,  he  never  granted  us." 

"  Separation  Examined,"  is  issued  in  London  by  Gyles  Fyrman, 
who  left  Ipswich  for  his  native  land,  and  is  now  minister  to  the 
church  in  Shalford,  Essex  County.  His  remarks  bear,  in  some  de- 
gree, on  this  country,  w^hose  usages  and  events  he  had  attentively 
observed.  "  The  quarrell  is  not  only  wdth  you,  because  you  are 
Presbyteriall  ministers,  the  quarrell  is  with  the  whole  ministry,  for 


64  PRESBYTERIANS.     ORDINATION. 

[Mass. 

this  spirit  hath  infected  even  some  in  New  England,  and  I  believe 
will  cause  more  troubles  there  in  those  churches,  than  even  the 
Bishops  did,  though  they  threatened  them  much."  He  thinks 
more  of  the  ecclesiastical  Independency  of  the  Colonies  than  of  that 
he  sees  in  the  kingdom.  "  Godly  Presbyterians  in  England  are 
esteemed  the  causes  of  all  these  troubles,  yea,  I  observe  by  letters, 
which  myselfe  and  others  have  received  from  the  Divines  of  New 
England,  that  some  have  informed  them  as  if  you  were  the  causes 
of  the  second  wanes  when  Duke  Hamilton  and  Lord  Goring,  etc. 
arose.  Also  that  you  are  so  adverse  to  the  Congregationall  churches 
here,  that  you  had  rather  joyne  with  the  common  enemy,  etc.  But 
you  have,  I  thinke,  sufficiently  cleared  yourselves  from  these  asper- 
sions in  your  Vindication."  He  considers  an  objection.  "  But  if 
you  say,  our  N.  E.  ministers  doe  renounce  their  ordination  which 
they  had  here,  for  they  are  ordained  againe."  He  gives  an  answer. 
"  Its  true  they  are  ordained  againe,  but  I  never  heard  it  was  upon 
that  ground ;  for  let  a  minister  be  ordained  there  in  one  Church, 
if  there  be  cause  of  his  removall  and  so  be  elected  in  another 
Church,  they  ordaine  him  againe.  Our  N.  E.  ministers  have  often 
desired  and  frequently  admitted  to  preach  in  their  Congregations 
those  that  went  from  hence  to  them,  but  were  not  ordained  there. 
All  the  ordinations  that  I  ever  saw  in  N.  E.,  were  performed  with 
imposition  of  hands.  I  have  even  seen  Deacons  ordained  thus. 
A  member  of  Rowley  Church  in  N.  E.  denied  singing  psalms  to 
be  an  ordinance  of  God.  The  Pastors  of  Ipswich  as  well  as  his 
own  Pastor  laboured  with  him.  The  Elders  seeing  obstinacy  was 
joyned  to  his  errour,  concluded  that  either  they  must  cast  that  ordi- 
nance out  of  the  Church,  or  else  cast  him  out,  and  so  the  Church 
of  Rowley  did  cast  him  out." 

With  regard  to  John  Norton,  he  says  :  "  I  wish  we  had  a  few  of 
these  Mr.  Nortons  in  England.  Though  he  stands  much  for  the 
people's  liberty,  yet  he  so  ordereth  their  liberty,  that  our  ministers 
would  be  glad,  if  they  had  their  Churches  governed  as  is  the 
Church  whereof  himselfe  together  with  Mr.  Na :  Rogers  are 
officers." 

He  considers  a  misrepresentation,  relative  to  a  censure  of  Mrs. 
Hutchinson's  sons.  When  the  question  was  put  whether  she 
should  be  cut  off,  "  her  sonne  and  sonne  in  law  stood  up  to  put 
some  stop  in  the  way.  Mr.  Cotton  rose  up  and  gave  them  a  grave 
admonition,  that  though  their  naturall  affection  might  now  worke, 
for  which  hee  did  not  blame  them,  yet  he  would  not  have  them 
prefere  their  mother  before  Christ,  nor  hinder  their  mother  from 
that  ordinance,  which  might  bee  a  meanes  to  save  her  soule.  With 
these  words  they  both  sate  downe.  They  never  had  any  other 
censure  (if  this  be  a  censure)  and  the  Church  proceeded  in  her 
excommunication." 


.. 


DEPARTURE  -  DISPUTATION.  85 

September.  William  Pynchon*  leaves  his  residence  at  Spring- 
field, with  Henry  Smith,  who  married  his  daughter  Anna,  and  his 
pastor,  George  Moxon,  for  England.  He  lefl  a  son  John,  who 
became  much  distinguished;  and  daughters,  Mary,  wife  of  Elizur 
Holyoke,  and  Margaret,  wife  of*  William  Davis,  of  Boston.  Ii  is 
ven  likely,  that  the  dealing  which  the  Legislature  fell  themselves 
hound  to  exercise  towards  Mr.  Pynchon  for  the  opinions  of  his 
book,  was  a  main  cause  of  his  departure.  His  trials  in  this  respect, 
and  as  a  Commissioner  to  govern  the  place  of  his  abode,  while  the 
contest  existed  on  the  question  under  what  jurisdiction  it  should  be 
governed,  and  in  the  matter  of  assessing  imposts  on  its  commerce, 
between  Connecticut  and  the  Bay,  were  more  than  usual.  He  was 
prominent  among  the  Assistants  of  Massachusetts,  and  worthily 
sustained  many  important  trusts.  After  reaching  his  native  land, 
he  settled,  as  his  biographer  states,  at  Wraisbury,  or  Wrasbury, 
contracted f  for  Wyrardisbury,  Buckinghamshire.  In  the  year  of 
his  return,  he  had  issued  from  the  London  press,  The  Jews'  Syna- 
gogue, concerning  their  manner  of  worship.  He  published  a  work 
on  the  Sabbath,  1655.  He  answered  the  Reply  of  John  Norton 
to  his  volume  on  Redemption,  twice,  the  last  year  just  named,  and 
in  1662.  These  productions  discover  uncommon  talent,  research, 
and  learning.  He  closed  his  earthly  career,  October,  1662,  aged 
72.  By  his  private  and  public  virtues,  he  acquired  a  high  reputa- 
tion. 

George  Moxon  settles  at  Astbury,  Cheshire.  He  had  a  colleague, 
John  Machin,  and  while  the  latter  supplied  the  pulpit,  he  preached 
at  Rushton.  Both  being  displaced  in  1660,  Mr.  Moxon  still  labors 
at  the  last  place  till  August,  1662.  After  two  or  three  removes, 
he  resided  at  Congleton  in  1667,  and  continued  his  pastoral  con- 
nection with  them  till  1672,  dispensing  the  Gospel  to  them  pri- 
vately, at  his  own  house  and  elsewhere.  At  this  date,  he  obtained 
license  to  perform  such  service  publicly,  and  so  did  as  long  as 
licenses  were  granted,  and  afterwards,  until  worn  down  with  age 
and  palsy.  He  died  Sept.  15,  1687,  at  the  age  of  85.  He  was 
an  excellent  classical  scholar,  of  "  blameless  conversation,"  and 
faithful  in  the  duties  of  his  profession. { 

September  7.  Nathaniel  Briscoe,  in  London,  pens  §  the  ensuing 
thoughts  to  his  son-in-law,  Thomas  Broughton,  in  Boston :  "  Many 
do  fear  there  will  be  a  turn  of  things.  All  people  are  mightily  dis- 
contented, and  well  they  may  be.  The  Presbyterians  are  continu- 
ally plotting  of  mischief  one  way,  and  the  Independents  another. 
Mr.  (John)  Clark,  in  conference  or  dispute,  is  too  hard  for  them  all. 
He  and  I  am  to  go  down  into  the  country  very  shortly  to  dispute 
the  points   of  free-will,  universal   redemption,  spiritual    baptism, 

*  Pynchon  MS.  Papers.  f  Clarke's  British  Gazetteer. 

X  Calamy,  vol.  ii.p.  128,  9.    Watts' s  Bib.  Brit.         §  Hutchinson  MS.  Papers. 
9 


66  ORTHODOX  EVANGELIST. 

[Mass. 

seeking,  and  some  other  points."  As  other  parts  of  the  letter 
reflected  severely  on  Parliament,  a  copy  of  the  whole  was  dated 
March  11,  1653,  and  forwarded  to  their  Speaker.  Briscoe  sus- 
tained the  same  name  as  one  of  Watertown,  who,  in  1643,  was 
fined  for  opposition  to  taxes  for  the  support  of  ministers. 

Sept.  20.  Norton  having  completed  his  Orthodox  Evangelist,  Cot- 
ton gives  an  address,  issued  with  it,  to  the  reader.  This  contains  the 
passage  :  "  Amongst  other  disputes  which  have  exercised  the  school- 
men of  old,  and  still  do  busie  the  Dominicans  and  Jesuits,  concern- 
ing the  concourse  of  Grace  and  Free  Will  therein,  the  Lord  hath 
led  this  our  brother  (Norton)  with  a  strong  hand  to  search  out  and 
declare  the  abstruse  mysteries  thereof,  with  such  holy  dexterity, 
as  that  if  the  dissenting  parties  were  as  willing  to  hearken  to  the 
Oracles  of  God,  speaking  in  the  Scriptures,  and  opened  in  this 
Book,  as  the  Romanists  have  often  applied  to  the  Pope,  and  all  in 
vain,  for  the  compounding  of  this  controversie,  the  Doctrines  of 
Grace  would  be  much  more  clearly  delivered  and  generally  accepted, 
with  more  peace  and  truth,  not  only  amongst  them,  but  amongst 
Protestants  also."  It  remarks,  that  Norton  had  opened  "  the 
principal  heads  of  Divinity  with  more  than  rational  evidence,  even 
with  Scripture  light,  and  all  with  such  distinct  solidity,  as  may 
both  clear  the  understanding,  satisfie  the  judgment,  yea,  and  by 
grace  establish  the  faith  of  the  diligent  reader."  The  production, 
thus  highly  and  deservedly  recommended,  was  printed  in  London, 
■1654.  It  treats  of  the  Divine  Essence,  Trinity,  Christ,  Decrees, 
Efficiency  of  God,  Preparatory  means  of  Faith,  First  object  of 
Saving  Faith,  Saving  Faith  is  the  effect  of  free  special  grace,  accord- 
ing to  Election  and  Redemption,  the  first  saving  gift  applied  to  an 
Elect  soul,  the  Soul  is  passive  in  vocations,  Union  of  the  believer 
with  Christ,  Justification  by  faith,  Future  state  of  the  Blessed. 

October  4.  Thomas  Cobbet  dates  his  dedication  to  Cromwell, 
which  accompanies  his  treatise  on  "  Civil  Magistrates'  power  in 
matters  of  Religion."  After  using  the  expression,  "  the  great 
controversial  business  of  these  polemick  times,"  the  author  observes 
to  him :  "  We  receiving  certain  information  of  your  dear  respects 
to  the  Churches  here,  as  also  to  our  civil  State,  (which  I  trust  New 
England  doth  not,  nor  ever  will  forget,)  even  your  cordial  appear- 
ing for  us,  who  are  so  much  subject  to  the  reproach  of  tongues  at 
so  great  a  distance,  together  with  your  charitable  and  frequent 
expressions  of  the  good  opinion  you  have  of  us,  I  was  induced 
thus  to  address  you." 

As  examples  of  general  belief,  then  prevalent  here,  on  the  sub- 
ject discussed  by  Cobbet,  the  ensuing  passages  from  his  work  are 
presented.  An  attempt  "  to  despoil  Civil  powers  of  that  which  is 
their  glory  and  crown,  even  as  Civil  powers,  to  serve  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  to  improve  their  authority,  to  establish  his  laws  and 
government,  only  within  their  jurisdictions,  and  to  root  out  what- 


. 


A  Ki.vii.w  OP  11. 1.   NEWS,  67 

1653.] 

soever  opposeth  and  undermined)  tin'  same,"  should  not  be  ap- 
proved.  u  Corruptions  in  Religion,  outwardly  breaking  forth  and 
expressed,  may,  yea,  and  must  be  restrained  and  punished,  by  such 
re  called  thereunto  Church  officers  with  their  churches,  in  a 
church  way,  and  highest  Civil  Authority  and  RulerSj  in  their 
political  way,  may,  yea,  they  must  restrain,  and  seasonably  and 
suitably  punish  all  grosser  corruptions  in  Religion,  manifestly 
9e  to  the  Word,  when  they  are  outwardly  and  openly  expressed, 
to  the  just  offence  of  the  Saints  and  hurt  of  others." 

The  author  adduces  reasons  for  his  position,  and  replies  to  objec- 
tions as  one  who  had  carefully  examined  his  theme. 

After  finishing  such  a  production,  Clark's  "  111  News  from  Xew 
England  "  is  put  into  his  hands.  At  the  urgent  request  of  a  lead- 
ing magistrate,  he  writes  an  answer.  He  notices  several  statements 
in  relation  to  the  trial  of  Clark,  Crandal,  and  Holmes,  in  Boston. 
The  Governor  remarked  :  "  Master  Clark,  we  are  not  about  to 
sentence  you  for  your  judgment;  you  might  have  kept  that  to 
yourself,  if  you  had  pleased,  and  we  had  not  meddled  with  you, 
but  for  matter  of  fact."  Cobbet  complains  that  Clark,  while  leav- 
ing this  declaration  out  of  his  book,  asserts  that  he  was  persecuted 
for  conscience'  sake.  Clark  relates,  that  the  Governor  said,  that 
the  accused  deserved  death.  Cobbet  declares  that  it  was  not  so. 
With  regard  to  the  public  discussion  of  certain  points,  Clark  says, 
that  after  having  had  leave  for  one  from  the  magistrates,  they 
affixed  conditions,  which  were  as  snares  laid  for  him,  so  that  he 
could  not  accept  them.  Cobbet  denies  this,  and  asserts  that  Clark 
refused  to  comply  with  what  the  magistrates  deemed  proper,  and 
therefore  he  could  not  be  allowed  such  a  dispute.  Holmes  avers, 
that  Wilson  struck  and  cursed  him  in  Court.  Cobbet,  that  Wilson 
"  only  laid  his  hand  softly  and  gently  upon  Holmes's  shoulder,  as 
he  passed  by,"  and  spake  to  him  thus  :  "  Thou  goest  away  under 
the  curse  of  the  Lord,  (for  indeed  he  was  an  excommunicated 
person,)  and  was  this  smiting  before  the  judgment^seat,  or  was 
this  cursing  him,  saying,  The  curse  of  God,  or  of  Jesus,  go  with 
thee  ? "  Clark  represented  that  Cotton,  in  a  sermon,  after  the 
sentence  on  himself  and  associates,  advanced  the  opinion,  that  the 
denial  of  infant  baptism,  as  to  its  results,  was  a  capital  offence. 
Cobbet  affirms,  that  Cotton  advanced  no  such  idea. 

19.  Several  transactions  *  take  place  at  the  General  Court,  who 
now  commence  their  session.  As  the  graduates  from  Harvard 
went  abroad  to  seek  employment,  because  not  sufficiently  encour- 
aged at  home,  and  thus  the  Churches  and  Commonwealth  were 
imperiled,  measures  are  recommended  to  prevent  such  an  evil.  It 
is  proposed  that  contributions  be  made  throughout  the  United 
Colonies  to  aid  in  the  support  of  the  President,  certain  Fellows, 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  and  Papers. 


68  REPLY  TO  HENRY  YANE. 

[Mass. 

and  poor  scholars ;  that  a  stock  of  at  least  £120  be  raised  for  the 
sole  use  of  three  fellowships,  and  that  each  minister  have  not  less 
than  £50  or  £60  salary. 

A  Fast  is  appointed  to  be  kept,  November  10th,  to  "  seek  the 
face  of  God  for  the  following  causes.  That  his  hand  is  gone  out 
against  us  in  taking  away  many  persons,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, by  an  unwonted  disease.  For  his  seeming  to  frown  upon  us 
by  unusual  storms  and  continued ,  rains,  breaking  diverse  vessels, 
and  throwing  down  sundry  houses  and  barns  in  diverse  parts  of  the 
country,  and  what  other  harms  we  cannot  yet  understand.  A  want 
of  supply  of  meet  persons  for  publick  service  in  Church  and  Com- 
monwealth. In  regard  to  too  much  worldly-mindedness,  oppres- 
sion, and  hard-heartedness,  feared  to  be  among  us,  and  many  other 
sins.  In  regard  to  England — the  wars  being  great  between  them 
and  the  Hollanders.  The  increase  of  errors  and  heresies.  That 
God  would  be  pleased  to  give  us  favour  in  the  hearts  of  the  Par- 
liament, Council  of  State,  the  General  and  Army.  That  the  Lord 
will  vouchsafe  to  make  a  supply  of  such  commodities  as  we  stand 
in  need  of.'' 

Oct.  20.  Endicott  and  his  Council  reply  to  a  letter*  of  Henry 
Vane,  concerning  the  publication  of  Fynchon.  They  speak  of  his 
doctrine  as  dangerous  and  pernicious.  Their  words  are  :  "  We  are 
much  grieved,  that  such  an  erroneous  pamphlet  was  penned  by  any 
New  England  man,  especially  a  magistrate  among  us."  We  do 
not  know  "  any  of  our  ministers  in  all  the  four  jurisdictions,  that 
doth  approve  of  the  same,  but  do  all  judge  it  as  heretical."  They 
observe,  that  to  show  the  justice  of  their  procedure  against 
Pynchon,  they  had  obtained  John  Norton  to  answer  his  work. 
They  remark,  that  he  "  might  have  kept  his  judgment  to  himself, 
as  it  seems  he  did  above  thirty  years,  most  of  which  time  he  hath 
lived  amongst  us  with  honour,  much  respect  and  love."  But  when 
he  published  and  spread  "  his  erroneous  books  amongst  us,  to  the 
endangering  of  the  faith  of  such  as  might  read  them,  (as  the  like 
effects  have  followed  the  reading  of  other  erroneous  books  brought 
over  into  these  parts,)  we  held  it  our  duty,  and  believe  we  were 
called  of  God,  to  proceed  against  him  accordingly.  We  used  all 
lawful,  Christian  means,  with  as  much  tenderness,  respect,  and  love 
as  he  could  expect,  which,  we  think,  he  himself  will  acknowledge. 
He  was  then  thereby  so  far  convinced,  that  he  seemed  to  yield  for 
substance  the  case  in  controversy,  signed  with  his  own  hand.  But 
in  the  interim  (as  it  is  reported)  he  received  letters  from  England 
which  encouraged  him  in  his  errors,  to  the  great  grief  of  us  all. 
We  leave  the  author,  together  with  the  fautors  and  maintainers  of 
such  opinions,  to  the  great  Judge  of  all  the  earth.  Touching  that 
which  your  honoured  self  doth  advise  us  unto,  viz.,  not  to  censure 

*  Hutchinson's  MS.  Papers. 


VINEYARD   mission.  89 

1658.] 

any  persons  formatters  of  a  religious  nature  or  concernment,  we 
desire  to  follow  any  good  advice  or  counsel  from  you  or  any  of  the 
people  of  God,  according  to  the  rule  of  God's  Word.  Xet  we 
conceive,  with  submission  still  to  better  light,  that  we  have  not 
acted  in  Mr.  Pynchon's  case,  either  for  Bubstance  or  circumstance, 
as  tar  as  we  can  discern,  otherwise  than  according  unto  rule,  as  we 
believe  in  conscience  to  (iod's  command  we  were  bound  to  do." 

October  :i:i.  May  hew  writes  to  the  Missionary  Corporation  for 
New  England.  He  observes,  that  two  hundred  and  eighty-three 
Indians  around  him  had  embraced  Christianity,  and  that  the  last 
spring,  they  entered  into  a  written  covenant  to  serve  Cod,  and 
elected  rulers  to  govern  them.  In  imitation  of  the  plan  at  Natick, 
he  states  that  a  township  is  about  to  be  laid  out,  "  where  the  Indians 
may  carry  on  things  in  a  civil  and  religious  way  the  better  ;  "  that 
thirty  of  their  children  are  at  school,  which  began  January  11th, 
and  more  are  coming.  He  adds  :  "  The  barbarous  Indians,  both 
men  and  women,  do  often  come  on  the  Lecture  dayes,  and  com- 
plaining of  their  ignorance,  disliking  their  sinful  liberty,  and  refus- 
ing the  helps  and  hopes  of  their  own  power,  (Powows  ?)  seek  sub- 
jection to  Jehovah,  to  be  taught,  governed,  and  saved  by  him  for 
Christ's  sake.  The  Indians  themselves  do  indeavor  to  propagate 
the  knowledge  of  God." 

21.  The  fine  of  Matthews,  and  £10  of  the  fine  imposed  on  the 
Maiden  Church,  are  remitted  on  their  petition.  It  is  supposed 
that  Matthews  left  his  people  soon  after  this  time.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  preaching  at  Lynn  subsequently  to  his  leaving  Maiden, 
and,  about  16oo,  taking  passage  for  England.  He  became  minister 
at  Swansey,  his  native  place,  in  South  Wales.  By  the  act  of  uni- 
formity, he  was  ejected  and  silenced,  like  many  others  of  his 
brethren.  Still  he  continued  his  ministry  in  a  small  chapel,  on  the 
outer  part  of  the  same  town.  He  was  remarkable  in  all  his  inter- 
course with  others  for  making  the  Gospel  the  chief  subject  of 
conversation.  He  was  maintained  by  his  children,  some  of  whom 
were  "  sober  conformists,"  other  relatives  and  friends.  This  led 
him  sometimes  to  remark,  in  a  pleasant  manner,  that  he  was  coni- 
fortably  supported  by  "  the  children  of  God,  his  own  children,  and 
the  children  of  this  world."  He  died  about  1683,  after  a  life  of 
trying  changes,  at  "  a  good  old  age.  He  was  a  very  pious  and 
zealous  man,  and  continued  useful  to  the  last." 

The  New  Church  in  Boston  had  invited  Michael  Powell,  of 
Dedham,  to  become  their  pastor,  and  he  had  accepted  their  call. 
The  Legislature  advise  both  parties  to  desist  from  any  further  pro- 
gress, because  the  Church  "  may  be  competently  furnished  with 
an    able    minister ;    reasons  are  these,   that    notwithstanding    the 

*  E.  Mavhew's  Indian  Converts,  p.  289,  90.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol. 
iv.  p.  201-11. 

t  Xoncon.  Mem.  Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  732. 


70  LEARNING  DISCOURAGED. 

[Mass. 

judgment  of  the  Church  concerning  Mr.  Powell's  abilities  and 
fitness,  yet  the  Court  are  not  satisfied  of  the  expediency  of  their 
proceeding  in  respect  of  this  place  of  such  public  resort,  and  con- 
sidering the  humour  of  the  times  in  England  inclining  to  discourage 
learning,  against  which  we  have  borne  testimony  in  our  petition  to 
Parliament,  which  we  should  contradict  if  we  should  approve  of 
such  proceedings  amongst  ourselves." 

December  13.  In*  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the 
Legislature,*  a  committee  is  chosen  by  Boston,  "  to  receive  the 
severall  sums  of  money,  which  any  in  this  Town  will  underwrite 
towards  the  maintaynance  of  the  President  and  Fellows,  and  poor 
scholars  of  Harvard  Colledge."  This  was  done  several  succeeding 
years. 

As  Richard  Mather  relates,  a  large  assembly  of  ministers,f  mag- 
istrates and  others,  gather  at  Xatick  to  witness  the  formation  of  an 
Indian  church.  As  preparatory  for  this  service,  in  which  the 
English  churches  took  great  interest,  they  had  kept  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer.  They  were  supplied  with  the  names  of  the'  Indians 
who  were  to  give  a  reason  for  their  hope  in  Christ.  The  Council 
appointed  for  the  work  find,  that,  as  Eliot  has  not  assistants  to 
interpret  the  accounts,  given  by  the  candidates,  as  he  had  endea- 
vored to  procure  for  the  occasion,  they  are  unable  to  get  through  in 
season,  and,  also,  more  knowledge  should  be  obtained,  relative  to 
the  fitness  of  the  Indians,  who  were  thought  of  for  "  an  able 
Pastor  and  Elder,"  they,  therefore,  defer  the  gathering  of  the 
Church.  But  notwithstanding  this  delay,  which  some  had  con- 
strued for  evil  against  the  mission,  Mather  says  :  "  There  is  so 
much  of  God's  Work  amongst  them,  as  that  I  cannot  but  count  it 
a  great  evil,  yea,  a  great  injury  to  God  and  his  goodness  for  any  to 
make  light  or  nothing  of  it." 

23.  This  was  the  last  day  of  John  Cotton.J  It  was  one  of  sore 
grief  to  his  family,  flock,  and  friends.  His  final  sickness  came 
upon  him  after  being  wet  in  a  passage  over  the  ferry,  and  while 
preaching.  When  near  his  end,  and  his  colleague  was  praying 
thaj;  God  would  lift  upon  him  "  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and 
shed  his  love  into  his  soul,"  he  presently  answered,  w  He  hath  done 
it,  brother."  The  last  words  he  was  heard  to  utter  were  in  the 
following  blessing  on  a  member  of  his  church,  who  had  greatly 
assisted  him  in  his  sickness :  u  The  God  that  made  you  and  bought 
you  with  a  great  price,  redeem  your  body  and  soul  unto  himself." 
His  departure  was  the  removal  of  a  strong  pillar  from  the  comeliest 
supports  of  the  Church  and  Commonwealth.  He  was  taken,  and 
they  were  left  to  mourn,  that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more, 
beaming  with   the   influence  of  eminent   piety,  talent,  knowledge, 

*  Boston  MS.  Rec.  f  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  217. 

X  Clarke's  Lives,  p.  227.    Magnalia.    Whiting's  Remarks  on  Cotton.    Hutch- 
inson's Coll.  p.  242. 


I 


MB88AG1    FROM   CANADA,  ~1 

M61.] 

beneficence,  and  usefulness.  Thus  distinguished,  he  punned  his 
earthly  pilgrimage  sixty-seven  years.  Leaving  the  rich  works  of 
his  hand,  as  named  by  Allen's  Biography  and  Bibliotheca  Brit- 
annica,  it  waa  as  it  would  be  expected  ;  faithfulness  in  his  tem- 
poral stewardship  brought  him  the  stay  and  consolation  of  his 
divine  Master  in  the  hour  of  his  dissolution.  An  elegy  of  Norton 
has  this  couplet  : 

"  In  Boston's  orb,  Winthrop  and  Cotton  were  ; 
These  lights  extinct,  dark  is  our  hemisphere." 

Xotk. — The  Records  of  Charlestown  Church  show  that,  from  December  4  to 
March  14,  thirty  were  added  to  its  members. 


PLYMOUTH. 


1651.  March  4.  Emanuel  White,  of  Yarmouth,  is  presented  * 
for  "  vilifying  "  the  ministry  of  John  Miller  ;  and  the  latter,  on 
June  2,  of  next  year,  is  cited  to  answer  for  remarks  on  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

June  5.  The  lands  of  Seipican,  afterwards  Rochester,  are  granted 
to  the  people  of  Plymouth,  to  assist  them  in  the  support  of  their 
municipal,  ecclesiastical  and  other  expenses,  and  thus  to  prevent 
their  purpose  to  forsake  the  place,  selected  by  the  first  pilgrim 
settlers  to  be  the  capital  of  their  Colony. 

The  General  Court  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  New  Haven,  de- 
siring help  to  aid  them  in  settling  a  religious  plantation  at  Dela- 
ware "  against  such  as  do  oppose  them  in  that  respect,"  say  that 
they  "will  have  no  hand  in  any  such  controversy." 

As  they  had,  the  last  winter,  a  "  messenger  from  the  French  at 
Canada  to  assist  them  against  the  Mohawks,  or  at  least  have  liberty 
to  go  up  through  these  parts  for  their  more  commodious  encoun- 
tering with,  the  said  Mohawks,"  they  declare  themselves  unwilling 
to  comply  with  either  of  these  requests.  They  neither  wished  to 
favor  the  French  for  their  popery,  nor  in  removing  the  Mohawks, 
who  were  a  defence  to  the  English. 

6.  They  pass  the  following  :f  "  Whatever  person,  or  persons, 
shall  neglect  the  frequenting  the  public  worship  of  God,  that  is 
according  to  God  in  the  places  where  they  live,  or  doe  assemble 
themselves  upon  any  pretence  whatsoever,  in  any  way  contrary  to 
God  and  the  allowance  of  the  Government  tending  to  the  subver- 
sion of  Religion  and  Churches,  or  palpable  prophanacon  of  God's 
holy  ordinances  being  duly  convicted ;  videlicet  every  one  that  is 
a  master  or  dame  of  a  family,  or  any  other  person  at  theire  owne 

*  Plymouth  Col.  Rec.  t  Plymouth  Col.  Laws. 


72  CHRISTIAN   ORDINANCES   SLIGHTED. 

[Plym. 

disposing,  to  pay  ten  shillings  for  every  such  default.  If  any  in 
any  lazey,  slothlull,  or  prophane  way,  doth  neglect  to  come  to  the 
publick  worship  of  God,  he  shall  forfeit  for  every  such  default, 
ten  shillings,  or  be  publickly  whipte." 

8.  As  Massachusetts  have  engaged  *  to  relinquish  Shawomet,  as 
"  yielded  to  them  by  this  Court,  June  7,  1650,  but  on  condition 
to  engage  themselves  to  protect  the  English  and  Indians  there, 
that  have  submitted  themselves  to  their  jurisdiction,  and  to  perform 
their  engagements  to  them, — they,  upon  consideration  hereof,  find- 
ing themselves  unfit  to  take  such  a  burthen  upon  themselves  as  the 
performance  of  those  engagements  of  theirs,  and  for  some  other 
weighty  reasons,  thought  better  to  let  it  remain  as  it  was,  and 
passed  their  vote  for  that  end. 

September  5.  Obadiah  Holmes  is  whipped  thirty  stripes,f  in 
Boston,  and  freed  from  imprisonment. 

22.  William  Leveridge  writes  to  John  Wilson :  J  "It  is  not 
unknown  to  you  and  others  what  singular  conflicts  I  have  met 
withall  in  my  travails  amongst  our  owne  countrymen,  divers  of 
them  transported  with  their  (though  not  singular)  fancies,  to  the 
neglecting  of  all  churches  and  ordinances  by  a  new  cunning,  and  I 
perswade  my  selfe  one  of  the  last  but  most  pernicious  plots  of  the 
Devill  to  undermine  all  Religion."  Thus  the  doctrine  of  the 
Seekers,  who  considered  the  ordinances  of  Christianity  as  corrupted 
by  the  introduction  of  Antichrist,  and,  therefore,  not  to  be  sustained 
until  they  should  be  revived  by  new  apostles,  had  spread,  in  some 
degree,  among  the  people  of  this  Colony.  Leveridge  observes,  that 
on  account  of  such  a  trial  and  others,  he  should  have  moved  away 
with  members  of  his  church  to  a  more  favorable  location,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  persuasion  of  his  friends.  He  then  speaks  of  a 
small  society  of  Indians,  who  lived  seven  miles  off  and  had  erected 
a  wigwam  near  Sandwich,  where  he  preached  to  them  in  their  own 
tongue.  He  relates,  that  the  signs  among  them  -for  conversion  to 
the  Gospel,  are  quite  favorable. 

October  7.  Ralph  Allen,  Sen.,§  and  wife,  George  Allen  and  wife, 
William  Allen,  Richard  Kerbey,  Peter  Gaunt  and  wife,  Rose 
Newland,  Edmund  Freeman,  Sen.,  and  wife,  Goodwife  Turner, 
and  Widow  Knott,  all  of  Sandwich,  are  presented  for  neglect  of 
public  worship.     Their  case  was  deferred  for  further  consideration. 

Elizabeth  Eddy,  for  wringing  and  hanging  out  clothes  on  the 
Lord's  day,  in  time  of  public  worship,  is  fined  10/.,  which  sum  was 
afterwards  remitted.  Others  were  presented  for  a  like  offence,  and 
being  engaged  in  "mixed  dancing." 

November.  By  Dr.  John  Clark,  of  Rhode  Island,  Obadiah 
Holmes  forwards  a  relation  of  his  sufferings  and  endeavors  to  pro- 

*  Plymouth  Col.  Rec.  f  See  Rhode  Island. 

+  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  180-3.  §  Plymouth  Col.  Rec. 


DISCIPLINE  —  PRESENTMENTS.  71 

I6S&] 

mote  adult  baptism,  to  .John  Spilsbury,  William  KiilYen  and  others 
of  the  same  denomination  in  London.* 

Examples  of  discipline^  at  Barnstable,  towards  those  who  had 
been  offered  in  baptism  by  their  parents,  and  were  called  the  chil- 
dren of  the  church. 

1652.  February  ££.  "  Martha  Foxwell,  dwelling  with  Goody 
Hull,  summoned  before  the  congregation  in  public,  and  dealt  with 
for  joining  with  her  dame  in  beating  the  maid  servant  of  Samuel 
Mao."  On  May  SO,  David  Linnell  and  Hannah  Shelly,  charged 
with  impure  conduct  and  confessing  it  before  the  congregation, 
"  were  both,  by  the  sentence  and  joint  consent  of  the  church,  pro- 
nounced to  be  cut  off  from  that  relation,  which  they  had  formerly 
to  the  church,  by  virtue  of  their  parents'  covenant.  M  They  both 
were,  for  their  faults,  punished  with  scourges  in  Barnstable  by  the 
sentence  of  magistracy,"  the  following  June. 

March  2.  "We  present  +  Jonathan  Coventry,  of  the  Town  of 
Marshfield,  for  making  a  motion  of  marriage  unto  Katharen  Brad- 
berry,  servant  to  Mr.  Bourne  of  the  same  Town,  without  her 
Master's  consent,  contrary  to  Court  order."  Abraham  Peirse,  of 
Duxbury,  is  presented  for  "slothful  and  negligent  spending  the 
Sabbath  and  not  frequenting  the  public  assembly."  Nathaniel 
Basset  and  Joseph  Prior,  for  disturbing  the  Church  of  Duxbury 
on  the  Lord's  day,  are  sentenced  to  pay  20/.  each,  or  on  the  next 
town  meeting  or  training  day,  to  be  bound  to  a  post,  for  two  hours 
in  some  public  place,  with  a  paper  on  their  heads,  showing  their 
offence  perspicuously  written.  With  this,  Thacher's  Plymouth  § 
gives  the  following  :  Miss  J.  Boulton,  for  slandering,  was  sen- 
tenced to  sit  in  the  stocks  during  the  Court's  pleasure,  and  a  paper 
written  with  capital  letters  be  made  fast  unto  her  all  the  time  of 
her  sitting  there.  Ralph  Allen,  Sen.,  of  Sandwich,  and  Richard 
Kerbey,  charged  with  deriding  God's  word  and  ordinances,  are 
fined  each  £5,  or  be  whipped. 

Public  Thanksgiving  is  ordered  through  the  Colony,  for  the 
great  victories  granted  to  the  army  in  behalf  of  the  Parliament  and 
Commonwealth  of  England.  This  expression  of  love  for  the  cause 
of  the  Roundheads,  when  the  tables  were  turned  in  favor  of  the 
Cavaliers,  was  far  from  being  a  count  for  the  benefit  of  the  Colony. 

June  2.  Henry  Clark,  and  Thurston  Clark,  Jr.,  and  George 
Russell,  of  Namasakeesett,  in  the  liberties  of  Duxbury,  are  pre- 
sented for  absence  from  "  the  public  assemblies  on  the  Lord's 
day."     Indians  are  forbidden  to  work  on  the  Sabbath. 

This  year,  Bradford  writes  his  third  dialogue,  ||  mentioned  in  his 
will,  between  the  ancient  and  young  men  of  the  Colony.     It  relates 

*  Relation  of  Holmes.     Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  229. 

t  Barnstable  Ch.  Rec.     N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.  vol.  x.  p.  40. 

j  Plym.  Col.  Laws.         §  Page  90.         ||, Bradford  MSS.  in  Ms.  Hist.  Soc.  Lib. 

10 


74  FRENCH  CORRESPONDENCE. 

[Me. 

to  Church  government,  "the  Papists,  Episcopacie,  Presbyterians 
and  Independents."  With  regard  to  the  last  word,  he  remarks, 
"  you  are  to  know  is  not  a  name  of  choyse  made  by  any  of  them- 
selves, but  a  title  imposed  by  others,  which  are  their  opposits." 
In  accordance  with  Cotton,  he  relates  the  benefits  of  Congrega- 
tional order,  to  be  the  preparation  of  Churches  in  New  England,  as 
sanctuaries  for  the  oppressed  abroad,  for  the  conversion  of  many 
impenitent  emigrants,  and  awakening  an  extensive  desire  and  pur- 
pose in  England  for  a  similar  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  there. 


MAINE. 

1651.  March  2.  Mons.  Charnizay  dates  a  letter*  in  Paris,  for 
the  Magistrates  of  Massachusetts.  He  states,  that  he  had  been 
appointed  to  succeed  his  deceased  son,  D'Aulney,  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Acadie,  and  hold  it  till  the  eldest  son  of  the  latter  should 
become  of  age.  He  adds,  that  he  has  deputed  and  sent  over 
Mons.  De  St.  Mas  to  act  in  his  stead,  who,  on  his  arrival,  will 
wait  on  them  and  form  a  treaty,  "  with  protestation,  that  it  shall 
not  be  violated  in  any  of  those  things,  which  should  be  kept 
between  good  friends  and  neighbours." 

May  27.  Jane  Motin,  widow  of  D'Aulney,  addresses  the  same 
authorities  from  Port  Royal.  She  mentions,  that  her  husband 
died  f  "  somewhat  above  a  year  since,"  and  sends  notice  of  St. 
Mas's  arrival  with  stores  and  men.  On  the  29th,  a  communica- 
tion from  St.  Mas  to  them  proposes  a  friendly  intercourse. 

June  12-14.  Endicott,  as  Governor,  assures  these  three  corres- 
pondents, that  there  will  be  no  obstruction  thrown  in  the  way  of 
compliance  with  their  desire,  either  by  himself  or  coadjutors  of 
the  Colony.  Apprehensive  of  the  influence  exerted  by  Papal 
missionaries  over  the  Penobscots,  our  fathers  did  not  give  so  cor- 
dial a  welcome  to  the  advances  of  Charnizay  as  they  would,  had 
circumstances  been  otherwise. 

September  6.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  +  date  a  letter  to 
Governor  D'Aillebout,  of  Canada.  It  appears  from  its  coimection, 
that  Governor  Winthrop  and  other  magistrates  of  Massachusetts 
began  a  correspondence  with  him  in  1648,  on  the  subject  of  free 
trade  between  the  French  and  English  "  in  these  parts  of  America." 
Accordingly,  "  about  October,  1650,"  Father  Dreuillettes,  the 
Romish  Apostle  to  the  Indians  of  Nova  Scotia,  came  as  an  Agent 
from  D'Aillebout,  to  Boston.  He  was  empowered  to  make  a  treaty 
with   Plymouth   and  Massachusetts.     But  informed  that   such  a 

*  MS.  Rec.  of  Mass.  Assistants..  f  Some  writers  give  his  death  in  1651. 

t  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  182,  3.  Charlevoix,  Nouv.  France, 
Vol.  i.  p.  286-9. 


PAPAL  CATECHUMENS.  ~;> 

1651.] 

compact  could  only  be  made  by  the  Commissioners  of  thete  ('"Io- 
nics, and  those  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  he  returned. 
With  enlarged  instructions,  dated  June  20,  1651,  he  and  Mods. 
Godfrey  arrived  at  Boston,  They  desired  that  the  Commissioners, 
as  a  matter  oi'  accommodation,  would  meet  at  this  capital,  though 
their  place  of  session,  in  course,  was  at  New  1  Liven.  Hut  so  great 
Mas  the  inconvenience  of  allowing  their  request,  it  was  not  granted. 
In  September,  Dreuillettes  appeared  before  the  Commissioners,  in 
behalf  of  Canada  and  the  Kennebcck  Indians,  lie  showed  his 
commission  for  publishing  "  the  Christian  Faith  "  among  the  latter. 
Of  these,  as  he  stated,  some  were  baptized,  and  others  were  cat- 
echumens. He  related,  that  the  Mohawks  had  attacked  and 
cruelly  treated  some  of  them,  whom  they  had  captured,  because 
they  professed  Christianity.  He  therefore  urged,  that  the  Colonies 
would  confederate  with  the  French,  and  help  carry  on  a  "  holy 
war  M  against  the  Mohawks.  But  the  Commissioners,  in  the  letter 
mentioned  at  the  head  of  this  paragraph,  decline  either  to  aid  or 
abet  such  a  warfare,  however  desirous  to  have  friendly  intercourse 
and  free  trade  between  the  parties.  In  their  reply,  they  say,  that 
however  regarding  those  of  the  Eastern  tribes,  who  had  "  received 
the  yoke  of  Christ  "  with  more  favor  than  others,  still  they  had  no 
sufficient  cause  of  collision  with  the  Six  Nations. 

October  14.  The  Bay  Legislature,*  under  this  date,  take  measures 
in  reference  to  movements  in  the  Gorges  Patent.  They  had  assur- 
ance that  those  there  who  favored  Royalty  and  Episcopacy  were 
about  to  petition  Parliament,  that  such  territory,  and  "  many  miles 
to  the  northward,"  might  be  made  a  distinct  jurisdiction,  but  that  a 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  preferred  a  union  with  Massachusetts. 
They  also  took  the  ground  that,  as  their  charter  extended  three 
miles  "  northward  of  any  and  every  part  "  of  the  Merrimack,  and 
that  an  obvious  construction  of  this  allowance  authorized  their  line 
to  be  drawn  eastward  across  the  country,  to  the  same  minute  of  lat- 
itude on  the  sea-shore,  it  would  include  Maine  to  three  miles  east- 
ward of  the  Casco  peninsula,  as  within  their  boundary.  With  such 
considerations,  they  order  information  of  them  to  be  sent  to  God- 
frey and  his  Council,  and  the  people  at  large.  They  commission 
Simon  Bradstreet,  Daniel  Dennison,  and  William  Hawthorn,  to  visit 
and  receive  such  of  them  as  preferred  to  come  under  the  authorities 
of  the  Bay.  On  the  24th,  they  address  Godfrey,  Richard  Shap- 
leigh,  and  others,  on  the  same  subject.  On  December  1,  Godfrey, 
having  convened  the  General  Court  of  his  jurisdiction,  signs  a 
petition  f  for  them  to  Parliament.  A  passage  from  this  document 
follows  :  "  We  were  under  the  necessity  of  combining  together 
for  the  purposes  of  government  and  self-protection,  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  realm.     It  is  our  humble  prayer,  therefore,  that 

*  Sullivan's  Me.  p.  321.     Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Court  Rec.         f  MS.  York  Rec. 


76  BANISHMENT  FOR  BIGAMY. 

[Me. 

our  confederate  union  may  be  confirmed."  Cleaves  and  others  of 
Lygonia,  who  had  been  much  opposed  to  those  of  the  Gorges 
Patent,  now  sympathize  with  them  in  the  project  of  having  their 
separate  governments  confirmed  by  the  national  Government,  and, 
on  the  5th,  agree  to  petition  Parliament.  Indeed,  Cleaves,  about 
to  visit  England,  agrees  to  carry  the  Lygonian  Petition  and  be  its 
advocate. 

October  15.  As  William  Norman  had  married  Margery  Randall, 
though  having  another  wife  in  England,  the  Court  grant  her  a 
divorce  from  him.  They  banish  him  from  the  country  in  seven 
days,  and  if  found  after  that  time  in  the  jurisdiction,  he  shall  be 
put  to  death. 

1652.  Aware  of  the  policy*  of  Godfrey,  Cleaves  and  others, 
though  intended  to  be  kept  secret,  Massachusetts  advised  Winslow 
of  it,  who  let  it  be  known  to  the  authorities  in  London,  as  a  meas- 
ure principally  of  Royalists  and  Episcopalians.  This,  with  the 
favor  which  the  ecclesiastical  order  of  the  Bay  had  with  many  in 
Parliament,  rendered  the  exertions  of  Cleaves  ineffectual. 

In  his  remonstrance  f  against  the  steps  taken  by  the  Bay  Author- 
ities for  the  reception  of  Maine  under  their  government,  Godfrey 
remarks  :  "  Such  is  the  charity  you  have  heretofore  manifested 
towards  our  religion  and  other  interests,  that  we  trust  you  will 
excuse  us,  if  we,  are  the  more  wary  of  your  proposals  and  prom- 
ises." On  the  12th  of  June,  they  reply  to  him ;  explain  the 
grounds  of  their  purpose  ;  say  they  are  informed  that  "  a  con- 
siderable part "  of  the  people  wish  to  be  ruled  by  them,  and 
protest  against  his  further  exercise  of  power,  as  the  chief  magis- 
trate. On  July  9,  he  answers  them  in  severe  terms.  Three 
Commissioners,  William  Hawthorn,  John  Leverett  and  Henry  Bar- 
tholomew, meet  him  and  his  Council  at  Kittery,  and  confer  with 
them  for  the  surrender  of  their  official  power,  but  they  decline. 
Then  Hawthorn  and  his  associates  declare  Maine  to  be  within  the 
Patent  of  Massachusetts  after  October  10,  and  offer  the  population 
all  the  privileges,  which  appertain  to  person  and  property.  The 
Protest  of  Godfrey  and  colleagues  says  :  "  We  resolve  to  go  on, 
till  lawful  power  commands  us  the  contrary,  as  subordinate  and 
depending  upon  the  Commonwealth  of  England." 

July  19.  Edward  Rigby,  son  to  the  Proprietor  of  Lygonia,  who 
died  August,  1650,  sends  a  communication, J  dated  in  London,  to 
the  persons  commissioned  by  his  father  to  govern  the  Colony. 
He  complains,  that  they  had  broken  from  his  authority,  requires 
them  to  conform  with  his  commands,  and  states  that  he  shall  send 
back  Cleaves  and  a  near  kinsman  of  his,  with  instructions  for  such 
men  as  he  may  commission  to  administer  the  laws.     This  injunc- 

*  Sullivan's  Me.  p.  323.        f  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Ree.     Sullivan's  Me.  p.  324. 
J  York  MSS.     Sullivan's  Me.  p.  317,  21-34. 


submission   OF   MAINE.  ~7 

iflsa.] 

lion  prevented  the- co-operation  of  Lygonia  with  the  Province  of 
Gorges  against  the  measures  of  Massachusetts.  Indeed,  it  vras  the 
virtual  close  of  all  separate  jurisdiction  there,  for  the  Proprietor  did 
not  carry  his  plans,  concerning  it,  into  execution.     Thus  slumbered 

the  Plough  Patent,  about  which  much  agitation  had  existed. 

October  23.  The  Bay  Legislature*  choose  Simon  Bradstreet, 
Samuel  Symonds,  Daniel  Dennison,  William  Hawthorn,  Thomas 
Wiggin  and  Bryan  Pendleton,  to  receive  Maine  under  their  juris- 
diction. They  empower  them  to  summon  and  hold  County  Courts 
here,  to  appoint  olhcers  "  for  preserving  the  peace,  establishing  order 
and  a  civil  administration  of  justice."  To  which  they  subjoin, 
"  doing  whatever  in  your  wisdom  and  discretion,  will  be  most  con- 
ducive to  the  glory  of  God,  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  inhab- 
itants, and  the  maintenance  of  our  own  just  rights  and  interests." 

November  15.  In  performance  of  the  duty  assigned  them,  four 
of  the  Commissioners,  Bradstreet,  Symonds,  Wiggin  and  Pendle- 
ton, open  a  Court  at  Kittery.  They  notify  the  inhabitants  to 
appear  next  morning.  This  was  done.  Discussions  rose  and  con- 
tinued four  days,  sometimes  with  much  warmth.  On  the  20th, 
forty-one  agree  to  a  submission.  Among  the  privileges,  it  is 
granted  "  that  all  the  present  inhabitants  of  Kittery  shall  be  free- 
men of  the  Countrie,  and  having  taken  the  oath  of  freemen,  shall 
have  liberty  to  give  their  votes  for  the  election  of  the  Governor, 
Assistants  and  other  general  officers  of  the  Countrie."  Thus  they 
are  not  required  to  be  members  of  the  Church  for  such  civil  liberty 
in  the  choice  of  the  Government,  as  it  is  and  had  been  of  the  elec- 
tors in  Massachusetts.  At  the  same  session,  the  Commissioners 
appoint,  that  the  territory  within  their  bounds,  beyond  the  river 
Piscataqua  northwardly,  with  the  Isle  of  Shoals,  shall  constitute 
and  be  called  Yorkshire.  On  the  22d,  they  meet  at  Accomenticus, 
or  Gorgeana,  which  they  now  name  York.  The  people,  "  after 
some  tyme  spent  in  debatement  and  many  questions  answered  and 
objections  removed,"  yield  to  their  proposal.  They  are  allowed 
privileges  like  those  granted  at  Kittery.  Godfrey  complied,  when 
he  saw  the  rest  had  submitted.  Thus  an  important  advance  is 
made  by  the  Bay  Authorities  towards  the  full  exercise  of  their 
administration  over  the  political  and  religious  concerns  of  Maine. 
Especially  is  it  noticeable,  that,  in  the  course  of  Providential  dis- 
pensations, Gorgeana,  intended  for  a  splendid  city,  for  an  Episcopal 
See,  for  a  chief  point,  whence  should  go  forth  a  power  of  royal 
vicegerency,  to  govern  the  whole  of  British  America  and  render  it 
a  powerful  ally  of  the  Throne  for  the  control  of  the  national  Church 
and  State, — has  now  become  subject  to  the  very  Puritan  policy, 
which  it  was  designed  to  crush. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


78  CODDINGTON'S   PATENT. 

[N.  H. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

1651.  October  14.  Difficulty,  as  to  Mr.  Batchelor,  still  continues 
at  Hampton.  Executions,  issued  by  his  order  on  inhabitants  there, 
are  suspended  by  an  injunction  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 
This  Body  allow  Strawberry  Bank  all  the  land,  not  yet  appropri- 
ated, between  themselves  and  Hampton.  They  designate  persons 
to  hold  Courts  in  the  former  town  for  the  trial  of  civil  and  criminal 
cases.  Thus  the  settlement,  intended  for  one  of  the  head  quarters 
of  Episcopacy,  is  dependent  on  Congregational  authority. 

1652.  May  31.  The  Bay  Legislature  vote*  to  adopt  the  north 
line  of  their  territory,  as  authorized  by  their  construction  of  its 
Patent.  By  this  means,  they  claim  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  of 
New  Hampshire.  They  appear  to  have  done  this  because  Joseph 
Mason,  agent  to  the  Executrix  of  the  last  deceased  proprietor  of 
the  Colony,  had  taken  recent  measures  so  that  he  might  revive  the 
claim  of  the  surviving  heir.  This  purpose  had  little  prospect  of 
success  in  view  of  Massachusetts'  boundary,  now  determined  on, 
and  of  the  principles  exhibited  by  the  national  government. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

1651.  April  IT.  Winslow  writesf  from  London  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  United  Colonies,  "Yesterday,  as  I  was  informed, 
Mr.  Cottington  had  something  done  for  him  at  the  Counsell  of 
State,  which  I  believe  was  his  pattent  confeirmed."  This  refers  to 
the  commission,  granted  to  Coddington,  as  Governor  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Conanicutt  during  his  life.  Such  a  privilege,  of  course, 
nullified  the  Charter,  previously  obtained  by  Roger  Williams,  for 
such  territory.  Winslow  regrets,  that  Plymouth  Colony  did  not 
enforce  the  instructions  given  by  the  Parliamentary  Commissioners, 
1647,  so  as  to  insist  on  the  boundary  of  their  Patent,  and,  as  he 

*  With  regard  to  this,  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  on  June  1,  appointed 
Symon  Willard  and  Edward  Johnson,  Commissioners  to  procure  artists  and 
other  needed  assistants,  and  have  this  matter  accomplished.  On  October  19, 
the  Commissioners  hand  in  the  report  of  the  artists,  John  Sherman  and  Jona- 
than Ince,  who  aver  on  oath,  that,  the  first  day  of  August,  they  "by  observa- 
tion found,  that  the  latitude  of  the  place  was  43°,  40',  12",  besides  those  min- 
utes which  are  to  be  allowed  for  the  three  miles  more  north,  which  run  into 
the  lake."  This  spot  is  called  the  "Weares,  through  which  the  Winnipisiogee 
discharges  its  waters.  It  is  the  position  of  a  rock,  containing  the  initials  of  the 
Commissioners,  and  the  full  name  of  the  Governor,  John  Endicott,  all  in  capital 
Roman  letters,  evidently  sculptured  there  about  the  date  when  the  artists  made 
their  observation. 

f  Com'rs  MS.     Hazard  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  178. 


FUGITIVE    CRIMINALS.  79 

1651.] 

appears  to  imply,  thus  bring  the  Islands,  assigned  to  Coddington 

practically,  as  well  as  Warwick,  under  their  jurisdiction. 

Mav  15.  'The  Connecticut  Legislature1  adopt  the  subsequent 
measure.     "The  Court  considering  the  great  inconveniences  that 

occur  by  reason  of  Rhode  Island  entertaining  of  fugitives  and  such 
;is  are  guilty  of  capital  crimes  and  other  misdemeanors,  from  the 
several  Colonics,  cannot  but  judge  the  same  to  be  extremely  preju- 
dicial to  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  said  Colonies,  do  order,  that 
the  premises  should  be  recommitted  to  the  serious  consideration  of 
the  Commissioners,  and  that  some  effectual  course  may  be  taken  for 
the  redress  of  the  same." 

They  desire  that  a  letter  may  be  addressed  to  Plymouth,  request- 
ing them  to  state  at  the  next  session  of  the  Colonial  Commissioners, 
"  under  which  of  the  Colonies,"  Plymouth  or  Massachusetts,  "  the 
Plantations  of  Warwick  and  others  do  stand." 

May  23.  William  Arnold,  Robert  Coles,  William  Carpenter  and 
others  of  Patuxet,  complain  in  a  communication  f  to  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  of  injury  threatened  them  by  persons  of  Provi- 
dence. The  Court  of  that  Colony  order,  "  that  a  letter  be  sent  to 
Mr.  Roger  Williams,  declaring  to  him,  that  if  himself,  or  the  sergeant 
or  officer  of  Providence,  shall  proceed  to  molest  any  of  the  afore- 
said English  under  our  jurisdiction  at  Shawomet,  or  take  away 
aught  from  them  by  rates  or  otherwise,  this  Court  intends  to  seek 
satisfaction  for  the  same  of  such,  and  in  such  manner  as  God  shall 
put  opportunities  into  their  hands."  The  petition  of  James  and 
Job  Hawkins  to  the  Bay  Authorities  for  their  mother  to  return  and 
live  in  Massachusetts,  is  not  allowed. 

June  5.  The  conveyance  J  of  Shawomet  by  Plymouth  Colony  to 
Massachusetts,  who  offered  to  return  it  on  condition  that  they  pro- 
tected the  English,  and  Indians  under  the  care  of  the  Bay  Author- 
ities, is  confirmed. 

July  19.  John  Clark,  Obadiah  Holmes  §  and  John  Crandal,  of 
the  Baptist  denomination,  visit  William  Witter,  at  Lynn,  who  had 
invited  them  to  his  house.  The  next  day,  being  Sabbath,  Clark, 
while  preaching  there,  on  the  promise  of  God  to  those  who  are 
faithful  in  the  season  of  temptation,  was  apprehended  with  his  two 
companions,  by  order  of  a  Justice,  "as  erroneous  persons."  In 
the  afternoon,  they  were  carried  to  hear  the  minister  of  the  place. 
"  Mr.  Clark  pulled  off  his  hat  when  he  went  in,  but  as  soon  as  he 
was  seated  in  a  pew,  he  put  it  on  again,  and  fell  to  reading  a  book, 
while  the  minister  was  praying.  The  officers  took  off  his  hat,  but 
he  declared  he  could  not  join  with  them  in  their  service."  On 
Monday,  as  they  refused  to  give  bail  for  their  appearance  at  Court, 
they  were  committed  to  Boston  prison.     The  mittimus  of  the  22d 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.        f  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec.  %  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 

§  Relation  in  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  229-45. 


80  RELATION  OF  HOLMES. 

[R.I. 

states  the  reasons  for  such  committal  to  be,  "  exercising  themselves 
to  divers  of  the  Town  in  the  time  of  public  worship,  for  disturbing 
the  Congregation  in  the  afternoon,  maintaining  that  the  Church  of 
Lynn  was  not  constituted  according  to  the  order  of  our  Lord, 
drawing  aside  others  after  their  erroneous  judgments  and  practices, 
and  for  suspicion  of  rebaptizing  one  or  more  among  us."  On  the 
31st,  at  a  Quarterly  Court  of  Assistants  in  Boston,  Clark  is  fined 
£20,  Holmes  £30,  and  Crandal  £5.  If  refusing  to  pay  these 
sums,  they  are  to  be  whipped.  On  August  1,  Clark  sends  a  letter 
to  the  Court,  who  condemned  his  "  faith  and  order,"  and  says  that 
they  remarked  to  him,  that  he  could  not  substantiate  his  opinions 
before  their  ministers,  and  that  if  he  wished  to  hold  a  public  dis- 
cussion with  them,  he  might.  He  accordingly  purposes  to  argue 
with  the  ministers  where  he  was  tried.  The  points  he  designated 
to  maintain,  are  immersion  ;  the  right  of  Christians  to  ask  questions 
in  the  congregation,  and,  if  qualified,  to  exhort  there ;  freedom  of 
conscience  in  word  and  act,  when  accompanied  with  no  disturbance 
to  the  rights  of  others.  In  his  Narrative,  he  does  not  specify  the 
particulars  prepared  by  those,  on  the  other  side,  which  follow. 
"  Whether  Lynn  Church,  and  others  here  gathered  after  the  same 
order,  are  gathered  after  the  order  of  Christ.  Whether  the  ordi- 
nances, as  administered  in  the  churches  here,  be  the  ordinances  of 
Christ.  Whether  infant  baptism,  as  administered  in  our  churches 
here,  be  an  ordinance  of  Christ.  Whether  one  that  is  not  called 
into  office  of  Pastor  or  Teacher  may  administer  the  seals,  yea 
to  persons  under  excommunication."  This  intended  debate  was 
noised  abroad,  "for  Mr.  Clark  wrote  letters  to  several  friends, 
acquainting  them  with  it,  and  desiring  their  assistance,"  and  was 
the  topic  of  much  conversation.  But  the  authorities,  not  being 
able  to  agree  with  Clark  to  their  own  satisfaction,  on  what  should 
be  the  identical  subjects  of  discussion,  concluded  to  have  it  dropped. 
On  the  11th,  as  his  friends  had  paid  his  fine,  unbeknown  to  him- 
self, the  keeper  of  the  prison  was  ordered  to  release  him.  Still 
desirous  to  have  a  public  hearing,  he  remained  till  the  14th,  but, 
not  able  to  accomplish  his  purpose,  he  came  home  to  Newport. 
Crandal  was  permitted  to  return  with  Clark,  on  his  promise  to 
appear  at  the  next  Court,  but,  owing  to  some  mistake,  he  did  not, 
and  his  fine  was  paid.  Holmes,  charged  with  immersing  others 
at  Lynn,  though  an  excommunicated  person,  and  other  allegations 
as  offences,  had  his  fine  placed  higher  than  Clark's.  Refusing  to 
pay  his  fine  or  have  others  do  it,  he  was  whipped  thirty  stripes, 
September  5th,  and  thus  was  allowed  to  depart  for  his  family  at 
Rehoboth. 

Soon  after  this,  Roger  Williams  writes  *  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr. 
"  I  met  Mr.  John  Clark  at  Providence,  rectus  a  carcere.     There 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  ix.  p.  293. 


A   BOBEB   WORD.  81 

1651.] 

A\i-  great  hammering  about  the  disputation,  but  they  could  not 
hit,  and  although  (my  much  lamented  friend)  the  Governor  told 
him,  that  he  was  worthy  to  be  hanged,  etc.     Yet  he  was  bi  good 

as  thrust  out  without  paying  or  whipping."  No  doubt  Williams 
hoard  that  these  things  were  so.  But  Cobbct  states,  as  before 
observed,  that  the  Governor  denied  uttering  such  an  expression, 
and  that  the  friends  of  Clark  paid  his  fine.* 

Not  long  after  this  date,  Williams  sends  a  reply  f  to  Endicott, 
which  bears  on  the  case  of  Clark  and  Holmes.  Some  passages  are 
given.  "  Let  it  not  be  offensive  in  your  eyes,  that  I  single  out  a 
point,  a  cause  of  my  banishment,  wherein  I  greatly  fear  one  or 
two  sad  evils  have  befallen  your  soul  and  conscience.  The  point 
is  that  of  the  civil  magistrates  dealing  in  matters  of  conscience  and 
religion,  as  also  of  persecuting  any  for  any  matter  merely  spiritual 
and  religious."  Remarking  on  zealous  compliance  with  conscience, 
which  may  be  wrong,  he  continues :  "  Let  me  freely  without  offence 
remember  you,  (as  I  did  Mr.  Clark,  newly  come  from  his  sufferings 
amongst  you,)  of  the  story  I  did  him,  of  William  Hartly  in  queen 
Elizabeth  her  days,  who  receiving  the  sentence  of  hanging,  spake 
confidently  (as  afterwards  he  suffered)  what  tell  you  me  of  hanging, 
if  I  had  ten  thousand  millions  of  lives,  I  would  spend  them  all  for 
the  faith  of  Rome.  Sir,  I  am  far  from  glancing  the  least  counte- 
nance on  the  consciences  of  Papists  ;  all  that  I  observe  is,  that 
boldness  and  confidence,  zeal  and  resolution,  as  it  is  commendable 
in  a  kind  when  it  seriously  respects  a  deity,  so  also,  the  greatest 
confidence  hath  sometimes  need  of  the  greatest  search  and  examin- 
ation. I  end  with  an  humble  cry  to  the  Father  of  mercies,  that  no 
sleep  may  seize  upon  your  eyes  until  your  serious  thoughts  have 
calmly  and  unchangeably,  through  help  from  Christ,  fixed  on  a 
moderation  towards  the  spirit  and  consciences  of  all  mankind, 
merely  differing  from,  or  opposing  yours  with  only  religious  and 
spiritual  opposition."  J 

August.  About  the  first  of  this  month,  Coddington  reaches  his 
home,  with  his  Patent.  Gained  by  special  representations,  this 
document  was  unpopular  and  destined  to  speedy  nullification. 

4.  Williams  had  recently  forwarded  §  a  book  from  his  own  pen, 
published  in  England,  called  "A  Sober  Word  to  a  Serious 
People,"  to  Eliot.  The  object  of  this  production  was  to  discredit 
the  ordinances  and  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  because  considered  as 
not  descended  in  a  pure  manner  from  the  Apostles.  Such  was  the 
impression  of  Williams,  and  he  was  a  seeker,  or  one  who  waited 
for  the  reappearance  of  true  Apostles. 

September  1.  William  Arnold  addresses  the  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts.      He   says,    that  as   Mr.   Coddington  has  obtained    a 

*  Cobbet's  Reply  to  111  News.       f  Appendix  of  Williams's  Reply  to  Cotton. 
X  Staples's  Providence,  p.  80.         §  Hutchinson's  MS.  Coll. 
11 


82  FUGITIVES  FROM  JUSTICE. 

[R.I. 

charter  of  Rhode  and  Conanicut  Islands  for  himself,  he  has 
"  broken  the  force  of  their  charter,  that  went  under  the  name  of 
Providence,  because  he  has  gotten  away  the  greater  parte  of  that 
Colonic "  He  states  that  the  Gortonists  at  Shawomet,  and  the 
people  of  Providence,  were  subscribing  £200  for  Mr.  Williams,  as 
their  agent  to  England,  so  that  he  might  secure  their  territory  by  a 
Patent  from  the  Parliament.  He  thinks,  that  if  Williams  should 
succeed  in  this  purpose,  the  result  would  be  injurious  to  New 
England.  He  proceeds  :  "  Under  the  pretence  of  liberty  of  con- 
science about  these  partes,  there  comes  to  live  all  the  scume,  the 
runne  awayes  of  the  country,  which  in  tyme  for  want  of  better 
order  may  bring  a  heavy  burthen  upon  the  land."* 

The  Gortonists,  of  Warwick,  f  notify  the  Colonial  Commissioners, 
that  they  are  about  to  petition  Parliament  for  the  confirmation  of 
the  grant,  made  by  the  latter  body  for  their  undisturbed  occupa- 
tion of  the  place  where  they  dwell.  They  refer  to  their  past  diffi- 
culties, as  though  endured  by  them  "  for  matters  of  conscience." 
After  perusing  such  a  communication,  the  Commissioners  make  a 
Declaration,  dated  the  16th,  which  contains  the  substantial  facts 
about  the  resignation  of  Warwick  territory  by  Plymouth  to  Massa- 
chusetts, and  the  several  offers  by  the  latter  to  give  up  the  trust,  if 
the  former  will  attend  to  its  calls  for  vigilance  and  action.  At  the 
same  time,  the  Commissioners  of  Plymouth  being  unwilling, 
although  inconsistent  with  the  votes  of  their  Legislature  on  June  7 
of  the  last  year,  and  June  8,  the  present,  to  have  Massachusetts 
exercise  jurisdiction  over  Warwick  and  Patuxet,  which  they 
consider  as  the  duty  of  their  own  Colony,  they  protest  against 
recent  summons  or  warrants  issued  by  the  Bay  Authorities,  on 
account  of  alleged  offences,  for  Gortonists  and  others  in  those  two 
places.  On  the  13th,  the  Commissioners  *  address  Coddington. 
They  speak  of  his  being  made  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  by  the 
Council  of  State  in  England.  They  desire  that,  under  his  admin- 
istration, "Truth  and  Righteousness  may  flourish,  and  that  the 
Gospell,  professed  by  the  English,  in  this  wilderness,  may  not  bee 
brought  vnder  any  just  reproach."  They  request  that  fugitives 
from  justice,  who  have  fled  to  his  territory,  may  be  delivered  up  on 
proper  application. 

Though  the  two  Towns  of  the  Island  had  come  under  a  separate 
Government,  and  thus  withdrawn  their  civil  connection  with  Prov- 
idence and  Warwick,  still  the  latter  two  hold  to  their  charter  priv- 
ileges. 

October  6.  Williams  addresses  §  John  Winthrop,  Jr.  "  Being 
now  bound  resolvedly  (if  the  Lord  please)  for  our  native  countrey, 
I  am  not  certaine  whether  by  the  way  of  the  English  (you  know 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  237.         f  Com'rs.  MS.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  198,  9. 
%  Com'rs  MS.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  196,  7.         §  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol. 
ix.p.  194. 


IIB88BNGBR8  FOR  ENGLAND.  83 

1651.] 

the  reason")  or  by  way  of  the  Dutch.  My  neighbours  of  Provi- 
dence and  Warwick  (whom  I  alsoe  lately  denied;  with  importu- 
nities have  overcome  me  to  endeavour  the  renewing  of  their 
liberties  upon  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Coddington's  late  grant." 

About  this  time,  the  same  writer,  intending  to  take  such  a 
vovage,  sends  a  petition  to  the  Bay  Authorities.  "  Although  it  be 
true  vl  it  pleased  this  honoured  Government  now  many  years  since 
to  pass  sentence  of  banishment  vpon  me,  which  sentence  and  ye 
consequences  (bitter  afflictions  and  miseries,  losses,  sorrows  and 
hardships)  1  have  humbly  desired  (through  ye  help  of  ye  Most 
High)  to  endure  with  a  quiet  and  patient  mind."  He  speaks  of 
the  services  he  did  for  Massachusetts  in  preventing  a  league 
between  the  Pequods  and  the  Narragansetts,  and  forming  one  be- 
tween the  latter  tribe  and  the  English.  He  desires  liberty  to  take 
ship  for  England  in  some  port  of  the  Bay,  and  return  to  it  when 
his  mission  thither  should  be  accomplished.  He  here  remarks : 
"  Some  may  say  you  are  an  opposite  to  ye  way  of  our  worship  and 
beside  you  goe  as  an  adversarie  with  complaints  against  vs  for  ye 
Towne  of  Warwick."  He  replies,  that  millions  of  "  God's  children 
are  at  lamentable  difference  with  you  and  themselues.  Who 
knowes  but  vpon  Christian  debatements  not  only  I,  but  your  hon- 
oured selues,  may  yet  see  cause  to  put  our  mouths  in  the  dust 
togeather,  as  touching  ye  present  controuersies  about  ye  Christian 
worshipp."  He  observes,  that  if  they  will  select  some  individuals 
to  discuss  the  second  objection  to  him,  "  I  hope  (through  God's 
assistance)  to  make  it  apparent  yl  I  goe  not  as  an  enemie  to  ye 
Massachusetts,  but  as  a  professed  instrument  of  our  peaceable  end 
of  yl  sad  controversie."     His  request  is  allowed. 

Clark,  having  been  appointed  *  agent,  by  men  of  Newport  and 
Portsmouth,  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  commission  of  Codding - 
ton,  to  visit  England  and  obtain  the  repeal  of  this  document,  sails 
from  Boston  on  such  business.  He  is  accompanied  by  Williams, 
who  goes  out  to  obtain  confirmation  of  the  charter  privileges,  which 
had  been  granted  to  Providence  and  Warwick. 

November  4.  At  a  General  Assembly  of  these  places,!  Gorton 
is  elected  moderator.  The  members,  convened,  adopt  a  declaration 
of  their  purpose  "  to  stand  embodied  and  incorporated  as  before," 
for  all  matters  of  justice,  peace  and  maintenance  of  civil  rights. 

21.  The  succeeding  petition,*  offered  by  a  committee  of  Rhode 
Island  to  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts,  is  granted.  "Whereas 
there  are  now  residing  upon  the  Island  such  as  have  been  and 
are  accused,  indicted  and  arrested  for  high  treason,"  they  ask, 
that  safe  conduct  may  be  allowed  to  their  inhabitants,  who  may 
be  employed  to  convey  and  put  these  prisoners  on  board  the  ship 
Endeavor,  when  she  is  ready  to  sail,  because,  as  they  observe,  "  we 

*  Staples's  Prov,  p.  82.  f  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  J  Mass.  MS.  Papers, 


84  HIRELING   MINISTRY. 

[R.I. 

have  no  shipping  nor  any  other  way  to  perform  our  bounden  duty 
and  faithful  allegiance  to  the  High  and  Mighty  State  and  Parlia- 
ment of  England." 

1652.  April  8.  Williams  and  Clark,  being  in  England,  present 
a  joint  petition  to  the  Council  of  State.  This  paper  appears  to  have 
asked  for  the  repeal  of  Coddington's  Patent,  and  the  confirmation 
of  the  one  obtained  by  Williams.  During  this  month,  the  latter 
publishes,  in  London,  his  "  Experiments  of  Spirituall  Life  and 
Health  and  their  Preservatives,"  and  his  "  Hireling  Ministry  None 
of  Christ's."     This  work  touches  on  the  following  particulars  : 

ul.  The  nationall  and  parishional  constitution  of  churches,  is 
found  to  be  the  grand  idoll  of  the  nation. 

"  2.  The  inforcing  of  the  nation  to  such  a  Constitution  is  the 
greatest  soul  oppression  in  this  nation. 

"  3.  The  hireling  ministrie  attending  upon  such  assemblies  or 
others,  is  none  of  the  ministrie  of  Christ  Jesus. 

"  4.  The  L'niversities  of  the  nation,  as  subordinate  and  subser- 
vient to  such  ministries  and  churches,  are  none  of  the  institutions 
of  Christ  Jesus. 

"  5.  It  is  the  absolute  duty  of  the  Civil  State  to  set  free  the  souls 
of  all  men  from  that  so  long  oppressing  yoake  of  such  ministries  and 
churches. 

"  Yet  6.  Ought  the  nation  and  every  person  in  it,  be  permitted 
to  see  with  its  own  eyes,  and  to  make  free  choice  of  what  worship 
and  ministrie  and  maintenance  they  please,  whether  parochial  or 
otherwise  ? 

H  7.  The  Apostolical  Commission  and  Ministrie  is  long  since 
interrupted  and  discontinued. — Yet 

"8.  Ever  since  the  beast  Antichrist  rose,  the  Lord  hath  stirred 
up  the  ministrie  of  prophesie,  who  must  continue  their  witness  and 
prophesie  until  their  witness  be  finished  and  slaughters  probably 
neer  approaching  accomplished. 

"  9.  The  provocation  of  the  holy  eyes  is  great  in  all  Courts 
throughout  the  nation  by  million  of  legal  oaths,  which  if  not  re- 
dressed may  yet  be  a  fire  kindled  from  his  jealousie ;  who  will  not 
hold  him  guiltless  which  taketh  his  name  in  vain. 

"  10.  The  free  permitting  of  tbe  consciences  and  meetings  of 
conscionable  and  faithful  people  throughout  the  nation  and  the  free 
permission  of  the  nation  to  frequent  such  assemblies,  will  be  one 
of  the  principal  meanes  and  expedients  (as  the  present  state  of 
Christianitv  stands)  for  the  propagating  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of 
God." 

About  the  same  time,  Clark's  "  111  Newes  from  New  England, 
or  a  Narrative  of  New  England's  Persecutions,"  is  issued  from  a 
London  press.  His  words  are :  "  To  the  Magistracy,  Presbytery 
and  their  dependency  in  Massachusetts,  the  author  wisheth  repent- 


CHARGE   A.QAIN8T   3OBT0NI8T8.  s~> 

MOB.] 

moe  to  the  acknowledgment  of  tin*  truth  as  it  in  In  Jerai  Christ." 
1  U>  Bays  that  their  worship  Mia  not  the  order  of  the  C i <.>>pcl ,"  par- 
ticularly the  part  relative  to  baptizing  infants,  lie  bears  testimony 
against  the  manner  of  their  enforcing  such  worship.  He  gives  a 
■articular  account  of  the  proceeding!  against  himself,  Holmes  and 
(Vandal  in  the  Hay,  for  their  attendance  on  a  meeting  of  Baptists 
at  1. vnn.  'This  production  was  professedly,  and  the  Hireling  Min- 
istry of  Williams  was  evidently  answered  by  Thomas  Cobbet.  On 
the  former's  being  published,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  wrote  to 
Cotton  and  Wilson,  in  terms  which  strongly  disapproved  of  the 
manner  in  which  Clark  and  his  friends  had  been  treated.  His 
rebuke  Mould  probably  have  been  less  severe,  had  the  explanation 
of  Cotton  and  Cobbet  been  prepared  and  laid  before  him. 

April  20.  A  letter*  by  William  Arnold,  at  Patuxit,  is  addressed 
to  the  Governor  of  the  Bay.  Part  of  it  follows  :  "  Since  1  wrote, 
Gorton  has  gotten  intelligence  how  I  have  written.  He  and  his 
company  are  enraged  against  the  men,  thinking  that  they  will 
make  known  to  the  Court  the  beastlike  life  of  Gorton  and  some 
others.  I  hear  they  are  making  choice  of  a  man  to  visit  Massachu- 
setts and  speak  for  them,  '  whose  wife  is  greatly  affected  to  Gorton 
himself.'  "  The  faith  and  practice  of  this  person  and  part  of  his 
followers,  at  this  time  as  well  as  before,  appear  to  have  been  loose, 
like  those  of  modern  Mormons. 

May  18.  "  Whereas,  there  is  a  common  coursef  practiced  amongst 
Englishmen  to  buy  negroes,  to  that  end  they  may  have  them  for 
service  or  slaves  forever  ;  for  the  preventing  of  such  practice  among 
us,  let  it  be  ordered,  that  no  black  mankind  or  white  being  forced 
by  covenant  bond,  or  otherwise,  to  serve  any  man  or  his  assigns, 
longer  than  ten  years,  or  until  they  come  to  be  twenty-four  years 
of  age,  if  they  be  taken  in  under  fourteen,  from  the  time  of  their 
coming  within  the  liberties  of  this  Colony.  And  at  the  end  of 
the  term  of  ten  years  to  set  them  free,  as  the  manner  is  with  the 
English  servants.  And  that  man  that  will  not  let  them  go  free, 
or  shall  sell  them  away  elsewhere,  to  that  end  that  they  may  be 
enslaved  to  others  for  a  long  time,  he  or  they  shall  forfeit  to  the 
Colony  forty  pounds." 

26.  The  Bay  Legislature  consider  a  petition  of  John  Warner, 
that  he  may  return  from  his  banishment.  They  decline  to  allow 
it,  but  grant  him  and  his  family  leave  to  embark  for  England,  from 
any  one  of  their  ports. 

July.  The  people  of  Providence  propose  to  Warwick,  that  the 
Commissioners  of  both  pjaces  meet  and  prepare  "  letters  of  encour- 
agement "  for  their  agent,  Williams,  in  reply  to  his  communica- 
tions, "  wherein  his  careful  proceedings  are  manifest." 

On  the  28th,  Warwick  give  notice  of  their  compliance.     They 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Papers.  f  Col.  R.  I.  Records,  p.  243. 


86  FREEMEN  —  BONDMEN. 

[R.I. 

desire,  that  such  Commissioners  may  inquire  of  Newport  and 
Portsmouth,  whether  the  four  Towns  may  not  unanimously  agree 
to  petition  Parliament  for  the  renewal  of  the  first  Charter.  They 
offer,  that  a  harmony  of  this  kind  would  remove  an  objection  of 
Williams  to  using  his  endeavor  for  such  a  restoration  of  their 
late,  united  jurisdiction.  Another  reason  they  present,  is:  "we 
may  the  better  bring  in  the  Xarragansett  Bay,  which  Coweset  men 
so  strive  for,  which,  if  granted  them,  will  be  very  prejudicial  to  us, 
being  we  can  neither  have  free  egrees  nor  regress  by  sea."  * 

Sept.  8.  Williams  writes  f  to  Gregory  Dexter,  of  Providence  : 
"  It  is  God's  mercy,  his  very  great  mercy,  that  we  have  obtained, 
this  interim,  encouragement  from  the  Council  of  State,  that  you 
may  cheerfully  go  on  in  the  name  of  the  Colony  until  the  con- 
troversy is  determined.  The  determination  of  it,  Sir,  I  fear  will 
be  a  work  of  time,  for  oar  adversaries  threaten  to  make  a  last  appeal 
to  Parliament,  in  case  we  get  the  day  before  the  Council." 

October  4.  Cobbet,  in  his  reply  to  Clark's  111  News,  states 
that,  in  a  late  contention  between  Governor  Coddington  and  others, 
arms  were  used  by  the  parties  and  one  man  killed.  This  probably 
arose  between  the  opponents  and  supporters  of  his  Patent. 

28.  Ordered  J  by  General  Assembly,  "  that  no  foreigner,  Dutch, 
French,  or  any  other  nation,  shall  be  received  as  a  free  inhabitant 
in  any  of  the  Towns  or  have  any  trade  with  the  Indians,  or  Indians 
inhabiting  within  our  Colony,  directly  or  indirectly ;  that  is  to  say, 
by  themselves,  or  any  one  of  them,  or  by  any  other  person  what- 
ever, but  by  the  general  consent  of  our  Colony,  notwithstanding 
any  former  order  to  the  contrary."  Experience  had  proved,  that 
less  care  in  the  admission  of  inhabitants,  whatever  their  relation  of 
oppression  elsewhere  and  of  profession  in  favor  of  liberty,  was  not 
well  for  regular  society. 

"  As  some  ill  affected  and  rude  persons  within  this  Colony  are 
apt  to  carry  themselves  uncivilly  in  giving  out  speeches  tending  to 
the  discouragement  of  others,  by  calling  them  out  of  their  names, 
or  otherways  to  vilify  them ;  yea,  such  as  are  in  place  and  office 
as  others,  which  tends  much  to  the  disparagement,  not  only  of  the 
government  here  established,  but  also  reflects  upon  the  State  and 
Commonweal  of  England,  our  honourable  protectors.  It  is  enact- 
ed, therefore,  by  this  present  Assembly,  that  whosoever  uttereth 
such  words  as  are  to  the  disparagement  of  another,  savoring  of 
malice  or  an  imbittered  spirit,  %shall  be  actionable  in  every  Town  of 
this  Colony,  and  the  party  so  speaking,  being  lawfully  convicted, 
shall  be  punishable  according  to  his  fact  in  the  judgment  of  his 
peers." 

The  Commissioners  prepare  a  letter  to  Williams,  expressive  of 

*  Staples's  Providence,  p.  8-1,  5.       f  Knowles's  Memoir  of  Williams,  p.  253,  4. 
I  R.  I.  Colony  Records,  p.  245,  6. 


THE   BLOOD'S  TENET.  s~ 

1651.] 

their  gratitude  to  him  forhia  exertions  in  their  behalf.  They  inti- 
mate, that  it'  the  Charter  were  renewed,  and  he  should  he  appointed 

Governor  of  the  Colony  for  a  year,  it  would  "tend  much  to  weigh- 
ing of  men's  minds  and  subjecting  of  persons,  who  have  been 
refractory."  *  But  the  Assembly,  on  the  :21th  of  next  month, 
seem  to  have  become  very  jealous  of  this  letter.  They  then  say 
of  it  :  "  We  cannot  but  take  notice  of  several  complaints  against 
particulars  therein  contained,  contrary  to  the  liberties  and  freedom 
of  the  free  people  of  this  Colony,  and  contrary  to  the  end  for 
which  the  stud  Roger  Williams  was  sent,  and  therefore  do  declare 
against  the  same."  Therefore,  his  brother  Robert  presented  them 
as  faithless  to  the  Commonwealth. f 

Callender  relates,  that  some  of  Clark's  church  embrace  "  the 
opinion  of  laying  on  of  hands,  as  necessary  to  all  baptized  per- 
sons/'^ As  Comer  informs  us,  there  were,  at  this  time,  two 
Baptist  churches  at  Providence  ;  the  one  of  h*  ve,  and  the  other  of 
six  principles.  A  member  of  the  first  Baptist  church  of  Newport, 
came  to  Providence  and  received  imposition  of  hands  from  Wick- 
endon,  pastor  of  a  church,  lately  separated  from  the  church  under 
Thomas  Olney,  and  Wickendon  and  Dexter  returned  to  Newport 
with  him.  § 

December  20.  Hugh  Bewett,  of  Providence,  accused  of  treason 
by  Samuel  Gorton,  begins  to  have  his  trial.  On  the  23d  he  is 
acquitted.  It  tends  to  increase  the  "  divisions  in  this  distracted 
Colony." 

Under  this  year,  Williams  publishes  a  rejoinder  to  Cotton.  It 
is  printed  and  sold  in  London,  at  the  west  end  of  Paul's.  It  was 
called,  "  The  Bloody  Tenet  yet  more  Bloody,  by  Mr.  Cotton's  en- 
deavour to  wash  it  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  Its  principal 
contents  follow  :  I.  The  Nature  of  Persecution.  II.  The  Power  of 
the  Civil  Sword  in  Spirituals  examined.  III.  The  Parliament's 
permission  of  dissenting  consciences  justified.  Also,  (as  a  testimony 
to  Mr.  Clark's  narrative,)  is  added  a  letter  to  Mr.  Endicott,  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts. 


CONNECTICUT. 


1651.  March  19.  The  Court  notice  complaints  against  William 
Cheesbrooke,  "  a  smith,  sometimes  an  inhabitant  in  the  Massachu- 
setts, but  more  lately  at  Rehoboth  in  New  Plymouth,  for  trading 

*  Knowles's  Memoir,  p.  255,  6.  t  R.  I.  Colony  Records. 

X  Callender's  Hist.  Discourse.  §  Early  History  of  Rhode  Island. 


88  CASES  OF  WITCHCRAFT. 

[Conn. 

with  Indians.  This  was  done  in  1649,  when  he  was  at  Pecatuck, 
on  Long  Island.  Then  the  authorities  of  Connecticut  received  a 
bond  from  him  to  appear  before  them  and  give  an  account  of  his 
proceedings.  He  now  answers,  that  he  meant  to  have  settled  at 
Fequett,  but  could  not,  and,  therefore,  was  under  necessity  to  make 
his  residence  on  Long  Island.  The  Court  say  to  him,  that  he  had 
no  right  to  do  so  without  their  leave ;  "  besides  it  seemed  more 
than  vncomely  for  a  man  professing  godliness  so  to  withdraw  from 
all  publique  ordinances  and  Christian  society."  He  replied,  that  the 
charge  made  against  him  for  mending  guns  of  the  Indians  was  not 
true,  and  that  he  intended,  if  leave  be  allowed,  to  settle  the  place 
with  a  "company  of  desireable  men."  They  conclude  that  he 
may  remain,  "  hee  professing  full  agreement  with  the  approoued 
churches  of  Christ,  in  all  things,"  if  he  give  security  in  £100  for 
his  proper  deportment. 

May  16.  The  Legislature  of  Connecticut,  having  considered  the 
escape  of  fugitives  from  the  United  Colonies  to  Rhode  Island,  agree 
to  request  Plymouth,  that  they  would  prepare  evidence  "  against 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Commissioners,  to  make  appeare  vnder 
which  of  the  Colonyes  the  plantations  of  Warwick  and  others  doe 
stand."*  The  same  authorities  designate  the  Governor  and  two 
more  to  attend  the  trial  of  "  Goody  Bassett  for  her  life,"  at  Strat- 
ford. She  was  accused  of  witchcraft,  condemned  and  executed. 
There  is  incidental  evidence  f  that  another  female,  the  wife  of  a 
Knapp,  was  hanged  about  the  same  time  on  a  like  accusation.  She 
was  tried  at  Fairfield.  After  the  union  of  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven,  a  person  was  arraigned  for  witchcraft,  but  cleared. 

June  12.  Prudden  writes  to  Richard  Mather.  "Touching  the 
desire  of  such  church  members'  children  as  desire  to  have  their 
children  baptized,  it  is  a  thing  that  I  do  not  yet  hear  practised  in 
one  of  our  churches.  But  for  my  own  part,  I  am  inclined  to  think, 
that  it  cannot  justly  be  denied,  because  their  next  parents  (however 
not  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper)  stand  as  compleat  members  of 
the  church,  within  the  church  covenant,  and  so  acknowledged  that 
they  might  have  baptism.  Their  children  are  also  members  by 
virtue  of  their  parents'  covenant  and  membership.  Baptism  cannot 
be  denied  unto  them."  Henry  Smith,  of  Weathersfield,  sent  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Mather,  August  23,  1647,  on  the  same  topic,  and 
expressed  similar  opinions.* 

George  Gardyner,  in  his  description  of  America,  remarks,  that 
the  North  East  part  of  Long  Island  is  inhabited  by  "some  English, 
which  have  been  thrust  from  New  England  for  their  judgment. 
The  most  of  them  holding  the  Christian  tenent  of  confession  before 
baptism." 

*  Conn.  MS.  and  Printed  Court  Pec.  f  Kingsley's  Hist.  Disc.  p.  101. 

%  First  Principles  of  New  England,  p.  24-6. 


CHURCH   CONTRIBUTIONS.  89 

1651.] 

September  I.  At  a  Besrion  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union, 
the  Colony  of  New  Haven  complain,  that,  contrary  to  the  engage- 
ment between  them  and  New  Netherlands  the  governor  of  the 
latter  had  prevented  their  people  from  settling  lands  in  Delaware, 

It  appears  that  fifty  men,  in  the  spring,  on  their  passage  to  accom- 
plish this  purpose,  stopped  at  New  Amsterdam,  were  east,  into 
prison  and  compelled  to  return.  In  a  petition  to  the  Commission- 
ers,  those  concerned  in  the  matter  observe,  that  had  it  not  been  for 
the  opposition  of  the  Dutch,  "the  Gospell  might  have  been  carried 
■nd  Bpred  amongst  the  Indians  in  that  most  southerly  part  of  New 
England,  and  the  Vnited  Colonies  might  before  this  time  been 
enlarged  with  conveniency  both  for  themselues  and  posteritie." 
The  Commissioners  authorize  the  owners  of  land  in  Delaware  to 
make  another  effort  for  planting  it,  and  promise,  if  need  be,  to  grant 
help  from  the  Confederation. 

15.  The  Commissioners  prepare  a  communication  for  the  Dutch 
Governor,  on  several  grievances.  They  say  :  "  Wee  protest  that  by 
these  vnneighborly  and  vniust  courses,  you  are  the  sole  cause  of  all 
such  inconueniencies  and  mischeifs  as  may  follow  thereupon."  A 
few  days  before,  they  addressed  Winslow  in  London,  and  request- 
ed him  to  intercede  with  Parliament,  so  that  the  Delaware  propri- 
etors might  be  sustained  in  their  rights. 

October  6.  The  Connecticut  Legislaturef  consider  a  letter  of  John 
Mason,  who  asks  their  advice  as  to  a  proposal  of  these  proprietors 
for  heading  an  enterprise  to  settle  their  lands  at  Delaware.  They 
reply,  that  they  cannot  agree  to  his  moving  thither  permanently, 
but  if  he  thinks  that  duty  calls  him  to  take  part  in  the  matter, 
they  will  consent  to  his  being  absent  three  months.  Trumbull 
remarks  :  "  This  appears  to  have  prevented  his  going,  and  to  have 
frustrated  the  design."  The  Court  order  that  "  Wednesday  next 
come  fortnight,  there  bee  a  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation  through- 
out this  Jurisdiction,  for  and  in  consideration  of  some  diseases  or 
infection  that  is  among  our  neighbors  and  friends  of  the  Massachu- 
setts, as  allso  for  and  concerninge  the  affaires  of  our  natiue  country 
and  prosperity  of  the  Gospell  of  Jesus  Christe." 

November  14.  The  authorities  of  New  Haven*  order,  "  That  all 
planters  of  this  Town  put  into  the  Church  Treasury  no  wampum, 
but  silver  or  bills,  and  that  they  add  to  what  they  formerly  gave, 
the  sum  they  lately  added  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  ordi- 
nances, that  once  a  quarter  all  men  make  even  with  the  Deacons 
and  pay  their  debts  to  the  Treasury  in  good  pay,  that  those  which 
receive  it  may  be  incouraged  in  their  work." 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  230-2.  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  192-5. 
t  Conn.  MS.  and  printed  Rec.  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  19-5,  6. 
%  X.  H.  MS.  Rec. 

12 


90  PROPOSED  COLLEGE. 

[Comr. 

1652.  January  8.  Blinman,  at  Pequot,  afterwards  New  London, 
is  still  engaged  in  his  labors  to  evangelize  the  Indians  of  his 
neighborhood.* 

June  28.  Aware  that  knowledge,  under  the  guidance  of  true 
religion,  was  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  church,  the  promi- 
nent men  of  New  Haven  Colony,  like  those  in  the  rest  of  New 
England,  were  desirous  to  promote  the  interests  of  literature.  At 
a  General  Court  in  Guilford,f  they  vote,  "  that  the  matter  about  a 
College  at  New  Haven  is  thought  to  be  too  great  a  charge  for  us 
of  this  jurisdiction  to  undergo  alone ;  as  especially  considering  the 
unsettled  state  of  New  Haven  Town,  being  publicly  declared  from 
the  deliberate  judgment  of  the  most  understanding  men  to  be  a 
place  of  no  comfortable  subsistence  for  the  present  inhabitants  there. 
But  if  Connecticut  do  join,  the  planters  are  generally  willing  to 
bear  their  just  proportions  for  erecting  and  maintaining  a  college 
there.  However,  they  desire  thanks  to  Mr.  (Stephen)  Goodyear 
for  his  kind  proffer  to  the  setting  forward  of  such  a  work." 

October  6.  The  Connecticut  Legislature  $  require  "  that  no  In- 
dian shall  walke  or  come  neare  vnto  or  amongst  any  English  men's 
howses,  vppon  the  Lord's  day,  except  it  bee  in  theire  necessary  way 
of  recoarse  to  the  publique  preaching  of  God's  word,  vppon  penalty 
of  fyne  or  imprisonment." 

13.  A  church  is  gathered  §  at  Farmington,  and  Roger  Newton  is 
ordained  their  pastor.  This  year,  Thomas  Hanford,  having  come 
to  New  England  as  early  as  1650,  began  to  preach  at  Nor  walk. 
Subsequently  a  church  was  formed  here  and  he  became  their 
pastor. 

November  8.  The  Governor  of  New  Haven  Colony  had  lately 
written  to  John  Bower,  a  schoolmaster  at  Plymouth,  to  come  and 
teach  in  the  town  of  New  Haven.  On  the  20th  of  December, 
Bower  answers,  that  he  would  like  to  comply  with  the  invitation, 
but  that  he  is  engaged  there  till  the  following  April.  In  1660  he 
was  at  New  Haven  in  such  employment.  He  was  the  son  of 
George  Bower,  of  Cambridge,  and  a  graduate  from  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 1649.  He  was  settled  ||  in  the  ministry  at  Derby,  moved  to 
Rye,  and  died  about  1688. 

13.  John  Davenport  dates  his  address  to  the  reader,  in  his  work 
of  the  following  title  :  "  The  Knowledge  of  Christ,  The  True 
Messias,  or  Crucified  Jesus,  the  Christ."  It  was  printed  in  Lon- 
don, 1653. 

In  the  address  the  author  observes  :  "  My  far  distance  from  the 
press,  and  the  hazards  of  so  long  a  voyage  by  sea,  had  almost 
discouraged   me   from   transmitting   this    Copie ;    foreseeing   that 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  194.        f  New  Haven  MS.  Ct.  Rec. 
X  Conn.  MS.  and  printed  Rec.  §  Trumbull's  History.  ||  Ibid. 


LOOT  MANUSCRIPTS.  91 

KB9.] 

whatsoev<  i  na  are  committed  by  the  printer,  men  disaffected 

will  impute  to  the  author;  ami  being  sensible  of  my  great  lost  of 
sonic  manuscripts,  by  i  wrack  at  sea,  together  with  the  lives  of 
sundry  precious  ones,  about  six  yeera  since.  Yet  if  the  printer 
acquit  himself  well  in  this,  and  (lod  be  pleased  to  make  it  acceptable 
and  profitable  to  the  reader,  I  shall  be  encouraged  to  publish 
more,  as  God  shall  give  liberty  and  opportunity.      Farewell." 


CHAPTER   III. 

Massachusetts.  Children  of  the  Church.  —  Opinion  of  Xorris.  —  Dissolution 
of  Parliament.  —  Preachers  must  be  properly  approved.  —  Letter  from  Salem 
Church.  —  Graduates  go  to  England.  —  Objections  to  Mr.  Powell.  —  Build- 
ing for  the  instruction  of  Indians.  —  Teachers  to  be  sound  in  faith  and  con- 
duct. —  Indian  Towns.  —  Petition  for  Robert  Pike.  —  Letter  from  Cromwell. 

—  Williams  gives  an  account  of  Peters.  —  Publications.  —  Worship  in  the 
army.  —  Intemperance.  —  Books  of  heresy  to  be  burnt.  —  Deputies  required 
to  be  orthodox  and  moral.  Plymouth.  Arms  at  worship.  —  Fast.  —  Leve- 
ridge.  —  Falsehood.  —  Error  confessed.  —  Scituate  Churches.  —  Decease  of 
Lothrop.  —  Government  at  Kennebeck.  —  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath.  — 
Death  of  Miss  Poole.  —  Presentments.  —  Baptism.  Maine.  Deputies.  — 
Submission.  —  Church  membership.  —  Privileges  of  freemen.  —  Excommuni- 
cated members.  —  Opponents.  —  La  Tour.  —  Jordan  in  prison.  New  Hamp- 
shire. Recommendation  of  Wheelwright.  Rhode  Island.  Coddington's 
Patent.  —  Fidelity  to  the  Commonwealth  of  England.  —  Gortonists.  — Vane's 
Letter.  —  Readoption  of  the  Patent,  obtained  by  Williams.  —  Letters  to 
Cromwell  and  others.  —  Liberty.  —  Sixth-principle  Church.  Connecticut. 
Alarm  at  movements  of  the  Dutch.  —  Power  to  declare  war.  —  Missionary. 

—  Address  to  Cromwell  for  help.  —  Hooke's  letter  to  him.  —  Death  of 
Haynes.  —  Fast,  with  its  occasions.  —  House  of  Good  Hope.  —  Temperance. 

—  Communication  to  the  Sweeds  of  Delaware  Bay. — Instruction  for  In- 
dians. —  Youths  for  missionaries.  —  Catechism.  —  Emigration  to  Delaware. 

—  College. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

1653.  January  18.  Nathaniel  Rogers  of  Ipswich,  writes*  to 
Richard  Mather  of  Dorchester.  "  To  the  question,  concerning  the 
children  of  church  members,  I  have  nothing  to  oppose,  and  I 
wonder  any  should  deny  them  to  be  members.  They  are  members 
in  censu  Ecclesiastico  ;  God  so  calls  them,  the  church  is  so  to 
account  them.  And  when  they  are  adultce  ceiatis,  though  having 
done  no  personal  act,  yet  are  to  be  in  charity  judged  members  still, 
and  till  after  due  calling  upon,  they  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to 
acknowledge  and  own  the  covenant  of  their  parents,  and  profess 
their  belief  of,  and  subject  to  the  contents  thereof.  For  practice,  I 
confess  I  account  it  our  great  default,  that  we  have  made  no  more 

*  First  Principles  of  New  England,  p.  23,  4. 


ERRORS  —  HERB8IB  M 

ival  distinction  between  these  and  others,  that  they  have  been  do 
more  attended,  as  the  lambs  of  the  flock  of  Christ  :  and  whether  it. 
be  not  the  cause  of  the  corruption  and  woeful  defection  of  our 
vouth,  disquirere  permittimus.  We  are  this  week  to  meet  in  the 
ehuivh  about  it,  and  I  know  nothing  but  we  must  speedily  fall  to 
practice." 

March  I.  Because  "  crrours  and  heresies  *  are  rife  "  in  England, 
war  between  them  and  Holland  is  like  to  increase;  and  involve  the 
Colonies  ;  "  errours  and  heresies  creep  in  so  fast  amongst  vs, 
scarcity  of  comodetyes  and  decay  of  trade  "  prevail ;  "  sin  of 
oppression  still "  reigns ;  "  want  of  officers  in  Church  and  Com- 
monwealth ;"  the  consuming  "of  3  children,  howses  and  estates 
of  many  precious  ones  in  Boston  by  ye  late  lamentable  fire,"  the 
23d  hist,  is  set  apart  for  "a  solemn  publicke  day  of  humiliation." 

April  5.  Mr.  Westgate,f  who  had  been  in  New  England,  writes 
from  llarlestone  to  Thomas  Lake,  of  Boston.  "  Pray  inform  me  in 
your  next,  whether  Mr.  Cotton  be  alive,  and  if  he  be  dead,  what 
supply  the  church  have  in  his  stead,  and  how  the  state  of  it  stands, 
and  also  the  state  of  the  other  church  in  Boston,  of  which  I  can 
hear  nothing.  Inform  me  whether  the  number  of  those  that 
oppose  baptizing  of  infants  increase,  and  how  it's  taken  by  the 
magistrates  and  churches,  and  who  of  Boston  church  declare 
themselves  that  way." 

John  Warren  and  Thomas  Arnold  X  are  fined  20/.  each  for  being 
absent  more  than  four  times  from  "  the  public  ordinances." 

Henry  Felch,  having  departed  over  three  times  from  the  Assem- 
bly when  baptism  was  about  to  be  administered,  is  admonished  by 
the  Court  for  "  his  sin  in  neglecting  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord, 
according  to  the  Laws  provided  in  that  case." 

9.  On  account  of  the  "  more  than  probable  rumors  of  the  Dutch 
engaging  of  several  Indians  to  cut  off  the  English,"  the  Colonial 
Commissioners  meet§  in  Boston.  These  go  into  a  scrutiny  of 
evidences  for  such  a  report.  After  attending  to  this  service,  they 
"  thought  fit  to  draw  up  a  declaration  of  former  grievances  and  of 
this  conspiracy."  They  introduce  the  paper  thus  :  "  That  the 
Indians  who  know  not  God  but  worship  and  walk  after  the  prince 
of  the  power  of  the  air,  should  grow  insolent  and  sundry  ways 
injurious  to  strangers  of  contrary  judgment  and  practice,  cannot 
seem  strange  to  any  who  duly  consider  what  proportion  and  agree- 
ment there  is  ordinaryly  betwixt  the  fruit  and  the  tree ;  but  the 
united  English  Colonies,  expecting  a  just  and  neighbourly  corres- 
pondency and  intercourse  from  and  with  the  Dutch  living  at  and 
about  New  Netherland,  though  the  place  fall  within  New  England, 

*  Mass.  MS.  Hec.         f  Hutchinson,  vol.  i.  p.  228.         J  Middlesex  MS.  Pwec. 
§  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  203-70. 


94  EAST   INDIA  BREAKFAST. 

[Mass. 

have  met  with  a  constant  course  of  opposition,  injuries  and  many- 
hostile  affronts."  In  particularizing  these  charges,  the  Commis- 
sioners say  :  "  We  hear  that  some  of  the  Dutch  tell  the  English, 
they  shall  shortly  have  an  East  India  breakfast,  in  which  it  is  con- 
ceived they  refer  to  that  horrid  plot  and  execution  at  Amboyna." 
They  state,  that  "  the  peace  of  the  English  through  the  whole 
country  is  disturbed,  they  are  wearied  with  extraordinary  watchings 
and  wardings,  hindered  in  their  plowing,  sowing,  preparation  for 
planting,  and  other  occasions,  to  their  exceeding  great  damage." 
The  Commissioners  consult  the  Assistants  and  Elders  of  Massachu- 
setts, how  to  proceed  with  the  declaration.  The  latter  reply,  that 
however  the  Dutch  Governor  seems  guilty  through  the  accusations, 
yet  "  we  present  it  to  your  godly  wisdoms  whether,  in  this  great 
question,  it  doth  not  best  become  a  People  professing  to  walk  in 
the  Gospel  of  peace,  having  to  do  with  a  people  pretending  to  the 
same  profession,  that  the  Dutch  Governor  answer  for  himself." 
This  proposal  is  accepted  by  the  Commissioners,  and  they  select  mes- 
sengers to  present  him  and  two  of  his  Council  with  a  statement  of 
the  case.  In  the  mean  while,  they  had  letters  from  him  absolutely 
denying  the  charges  made  against  him,  and  asserting  his  readiness 
to  be  examined  in  relation  to  them.  Instructions  for  the  persons 
who  are  to  wait  on  him,  are  dated  the  second  of  next  month. 

May  3.  Eev.  Edward  Norris  addresses  the  Commissioners  "  con- 
serning  the  busines  about  the  Duch,  which  has  caused  many  a 
pensiue  hart."  He  fears  that,  if  war  be  not  declared  against  the 
Dutch,  Parliament  may  deal  with  New  England  as  neutral,  and  not 
taking  a  dutiful  interest  in  their  contest  with  Holland.  He  appre- 
hends that,  should  hostilities  not  commence,  after  "  high  resolu- 
tions amongst  vs  by  our  own  musterings  by  day  and  alarms  by 
night  and  the  boasting  of  our  confidence  in  our  God  and  his 
healp,"  the  Indians  will  become  still  more  insolent  and  "  blaspheme 
and  despisse  both  our  God  and  ourselues."  He  is  anxious  lest,  by 
the  delay  of  such  forcible  means,  they  who  live  near  the  Dutch  and 
Indians,  may  "  suffer  by  it  to  blood  and  life."  He  thinks  the 
arguments  for  the  continuance  of  peace  with  such,  are  not  strong. 
On  the  17th,  after  messengers  to  the  Dutch  Governor  departed  on 
their  anxious  mission,  the  Commissioners  proceed  to  make  prepara- 
tion for  war,  if  he  fail  to  clear  himself  from  the  suspected 
conspiracy.  On  the  26th,  he  prepares  his  defence,  which  was 
dispatched  to  the  Commissioners.  In  it  he  declares,  that  the 
Dutch  authorities  have  the  mind  which  is  conscious  of  right,  and 
can  justly  laugh  at  the  falsehoods  of  report.  He  remarks,  that 
they  had  no  knowledge  of  the  cruelty  exercised  on  the  English  at 
Amboyna,  and,  of  course,  had  no  apology  to  make  in  that  particular. 
On  the  28th,  the  messengers  having  returned  without  satisfaction 
from  the  Dutch  Governor,  and  the  subject  being  under  debate  with 


PARLIAMENT   DISSOLVED.  95 

1653.] 

the  Commissioners  of  the  Onion,  Elders,  whose  advice  had  been 
desired,  report  "itt  to  be  most  agreeable  to  the  Gospel]  of  i" 
which  we  professe  ami  safest  tor  these  collonies  to  forbear  the  rae  of 

tin-  BWOrd,  till  the  Lord  by  his  providence  and  by  the  wisdome  of 
hi>  servants  >ett  ouer  us  shall  further  cleare  oil'  his  mind  either  for 
our  setled  peace  or  most  manifest  grounds  of  war."  On  June  3d, 
the  Commissioners  reply  to  Stuyvesant.     After  taking  a  general 

view  of  the  controversy  between  them,  they  say:  "For  youcr  con- 
fident denials  of  the  barbarous  plott  charged,  will  weigh  little  in 
ballcnce  against  such  evidence." 

April  20.  As  an  event  calculated  to  alarm  the  colonists,  con- 
cerning the  stability  of  freedom  in  the  mother  country,  Cromwell, 
backed  by  the  army,  dissolved  the  Parliament.  In  the  afternoon, 
he  does  the  same  with  regard  to  the  Council  of  State.  Thus 
closed  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  after  a  continuance  of  four 
years,  two  months  and  twenty  days,  a  period  of  great  events,  of 
alternate  hopes  and  fears  with  its  best  friends.  Instead  of  sum- 
moning the  people  to  elect  a  new  Parliament,  he  nominated,  on 
the  30th,  a  Council  of  State  to  administer  the  laws,  and  June  8th, 
he  required  140  persons  of  the  several  counties  to  assemble  at 
Whitehall,  the  4th  of  July,  and  take  on  themselves  "  the  trust 
of  the  affairs  of  the  Commonwealth."  He  declared  that  he  believed 
all  these  men  to  be  the  possessors  of  true  faith  in  Christ.  The 
most  of  them  accordingly  met  and  received  a  Parchment  from  him, 
empowering  them  to  assume  the  "  supreme  authority  and  govern- 
ment "  till  November  3,  of  next  year.  He  made  it  a  rule,  that  they 
should  elect  none  to  succeed  them  but  those  whom  they  had  cause 
to  regard  as  true  Christians.* 

Among  the  population  of  the  mother  country,  at  this  period, 
there  wTere  three  great  parties  ;  the  Republicans,  who  wished  for  an 
absolute  Commonwealth,  the  Presbyterians,  who  preferred  a  return 
of  affairs  as  in  1648,  and  the  Cavaliers,  who  were  for  restoring  the 
King.  The  reaction  of  such  a  state  of  affairs  was  far  from  being 
favorable  to  the  interests  of  New  England. 

May  19.  At  the  sitting  of  the  Legislature,  now  begun,  several 
orders  are  passed.  "  As  divers  of  our  Plantations  are  destitute  of 
persons  fitly  qualified  to  undertake  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
whereby  they  are  necessitated  to  make  use  of  such  as  they  have,  to 
exercise  and  preach  publicly  among  them,  by  occasion  whereof 
persons  of  bolder  spirits  and  erroneous  principles,  may  take  advan- 
tage to  vent  their  errors  to  the  infection  of  their  hearers  and  the 
disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the  country,"  no  one  is  allowed  to 
preach  without  the  approbation  of  the  Elders  of  the  four  churches, 
next  to  the  place  wThere  he  may  be  employed,  or  of  the  Court  of 
the  county  in  which  it  is  located. 

*  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  157.    Neal,  vol.  iv.  p.  71,  2. 


96  SALEM  LETTER. 

[Mass. 

The  Court,  though  mourning  the  loss  of  Mr.  Cotton,  congratu- 
late Norton  on  his  acceptance  of  the  call  from  the  first  Boston 
Church,  and  order  a  letter  of  thanks  for  the  Ipswich  Church,  who 
so  denied  themselves  as  to  consent  that  he  should  change  the 
sphere  of  his  labors. 

June  16.  Persons  elected  Captain  and  Lieutenant  of  the  South 
Boston  Company,  are  presented  to  the  General  Court  for  confirma- 
tion. These  authorities  finally  say  of  one,  "  consented  if  the 
Church  do  dismiss  him  from  being  deacon,  in  regard  it  is  con- 
ceived the  places  are  not  consistent."  * 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  law,  prohibiting  unqualified  men 
to  serve  as  ministers,  the  Church  in  Salem  prepare  a  letterf  on  the 
subject  to  be  laid  before  the  Legislature.  Extracts  follow  :  "  Wee 
question  not  the  sincere  intention  of  any,  that  might  have  a  chief 
hand  therein  to  prevent  all  erroneous  opinions  and  unsound  doc- 
trines to  be  vented  in  the  country,  (a  case  most  needfull  in  these 
times  and  for  which  wee  have  cause  to  bless  God  in  any  of  his 
servantes  and  to  thanke  them,)  yet  in  this  waye  of  doing  it,  wee 
are  not  cleere  nor  can  iudg  it  to  be  right  and  according  unto  the 
rules  of  Christ."  Then  reasons  are  presented  for  the  repeal  of  the 
act.  It  intrenches  on  the  liberties  of  the  churches,  and  "  yf  a 
breach  be  once  made  into  these  liberties,  we  know  not  howe  farre 
it  maye  proceed  in  time,  there  being  such  a  leading  example  as 
this."  It  operates  against  not  only  those  of  unsound  principles, 
but,  also,  those  of  opposite  principles.  It  is  uncalled  for,  "  because 
those  companies  of  people  in  these  parts,  requiring  such  healpes 
are  most  of  them  (yf  not  all)  branches  of  churches  who  watch  over 
theyr  members,  and  have  power  to  reforme  any  such  doctrinall 
evills  among  them  without  calling  on  Elders  or  Courtes  to  suppress 
them."  The  conclusion  adds :  "  These  are  but  some  of  the 
groundes,  wee  have  to  intreat  the  repealing  of  this  order  for  the 
present  till  better  consydered,  and  further,  that  lawes  made  con- 
cerning churches  in  generall  and  theyre  liberties  might  be  with 
the  consent  of  the  churches  first  had  and  known  therein."  f 

This  year,  the  Platform  *  of  Church  Discipline  in  New  England, 
is  reprinted  in  London,  by  Edward  Winslow.  His  introduction  to 
it,  presents  the  following  account  :  "  Being  employed  as  an  Agent 
from  New  England  these  six  years  past  to  the  present  Parliament, 
amongst  other  papers  that  came  to  my  hands  from  thence,  I  received 
sometimes  since,  this  ensuing  Treatise,  (Platform,)  from  divers  of 
the  Rev.  Elders  there,  with  liberty  to  reprint  it  as  I  saw  occasion." 
He  speaks  of  soYne  delay ;  had  met  lately  with  a  very  incorrect 
copy  of  the  work  and  used  means  for  its  suppression.     He  relates 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  f  Annals  of  Salem,  1  ed.  p.  533. 

j  Am.  Ant.  Soc.  Tract  17th  cent.  13. 


DEMISE  OF  Thomas   DUDLEY.  W 

that  the  impression,  which  he  now  issued,  was  carefully  examined 
by  a  copy  from  John  Cotton's  own  hand.  He  continues:  M  It  would 
be  but  as  a  drop  of  watn-  cast  into  the  great  ocean,  for  me  to  go 
about,  by  my  praises,  to  add  to  the  worth  of  this  work,  and,  there- 
fore, Buch  as  the  Elders  and  church  messengers  from  their  Synod 
at  Cambridge,  presented  to  the  Churches  and  General  Court  ibr 
their  consideration  and  acceptance  in  the  Lord.  Such  and  the 
same  I  declare  this  to  be  and  desire  the  Lord  to  make  it  useful  to 
US  churches  and  people  for  finding  out  and  true  discovery  of  that 
order  and  government  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  left  in  his  house  till 
his  second  appearing.'1 

July  31.  Thomas  Dudley,  aged  nearly  77  years,  dies  at  Roxbury. 
He  was  son  of  Roger  Dudley,  born  at  Northampton,  England,  in 
1576.  Neal*  relates,  that  he  was  designed  for  the  law;  received 
a  Captain's  commission  from  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  sent  him  at  the 
head  of  a  company  of  foot  to  serve  Henry  IV.  of  France,  in  the 
Low  Countries.  But  peace  being  restored,  he  returned  to  North- 
ampton, and,  through  conversation  with  Hildersham  and  others, 
embraced  Puritanism.  Required  to  conform  with  ceremonies,  he 
declined  and  came  to  New  England,  1630. 

He  sustained  the  offices  of  Assistant,  Deputy  Governor  and 
Governor  with  prominency  and  faithfulness.  His  wife  Dorothy 
died  27th  September,  1643,  and  he  married  again  the  next  year. 
His  widow  f  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  John  Allin  of  Dedham. 
Among  his  sons  and  daughters*  was  a  literary  writer,  Anne,  a 
poetess  and  wife  of  Simon  Bradstreet.  The  chief  purpose  of 
Dudley,  like  that  of  most  among  the  primitive  emigrants,  was  to 
found  a  Colony,  as  an  asylum  for  Puritans,  and  for  no  others  whose 
profession  either  of  forms  or  faith  should  disturb  the  peace  of 
Church  or  Commonwealth.  He  steadily  endeavored  to  carry  out 
this  plan,  amid  self-denials  and  reproaches.  However  many  in 
this  age  and  nation,  under  circumstances  very  different  from  those 
of  his  day,  may  account  him  bigoted,  yet  they  must  allow,  that  he 
manifested  a  consistency  with  his  own  idea  of  obligation  to  the 
cause,  which  he  adventured  all  to  support.  Moreton's  Memorial 
relates,  that  Dudley,  a  short  time  before  his  decease,  composed 
something  in  verse,  which  was  found  in  one  of  his  pockets,  after 
that  event.     Part  of  the  piece  follows. 

"  Let  men  of  God  in  Courts  and  Churches  watch 
O'er  such  as  do  a  toleration  hatch." 

The  same  author  thus  describes  his  character :  "  He  was  a  person 
of  quick  understanding  and  solid  judgement  in  the  fear  of  the 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  308.  f  Katherine,  widow  of  Samuel  Hackburne,  of  Boston, 

had  married  a  Dudley  before  1648. 
13 


98  WILL   OF  ROBERT   KEAYNE. 

[Mass. 

Lord ;  he  was  a  lover  of  justice,  order,  the  people.  Christian  Re- 
ligion ;  the  supream  virtues  of  a  good  magistrate." 

August  1.  The  will*  of  Robert  Keayne,  of  Boston,  presents  a 
mode  of  expression,  anciently  adopted  in  the  caption  of  some  such 
documents.  His  language  is  :  "  Renouncing  all  manner  of  known 
errors,  all  Popish  and  Prelatical  superstitions,  all  Anabaptistical, 
Enthusiastical  and  Famalistical  delusions,  with  all  other  fayned 
devises  and  all  old  and  new  upstart  opinions,  unsound  and  blas- 
phemous errors."  He  left  money  for  a  Town  House,  which  was 
to  have  a  room  reserved  for  the  Elders,  where  they  might  convene 
when  visiting  Boston.  He  bequeathed  £4  annually  for  ten  years, 
to  be  paid  quarterly,  as  a  means  of  meeting  the  charge  for  their 
refreshment,  and  occasionally  dinners.  Assigning  his  reason  for 
provision  of  this  kind,  he  says :  "  I  perceive  that  the  Elders  of  the 
neighbouring  Towns  have  appointed  certain  times  in  the  year, 
chiefly  in  summer  time,  once  a  month,  to  meet  together  to  confer 
about  ordering  things  in  the  churches  according  to  God,  and  to 
debate  about  doubts  or  difficult  questions,  that  may  arise  in  matters 
of  Religion,  and  that  they  have  no  place  to  meet  in,  but  at  one  of 
our  Elders'  houses,  nor  any  thing  to  refresh  themselves  with  but 
of  them,  which  may  prove  too  great  a  burden  to  our  Elders." 

24.  An  act  is  passed  f  by  Parliament,  requesting  marriages  to  be 
solemnized  by  Justices  of  the  Peace,  which  confirms  the  practice  of 
New  England,  and  is  intended  as  an  efficient  means  to  prevent  the 
return  of  Episcopal  influence. 

80.  The  Church  of  WoburnJ  offer  reasons  to  the  Legislature 
against  their  late  order,  that  no  man  shall  preach  without  the 
approbation  of  the  four  next  Churches,  or  of  the  County  Court. 
They  take  the  ground,  that  it  circumvents  the  liberty  of  Christian 
Churches,  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  Word  of  God,  and  will 
not  answer  its  purpose. 

The  General  Court  meet.  Their  proceedings  follow  :  "  Whereas 
at  the  last  session  of  this  Court,  they  passed  an  order  concerning 
public  preaching  without  allowance,  which  they  understand  is  dis- 
satisfactory to  divers  of  the  inhabitants,  whom  the  Court  have  cause 
to  respect,  although  they  conceive  the  said  order,  rightly  under- 
stood, to  be  safe  and  much  conducing  to  the  preservation  of  peace 
and  truth  among  us,  yet  that  all  jealousies  may  be  removed,  this 
Court  do  repeal  the  said  order,  and  doth  hereby  enact  that  every 
person  that  shall  publish  and  maintain  any  heterodox  and  erroneous 
doctrine,  shall  be  liable  to  be  questioned  and  censured  by  the 
County  Court  where  he  liveth,  according  to  the  merit  of  his 
offence."     The   law  forbidding   the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 


*  Suffolk  Prob.  Rec.  in  Boston.     Though  the  will  was  not  executed,  in  the 
particulars  specified,  yet  the  plan  of  them  is  interesting. 

f  Acts  and  Ordinance,  p.  236.  J  Mass.  MS.  Rec.  and  Papers. 


ORDINATION    PORBTDDEN.  90 

is  ordered  to  be  posted  up  od  the  door  of  every  meeting-house,  and 
there  remain,  at  least,  one  month. 

This    year,    Joshua    and    Nehemiah    Ambrose    take    their    first 
ree  at    Harvard.     The  former  embarked  for  England  and  re- 
..  M.  from  Oxford.     Calamy  informs  ns,  that  he  was 
settled  in  the  ministry  at  Darby,  Lancashire,  whence  he  was  ejected. 
ton  Mather    states   that    he   was   living   in    lb'97.      The  latter, 
Nehemiah,  was  a  fellow  of  Harvard  College.     He  went  to  Eng- 
land, was  ordained  at  Kirby,  Lancashire,  whence  he  was  ejected 
after  Charles  II.  came  to  the  throne. 

Edward,  son  of  Edward  Rawson,  long  Secretary  of  the  Colony, 
Jassmate  with  the  Ambroses.  He  went  to  England  and  was 
settled  in  1655,  as  minister  of  Horsmunden,  Kent,  whence  he  was 
ejected.  Dr.  Walker  represents  him  as  a  strong  Presbyterian. 
This  is  not  unlikely,  for  he  spent  most  of  his  youth  at  Newbury, 
under  the  preaching  of  Noyes  and  Parker,  who  were  of  the  same 
order.  The  Nonconformist  Memorial  says  :  "  He  was  esteemed  a 
very  pious  man." 

September.  The  North  Church  of  Boston  state,  in  their  address 
to  the  Legislature,  that  the  County  Court  had  forbidden  them  to 
call  and  ordain  their  brother  Powell.  They  petition  the  Govern- 
ment to  remove  such  an  injunction,  but  this  Body  give  the  subse- 
quent reply.  They  are  not  satisfied  that  he  has  such  abilities, 
learning  and  qualifications  as  are  requisite  for  a  Pastor  or  Teacher. 
They  add  :  "  Besides,  the  unsuitableness  of  these  times  complying 
with  such  unsound  tenets  as  now  abound  for  the  subversion  of  an 
able  ministry."  They  remark,  that  the  Church  can  call  Mr. 
Powell  to  be  a  Puling  Elder,  and  thereby  enjoy  the  ordinances  of 
Christ,  save  the  sacraments.  They  hope  that  the  Church's  still 
waiting  for  an  able  minister  will  not  be  in  vain,  but  for  their  peace 
and  comfort,  and  also  for  those  of  the  town  and  country,  "  who 
are  much  concerned  therein." 

2.  The  Court  being  informed  that,  at  the  publication  of  the 
law  relative  to  the  employment  of  preachers  without  specified 
leave,  at  Salisbury,  Lieut.  Robert  Pike  asserted,  that  such  persons 
as  voted  for  it  had  broken  their  oath,  that  it  was  against  the  liberty 
of  the  country  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  that  several  churches 
had  called  their  members  to  an  account  who  had  acted  for  it,  and 
that  some  Towns  intended  to  lay  their  thoughts  on  it  before  the 
Legislature, — command  him  to  appear  and  answer  the  complaint 
on  the  7th  day.  He  is  accordingly  arraigned  and  decision  is  made, 
that  he  had  defamed  the  General  Court.  For  this,  he  is  disfran- 
chised so  as  to  hold  no  office  in  Town,  County  or  Commonwealth, 
to  plead  no  cause  before  any  judicial  tribunal  except  his  own,  to 
give  bonds  for  good  behavior,  and  be  fined  twenty  marks. 

6.  Michael  Powell  addresses  the  Governor  and  Council.  He 
gives  a  narrative  of  his  coming  to  Boston  ;  could  not  be  accommo- 


100  PROTRACTED  DISCUSSION. 

[Mass. 

dated  with  seats  for  himself  and  wife  in  the  first  Church,  joined 
with  those  who  constituted  the  new  Congregation,  preached  for 
them  when  they  could  get  no  better,  at  last  they  gave  him  a  call 
and  he  accepted  it,  if  the  Magistrates  and  Elders  should  approve 
of  it,  but  perceiving  that  they  were  unwilling  that  he  should  be 
ordained,  he  and  the  Society  complied;  hence  the  injunction  of  the 
County  Court  for  them  not  to  proceed  was  sad  to  him.  He  men- 
tions a  report  that,  notwithstanding  such  objections,  he  and  the 
new  Church  meant  to  be  united  as  pastor  and  flock.  He  says,  in 
reference  to  it :  "I  had  rather  be  followed  to  my  grave  than  unto 
that  which  crosses  the  rule  of  Christ,  or  disturbs  the  peace  of  the 
Churches."  He  desires  that  the  Governor  and  Assistants  would 
not  have  such  hard  thoughts,  as  that  he  would  consent  to  be 
ordained,  or  that  the  Church  would  take  such  a  step,  without  their 
approbation.* 

10.  After  a  protracted  discussion  between  the  General  Court  and 
the  Commissioners  of  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  as 
to  the  authority  of  these  officers  for  declaring  Avar,  it  is  concluded 
that  they  will  attend  to  other  business  before  them,  and  leave  the 
question  to  their  several  Legislatures.  It  was  contended  by  Mas- 
sachusetts that  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union  had  no  power  to 
order  and  commence  hostilities,  unless  obviously  right,  with  the 
consent  of  their  respective  Courts.  On  the  13th,  the  Bay  Author- 
ities address  letters  to  the  other  General  Courts  of  the  Confedera- 
tion^ with  questions  on  the  controversy,  and  desire  to  hear  the 
conclusion  of  their  deliberations.  On  the  20th,  all  the  Commis- 
sioners, with  the  exception  of  Bradstreet,  proclaim  war  against 
Ninnegret  for  his  late  attack  on  the  Long  Island  Indians,  and  assess 
the  men  to  be  raised  by  each  Colony.  William  Hawthorne,  the 
colleague  of  Bradstreet,  votes  with  the  rest  for  such  a  measure. 
Bradstreet  remarks  :  "  I  see  not  sufficient  light  to  assent."  On  the 
24th,  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  assert  that  they  perceive  no 
competent  reasons  for  the  decision  of  the  Commissioners,  and  there- 
fore dare  not  exercise  their  authority  to  levy  forces.  On  the 
reception  of  this,  the  Commissioners  of  the  other  colonies  confirm 
their  former  conclusion,  that  war  with  the  Dutch  is  justifiable. 
They  also  remark,  that  "  they  apprehend  the  Massachu setts  have 
actually  broken  their  covenant,  but  what  damages  may  heerby 
grow  to  the  other  three  Collonies,  they  leave  to  such  discoueries  as 
the  wise  God  shall  please  to  make  ;  to  the  consideration  of  the 
seuerall  Generall  Courts  therein  concerned." 

Bradstreet,  in  his  rejoinder,  utters  the  following  language  :  "  I 
shall  att  present  say  onely  this,  that  as  I  cannot  hinder  the  honered 
Commissioners  from  apprehending  what  they  declare,  or  declaring 
what  they  apprehend ;  soe  neither  doth  the  one  or  the  other  make 

*  Mass.  MS.  Papers.         t  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  274-305. 


ri.r.A   OP   BRAD8TEU  I  101 

1653.] 

that  to  bee  a  breach  of  covenant  which  u  not  soe  in  itselfe.  The 
Collonie8  are  not  bound  to  act  in  any  offensive  wan-  according  to 
the  determination  of  the  Commissioners  farther  then  the  san 
just  and  according  to  God.  It'  the  case  in  ([notion  bee  such,  1 
oannot  deney  what  is  apprehended  hut  our  Counsel]  wanting  (as 
they  conceiue)  convincing  evidence  thereof,  it  must  bee  left  to 
further  desquisition  and  clearing,  which  1  desire  may  bee  done  in 
the  most  amicable  and  Christian  way  and  manner  that  may  bee 
suitable  to  our  profession  and  agreeable  to  the  mayne  end  of  our 
Confeaderation ;  knowing  and  solemnly  professing  that  according 
to  my  best  knowlidge  and  vnderstanding,  it  is  not  the  mind  of  our 
Counsell  or  General  C1ourt  to  oppose  the  determination  of  the 
(  ommissioners  further  than  they  conceiue  the  same  to  oppose  the 
mind  of  God.  Ypon  this  account,  I  earnestly  request,  that  due 
regard  may  he  had  to  the  judgments  and  consciences  of  others, 
pious  and  prudent,  that  are  soe  deeply  concerned  heerin,  and  that 
in  case  of  blood ;  and  though  att  present  wee  cannot  bee  all  like 
minded,  that  yett  our  Christian  moderation  may  appeer  as  in  other 
respects,  soe  espetially  in  refferance  to  an  offensiue  warr  with 
Indians  or  others  till  the  mind  of  God  doe  more  fully  appeer. 
Kemembering  it  wilbee  noe  griefe  of  hart  to  any  of  vs  when  we 
come  to  giue  vp  our  accounts  that  wTee  haue  neither  sheed  blood 
causlesly  nor  drawne  others  to  doe  it  vpon  the  grounds  not  clear  to 
them  however  possibly  satisfactory  to  youreselues." 

28.  The  Commissioners  return  an  answer  to  Winslow's  letter  of 
May  2.  They  express  their  gladness,  that  Cromwell  is  engaged 
in  promoting  the  mission.  They  agree  that  the  proposal  of  the 
Corporation  for  six  hopeful  Indians  to  be  trained  up  at  Harvard 
College,  so  as  to  learn  other  tongues  and  disperse  their  own  there, 
is  judicious,  and  shall  be  executed,  when  they  prepare  a  suitable 
building  for  such  students.  They  state  that  Mr.  Eliot  is  composing 
an  Indian  Catechism,  and  that  they  shall  hire  Thomas  Staunton, 
the  most  able  interpreter  in  the  country,  to  assist  him  in  the  work. 
They  arrange  compensation  for  the  wife  of  William  Daniel  of 
Dorchester,  who,  for  three  years,  had  spent  much  of  her  time  in 
teaching  some  Indians  to  read,  and  for  her  further  continuance  in 
the  same  duty.  They  express  a  desire,  that  Mr.  Eliot,  "  when  a 
hopefull  companie  of  Indians  present  themselves,"  will  gather 
them  into  another  town,  and  they  designate  the  various  implements 
for  such  a  purpose.  They  consult  relative  to  the  salaries  of  Messrs. 
Mayhew,  Eliot  and  his  brother.  They  order  a  strong,  two  story 
building  to  be  erected  at  Cambridge,  for  the  accommodation  of 
Indian  students,  whose  support  is  to  be  derived  from  the  Society  in 
England.* 

December  16.  As  an  event  indicating  the  instability  of  affairs  in 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  274-30-5. 


102  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  UNION. 

[Mass. 

the  mother  country  and  suited  to  keep  alive  anxious  thoughts  among 
the  colonists,  as  to  the  issue  of  present  causes,  Cromwell  is  declared 
Lord  Protector*  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England.  Of  the  articles 
which  he  promises  to  make  the  basis  of  his  administration,  is,  that 
all  denominations  shall  be  tolerated  except  those  of  Papacy  and 
Episcopacy. 

1654.  February  14.  A  letter  f  is  written  by  the  President  of  the 
Society  in  England  for  missions  here,  to  the  General  Court.  He 
remarks  that  the  Act  of  their  incorporation  had  so  united  them  to 
New  England,  "  as,  (using  their  own  language,)  to  make  us  sym- 
pathize with  you  in  every  condition,  especially  to  be  most  of  all 
sensible  of  the  late  distractions  between  the  United  Colonies  in 
their  Commissioners,  which  soundeth  so  loud  here  to  the  reproach 
of  your  profession  in  the  precious  way  of  the  Gospel,  as  we  cannot 
but  take  up  a  lamentation  for  it  among  the  rest  of  those,  that  wish 
well  to  Zion  and  pray  for  the  peace  thereof."  He  goes  on  to  state, 
that  if  the  Union  should  be  broken,  it  would  destroy  the  missionary 
enterprise,  because  the  Act  of  Parliament  constituted  the  Commis- 
sioners the  directors  of  its  concerns  in  this  country. 

He  observes  :  "  Who  knows  not  but  those  instruments  that 
kindled  those  sparks  may  occasion  the  State  here  to  send  a  General 
Governor  over  you  to  unite  you  perforce,  which  in  time  may  be  of 
sad  consequences  to  you  all.  Let  this  letter  of  ours  to  every  Gen- 
eral Court  of  the  respective  Governments  of  the  United  Colonies 
bear  witness  to  all  the  world,  that  we  are  innocent  as  to  any  neglect 
of  any  duty  known  to  us,  that  may  any  way  awaken  the  outward 
maintainance  of  such  as  shall  be  instrumental  in  civilizing  and 
drawing  home  unto  the  Lord  the  poor  naked  lost  sons  of  Adam, 
that  are  among  and  live  near  you.  And  as  we  know  not  particu- 
larly who  have  been  instrumental  in  this  breach  or  interruption  at 
least,  so  let  us  beseech  you  to  study  after  peace  and  pursue  it,  and 
let  each  of  you  strive  to  go  before  the  other  three  Governments  in 
healing  the  least  breach  made  among  you,  that  as  our  hearts  are 
saddened  by  the  too  familiar  reports  of  your  disagreement,  so  we 
may  be  made  glad  by  the  tidings  of  your  re-uniting  more  firmly 
than  ever."  From  this  it  is  evident,  that  the  late  conclusion  of 
Massachusetts  not  to  join  the  other  Colonies  in  a  war  with  the 
Dutch,  though  their  Commissioners,  as  well  as  one  of  the  Bay, 
urged  it,  besides  the  difficulty  of  laying  duties  on  Springfield,  had 
produced  much  anxiety  among  their  friends  in  the  mother  country, 
lest  it  should  terminate  the  confederation  and  blast  the  hopeful  in- 
dications of  Christianity  among  several  tribes  of  Indians. 

18.  The  same  writer  J  sends  another  letter  to  the  Commissioners. 
He  states,  that  a  report  is  spread  extensively  in  the  Kingdom,  that 

*  Salmon,  vol.  1.  p.  159.     Neal's  Puritans.  f  Mass.  MS.  Papers. 

X  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  311,  2. 


UNSOUND  TEACHERS   DISALLOW  ED,  LOS 

1654.] 

Kliot  and  Mavlicw  receive  very  .scanty  pay  for  their  labors  among 

the    Indians,  and  that  it  is  seized   on   !>y  many  as  a  caUM  why  they 

should  not  contribute  to  the  missionary  funds.  Ho  remarks  thai 
Mr.  Peters,  on  Buch  an  account,  had  appeared  not  so  cordial  to 
their  enterprise  as  was  desirable.  With  regard  to  disagreement  in 
the  Confederation  of  the  Colonies,  he  observes:  "  We  hope  it  is 
healed  ere  now,  if  not  wee  trust  our  Letters  (for  we  are  very  senci- 
ble  of  the  breach  and  the  euils  that  may  follow  thervpon  to  the  sev- 
eral I  respective  Governments,)  will  but  healp  forwards  the  same." 

March  S.  Peters  writes  to  Mr.  Gott  of  AVenham,  one  of  his 
deacons,  when  he  left  Salem  :  "  Nothing  but  want  of  health  could 
detain  me  from  New  England,  such  is  my  love  to  the  place,  and 
lovely  it  will  yet  be."  He  observes,  that  he  has  given  his  prop- 
erty at  Salem,  conditionally,  to  John  Winthrop,  of  Connecticut, 
who  had  married  the  daughter  of  his  first  wife,  and,  on  the  30th 
of  April,  that  he  sent  him  a  loadstone  to  keep,  if  he  never  re- 
turned to  this  country.  He  remarks  to  him :  "  Nothing  hath 
troubled  me  more,  than  that  you  had  not  my  company  with  you." 
He  closes :  "My  heart  is  with  my  God  and  desire  after  him." 
Such  communings  were  pleasant  and  mournful  to  his  soul.* 

18.  Several  Baptists  are  presented  and  fined  by  the  Middlesex 
Court,f  for  absence  from  public  ordinances  on  the  Sabbath. 

May  3.  Various  transactions  of  the  General  Court,*  who  now 
convene,  present  themselves  :  "  Forasmuch  as  it  greatly  concernes 
the  welfare  of  the  country,  that  the  youth  thereof  be  educated  not 
only  in  good  literature,  but  in  sound  doctrine,  this  Court  doth 
therefore  commend  it  to  the  serious  consideration  and  special  care 
of  our  Overseers  of  the  Colledg  and  the  Selectmen  in  the  several 
townes,  not  to  admit  or  suffer  any  such  to  be  continued  in  the 
office  or  place  of  teaching,  educating  or  instructing  youth  or  chil- 
dren, in  the  colledg  or  schools,  that  have  manifested  themselves 
unsound  in  the  faith  or  scandalous  in  their  lives,  and  have  not 
given  satisfaction  according  to  the  rules  of  Christ." 

A  petition  from  inhabitants  of  Hampton,  Salisbury,  Newbury, 
Haverhill  and  Andover,  is  laid  before  the  Legislature.  Its  lan- 
guage is :  "  Whereas  our  loving  friend,  Lt.  Robert  Pike,  of  Salis- 
bury, hath  by  occasion,  as  it  is  witnessed  against  him,  let  fall  some 
words,  for  which  this  honoured  Court  hath  been  pleased  to  censure 
him,  we,  having  had  experience  that  he  hath  been  a  peaceable 
man  and  useful  instrument  amongst  us,  do  humbly  desire  that  the 
said  sentence  may  be  revoked,  and  that  the  said  Lt.  Pike  may  be  re- 
stored to  his  former  liberty."  The  reply  to  it  follows :  "  This  Court 
cannot  but  deeply-  resent,  that  so  many  persons  of  several  towns, 
conditions  and  relations  should  combine  together  to  prevent  [head] 

*  Annals  of  Salem,  1  ed.  p.  529.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  i.  p.  179. 
Suffolk  Registry  MS.  Rec.  Lib.  viii.  p.  11.        f  MS.  Rec.        %  Mass.  MS.  Rec. 


104  BREACH  OF  THE   CONFEDERACY. 

[Mass. 

such  an  unjust  and  unreasonable  request  as  the  revoking  the  sen- 
tence past  against  Lt.  Robert  Pike,  and  the  restoring  of  him  to  his 
former  liberty  without  any  petition  of  his  own,  or  the  least  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  great  offence,  fully  proved  against  him,  which  was 
no  less  than  defaming  this  Court,  and  charging  them  with  breach 
of  oath,  etc.,  which  the  Petitioners  call  some  words  let  fall  by  occa- 
sion. The  Court  doth  therefore  order  in  this  extraordinary  case, 
that  Mr.  Bradstreet  for  Haverhill  and  Andover,  Capt.  Wiggin  for 
Hampton,  Capt.  Gerrish  and  Nicholas  Noyes  for  Xewbury,  and 
Mr.  Winsley  and  Mr.  Bradbury  for  Salisbury,  shall  and  hereby 
are  approved  Commissioners  to  call  the  said  Petitioners  together, 
or  so  many  of  them  at  a  time  as  they  shall  think  meet,  and  require 
a  reason  of  their  unjust  request,  and  how  they  came  to  be  induced 
to  subscribe  the  said  petition,  and  so  make  their  return  to  the  next 
Session,  that  the  Court  may  consider  how  to  proceed  further 
therein."* 

As  John  Hall  had  broken  his  marriage  covenant  and  refused  to 
live  with  his  wife,  Dorcas,  she  is  divorced  from  him.f 

June  9.  Special  meeting  of  General  Court.  They  "  having  re- 
ceived and  perused  a  letter  from  His  Highness  the  Lord  Protector 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,:}:  full  of 
great  and  favourable  respect  to  this  Colony,  which  they  desire  to 
keep  in  grateful  remembrance,  and  shall  be  ready  at  all  times 
wherein  they  may  with  safety  to  the  liberty  of  their  consciences, 
publick  peace  and  welfare,  to  their  utmost  attend  to  His  Highness' 
pleasure.  This  Court  therefore  declare,  that  though  they  under- 
stand that  this  Colony  is  not  in  such  a  capacity  as  may  be  appre- 
hended to  send  forth  such  numbers  of  men  as  might  vigorously 
assist  in  that  undertaking,  yet  do  freely  consent  and  give  liberty  to 
His  Highness'  Commissioners,  Major  Robert  Sedgwick  and  Capt. 
John  Leverett,  to  raise  within  our  jurisdiction  five  hundred  volun- 
teers, furnished  with  all  necessary  accommodations  to  assist  them  in 
their  enterprise  against  the  Dutch,  provided  the  persons  be  free 
from  legal  engagements." 

A  Committee  are  designated  to  prepare  letters  for  Cromwell,  the 
Missionary  Corporation  and  Winslow.  They  are  also  instructed  to 
"  draw  up  a  narrative  in  the  way  of  remonstrance  of  all  matters 
respecting  that  which  is  charged  on  this  Court,  concerning  the 
breach  of  the  Confederacy,  for  the  vindication  of  this  Court's  actings 
in  such  respect."  They  are  to  meet  at  Ipswich  on  the  20th,  about 
such  a  narrative. 

Dunster,  who  had  trouble  relative  to  his  opinions,  as  an  anti- 
paedobaptist,  sends  in  his  resignation,  as  president  of  the  College.§ 
After  his  resignation,  Johannes  Amos  Comenius,  a  famous  linguist, 
agreed  with  the  younger  Winthrop,  then  travelling   through  the 

i 
*  Mass.  MS.  Papers  and  Rec.         f  Ibid.         J  Ibid.  §  Mass.  MS.  Rec. 


COMBNIUS    DETAINED.  LOfi 

1054.] 

Low  Countries  to  come  over  ami  M illuminate  the  College  and 
country  in  the  quality  of  a  President  But  tin:  solicitations  of  the 
Swedish  Ambassador,  diverting  him  another  way,  that  incompara- 
ble Moravian  became  not  an  American."* 

13.  rhe  Natick  Indians  assemble  at  Roxbury  to  have  another 
examination  from  the  Elders  with  reference  to  their  being  con- 
stituted a  Church.  Eliot  gives  several  particulars.  After  the  can- 
didates had  been  questioned,  "Mr.  Ezekiel  Rogers  having  first 
privately  conferred  with  such  of  the  Elders  as  sat  near  him,  spake 
words  of  acceptance  and  encouragement."  In  their  former  trial, 
the  Indians  "  expressed  what  experience  they  had  found  of  God's 
grace  in  their  hearts,  turning  them  from  dead  works,  to  seek  after 
the  living  God,  and  salvation  in  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  In  this 
second,  they  have  in  some  measure,  declared  how  far  the  Lord  hath 
let  in  the  light  of  the  good  knowledge  of  God  into  their  souls,  and 
what  taste  they  have  of  the  principles  of  Religion,  and  doctrine  of 
salvation."  It  is  concluded,  that  the  final  step  of  gathering  them 
into  a  church  state  be  put  off,  principally  because  some  of  them 
need  greater  preparation  to  rule  the  affairs  of  God's  house  "  in  the 
absence  of  such  as  look  after  their  instruction."  f 

23.  News  arrived,  that  peace  had  taken  place  between  England 
and  Holland,  which  stopped  preparation  for  the  invasion  of  New 
Netherland.J  But  Sedgwick  and  Leverett,  who  had  direction  of 
the  expedition,  turned  their  attention  to  the  conquest  of  Nova 
Scotia  from  the  French,  who  were  unwelcome  neighbors  to  the 
English,  for  their  zealous  support  and  promotion  of  Romanism. 
Such  peaceful  tidings  removed  a  serious  occasion  of  different  views 
and  measures  between  Massachusetts  and  the  other  confederate 
colonies. 

July  7.  The  dedicatory  epistle  to  an  Exposition  of  Ecclesiastes, 
by  John  Cotton,  is  dated  by  Anthony  Tuckney,  D.  D.,  Master  of 
St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  An  address  to  the  reader,  of  an 
Exposition  of  Canticles,  also  by  Cotton,  is  dated  July  24,  1655, 
by  Tuckney.  The  first  of  these  works  was  commended  to  the  civil 
authorities  and  others  of  Boston,  Lincolnshire,  to  whom  both  of 
them  were  interesting,  because  Cotton  and  Tuckney  were  ministers 
together.     Such  productions  were  printed  in  London.  § 

An  able  work  on  the  Sabbath,  the  production  of  William  Pyn- 
chon,  and  probably  most  finished  while  he  was  at  Springfield,  is 
published  in  London. 

This  year  a  practical  discourse  on  Prayer,  from  Thomas  Cobbett, 
is  from  a  press  of  the  same  city.  His  preface  to  it  is  dated  Octo- 
ber 24,  1653.  Cotton  Mather  says,  that  of  all  this  author's  works, 
"none  deserves  more  to  be  read  by  the  world  or  to  live." 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  ii.  p.  10.         f  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  277-87. 
X  Holmes's  Annals,  vol.  i.  p.  301.  §  They  are  rare,  and  contained  in  the 

Old  South  Library,  Boston,  Mass. 
'       14 


106  INDICTMENT   OF   DUNSTER. 

[Mass. 

The  subsequent  work  of  John  Cotton  is  published  in  London. 
The  Covenant  of  Grace,  being  the  substance  of  several  sermons, 
and  showing  the  difference  between  the  Legalist  and  the  Christian. 
It  was  taken  from  the  author's  mouth,  when  delivered,  and  handed 
to  him  for  revision.  He  corresponded  with  Thomas  Allen,  who 
returned  to  England  a  year  before  his  decease,  about  this  discourse, 
and,  also,  eleven  questions  for  uniting  the  Congregational  and 
Presbyterian  Churches.  Allen,  when  having  these  questions  print- 
ed this  year,  added  another,  making  twelve  of  them. 

12.  Roger  Williams  informs  Winthrop  of  Connecticut,  that  he 
had  visited  Peters  at  his  lodgings  in  Whitehall,  which  "  I  was  told 
was  Canterburies,  and  he  himself  told  me,  that  the  Library,  wherein 
we  were  together,  was  Canterburies,  and  was  given  him  by  Parlia- 
ment." He  states,  that  Feters  was  grieved,  that  his  wife  had  been 
excommunicated,  which  was  probably  from  the  Salem  church.  It 
is  likely  that  she  acted  irrationally,  and  was  dealt  with  as  though 
she  had  the  right  use  of  her  reason.  Williams  proceeds :  "  His 
wife  lives  from  him,  not  wholly,  but  much  distracted.  He  tells 
me  he  had  but  £200  a  year,  and  allowed  her  £80  per  annum  of  it. 
He  told  me,  that  his  affliction  from  his  wife,  stirred  him  to  action 
abroad,  and  when  success  tempted  him  to  pride,  the  bitterness  of 
his  bosom  comforts  was  a  cooler  and  a  bridle  to  him."  Thus  these 
two  men  of  distinguished  talents  and  learning,  and  much  alike  in 
their  temperament,  communed  together  in  the  spirit  of  Christian 
sympathy,*  though  the  one  had  been  constrained  by  the  call  of  his 
office,  to  publish  the  excision  of  the  other  from  his  church. 

30.  According  to  a  subsequent  indictment,  Henry  Dunster,  late 
President  of  the  College,  addressed  the  congregation  at  Cambridge 
"  in  the  time  of  public  ordinance  to  the  interruption  thereof  with- 
out leave,  which  was  also  aggravated  in  that  he  being  desired  by 
the  Elder  to  forbear  and  not  interrupt  an  ordinance  of  Christ,  yet 
notwithstanding  he  proceeded  in  way  of  complaint  to  the  congre- 
gation, saying  I  am  forbidden  to  speak  that  in  Christ's  name,  which 
I  would  have  testified.  And  in  his  following  speech,  he  asserted 
as  his  testimony  in  the  name  of  Christ  these  things.  That  the 
subjects  of  baptism  were  visible  penitent  believers  and  they  only. 
That  there  was  an  action  now  to  be  done,  which  was  not  according 
to  the  institution  of  Christ.  That  the  exposition  as  it  had  been 
held  forth  was  not  the  mind  of  Christ.  That  the  Covenant  of 
Abraham  is  not  a  ground  of  baptism,  no  not  after  the  institution 
thereof.  That  there  were  such  corruptions  stealing  into  the  Church, 
which  every  faithful  Christian  ought  to  bear  witness  against."  f 

August  16.  As  a  long  desired  event  with  the  Colonists,  Nova 
Scotia  submits  to  the  authority  of  England  at  the  capitulation  of 
Port  Royal  to  her  forces,  under  Sedgwick  and  Leverett.     From 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  x.  p.  1-4.  f  Middlesex  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 


SUPPORT   OF   MINISTERS.  107 

the  last  of  these  persons,  we  hare  the  ensuing  extract  to  ( IromweU : 
«<  Our  Body  Politick  u  various  from  the  present  condition  of  our 

native  (  ountry,  and  one  kind  of  Physick  wiU  not  serve  both,  U  your 
Honour  well  knows.     We  choose  this  place  neither  for  pleasure 

nor  profit,  but  chiefly  lor  renovation  of  government  in  point  of 
laws,  magistracy  and  ministry.     Now  the  Lord   having  answered 

our  desires,  what  remains  but  our  answering  his  expectation  in 
humble  obedience,  the  which  our  countrymen  will  see  cause  ere  long 
to  make  room  for,  provided  liberty  prove  a  trusty  harbinger  :  and 
verily  obedience  to  godly  government  and  righteous  laws,  is  so 
hard  a  task,  that  some  there  be  who  would  make  use  of  any  shifts 
to  avoid  it  and  rather  urge  a  necessity  of  new  moulding  our  frame 
of  government,  which  we  see  no  cause  for.  We  believe  you  will 
well  approve  of  our  present  government,  and  the  rather  seeing 
we  are  not  able  to  bend  the  proud  and  mighty  oaks  of  Bashan,  (as 
the  Lord  hath  enabled  your  Honour  to  do,)  but  are  necessitated  to 
bend  them  in  the  twig,  which  we  presume  is  the  cause  of  more 
than  a  little  complaint  against  us,  and  more  especially  in  these 
times  when  men  are  addicted  to  cover  their  crimes  with  religion. 
We  presume  (in  the  Apostle's  words)  to  say,  Our  God  shall  supply 
all  your  wants,  for  which  we  pray  and  bless  His  name,  who  hath 
begun  to  abolish  all  human  inventions,  and  caused  not  only  Eccle- 
siastical but  Civil  government  to  acknowledge  no  other  Lord  nor 
Law  Giver,  but  Christ  alone."* 

22.  Another  session  of  the  General  Court  begins.  They  agree 
upon  communications  for  the  missionary  corporation,  Winslow  and 
Cromwell,  as  previously  designated.  As  hostilities  had  ceased  be- 
tween Holland  and  England,  the  non-intercourse  act  between  the 
Colony  and  the  Dutch  is  repealed. 

"  Forasmuch  as  it  highly  tendeth  to  the  advancement  of  the 
Gospel,  that  the  ministers  thereof  be  comfortably  maintained,  and 
it  being  the  duty  of  the  civil  power  to  use  all  lawful  means  for  the 
attaining  of  that  end,  and  that  henceforth  there  may  be  established 
a  settled,  encouraging  maintenance  of  ministers  in  all  towns  and 
congregations  within  this  Jurisdiction, — This  Court  do  order,  that 
the  County  Court  in  each  Shire,  shall  upon  information  given  them 
of  any  defect  of  any  congregation  or  township  within  the  Shire, 
order  and  appoint  what  maintenance  shall  be  allowed  to  the  min- 
istry, and  shall  issue  out  warrants  to  the  Selectmen  to  assess  and 
the  Constables  of  the  said  Towns  to  collect  the  same  and  to  distrain 
the  said  assessments  on  such  as  shall  refuse  to  pay.  And  it  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  our  intention  that  an  honourable  allowance 
be  made  to  the  ministry  respecting  the  ability  of  the  places,  and  if 
any  town  shall  feel  themselves  burdened  by  the  assessment  of  the 

*  Hutchinson's  MS.  Papers,  p.  199.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 
fMass.  MS^Rec. 


108  REEVES  —  MUGGLETOX. 

[Mass. 

County  Court,  they  may  complain  to  this  Court,  which  shall  at  all 
times  be  ready  to  give  just   relief  to  all  men." 

On  the  24th,  the  Court  directed  their  letter  to  Cromwell. 
An  extract  follows  :  "It  hath  been  no  small  comfort  to  us,  poor 
exiles,  in  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth  (who  sometimes  felt  and 
often  feared  the  frowns  of  the  mighty)  to  have  had  the  experience 
of  the  good  hand  of  God,  in  raising  up  such,  whose  endeavours 
have  not  been  wanting  to  our  welfare  ;  amongst  whom,  we  have 
good  cause  to  give  your  highness  the  first  place ;  who  by  a  con- 
tinued series  of  favours  have  obliged  us,  not  only  while  you  moved 
in  a  lower  orb,  but  since  the  Lord  hath  called  your  highness  to 
supreme  authority,  whereat  we  rejoice  and  shall  pray  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  your  happy  government,  that  under  your  shadow  not 
only  ourselves,  but  all  the  churches  may  find  rest  and  peace !  " 
Then  a  relation  is  given  of  what  force  had  been  allowed  to  be  raised 
by  his  Commissioners,  and  of  the  objections  entertained  by  the  Bay 
Authorities  to  a  war  with  New  Netherlands 

An  order  is  passed,  that  all  the  inhabitants,  "  who  have  any  of 
the  books,  lately  brought  out  of  England  under  the  names  of  John 
Reeves  and  Lodowick  Muggleton,  who  pretend  to  be  the  two  last 
witnesses  and  prophets  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  are  full  of  blasphe- 
mies, and  shall  not  bring  and  send  in  all  such  books,  now  in  their 
custody,  to  the  next  magistrate,  shall  forfeit  £10,  for  every  such 
book,"  found  upon  them  "after  one  month's  publication  hereof." 
At  their  next  session  the  Legislature,  "  sensible  of  the  great  dis- 
honour, that  daily  redounds  to  the  great  and  sacred  name  and 
truths  of  God  by  the  many  notorious,  heretical  and  blasphemous 
books,  which  so  frequently  fly  up  and  down  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  and  lately  have  crept  in  amongst  us  under  the  name  of  Lodo- 
wick Muggleton  and  John  Reeves,  do  therefore  order,  that  as  many 
of  those  books  as  are  or  shall  be  in  custody,  shall,  on  the  next 
Lecture  day,  be  burnt  after  the  Lecture  in  the  market  place  by  the 
executioner  of  Boston." 

In  view  of  the  hopeful  appearance  of  government  in  England, 
"  in  that  way  and  in  those  hands  "  by  which  "  we  have  great  cause 
to  expect  through  the  strength  of  our  God,  that  the  people's  liber- 
ties will  be  preserved  and  the  peace  of  the  nation  established ;  "  of 
the  restoration  of  harmony  between  them  and  the  United  Provinces 
"  after  so  sharp  a  war ;  "  of  a  good  crop  here,  "though  the  Spring 
was  drier  than  ordinary  and  some  threats  of  great  rains  this 
harvest,"  and  "a  threatening  war  prevented,"  Thanksgiving  is 
ordered  to  be  on  the  20th  of  September.f 

Michael  Powell  makes  a  communication  to  the  magistrates. 
He  recurs  to  the  answer,  which  he  made  to  their  requisition,  that 
he   should  not   become   Teacher  of  the  new   Church  in  Boston. 

*  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  452,  3.  t  Mass.  MS.  Rec. 


TRANSLATION    OP  THE    BIBLE.  109 

1654,] 

He  Btatesthat  his  words  had  been  understood,  as  if  he  promised  to 

take  on  himself  do  such  charge  without  their  consent,  but  this  was 
a  mistake,  u  for  thereby  it'  civil  authority  were  so  disposed,  the 
Church  could  have  do  officers."  Eie  observes,  that  it'  the  conj 
ntion  with  whom  he  had  Labored  near  three  years,  still  continue 
their  call,  that  he  may  settle  with  them,  he  shall  consider  himself 
IS  a  violator  of  duty,  it' he  decline  their  invitation,  lie  continues: 
u  1  freely  acknowledge  my  own  unworthiness  for  so  great  a  work. 
Not  doubting  of  your  pious  and  tender  care  for  the  good  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  and  that  you  will  seriously  weigh  the  rule  and 
attend  thereunto,  which  only  brings  peace  unto  a  soul  and  to  the 
[srael  of  God." 

September  18.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Confederation  address 
Mr.  Eliot  with  reference  to  several  topics.*  They  observe :  "  Wee 
conceived,  that  twenty  pound  per  annum  "  [from  the  missionary 
funds,]  "  aded  to  what  you  yearly  receive  from  the  Lady  Arramina 
and  others  out  of  England  with  the  mayntenance  allowed  by  the 
Church  att  Kocksburrow  might  proue  comfortable  and  satisfying  for 
vouer  selfe  and  family  as  in  other  respects  soefor  the  due  education 
of  vouer  children  and  thought  you  accepted  it ;  though  wee  then 
knew  it  must  prove  chargeable  to  yourselfe  or  others  in  the  low 
condition  of  New  England  to  bring  vp  soe  many  sonnes  att  learn- 
ing in  a  Collegiate  way  as  you  propounded."  They  now  agree  to 
allow  him  £-40  a  year.  They  remark  :  "  If  wee  find  cause  wee 
shall  enlarge  further,  though  wee  hope  that  the  worke  will  spread 
over  the  Countrey  and  many  instruments  may  bee  imployed  in  it 
and  soe  the  charge  increasing  heerin  wee  shall  freely  affoard  our 
best  healp  and  rejoyce  that  the  saving  health  of  our  Lord  may  bee 
knowne  among  all  these  nations  of  Indians."  They  add  :  "  Wee 
desired  that  Thomas  Stanton's  help  might  haue  been  vsed  in 'the 
Cattachisme  printed  and  wish  that  noe  inconvenience  bee  found 
through  want  thereof;  and  shall  now  advise  that  before  you  pro- 
ceed in  translating  the  Scriptures  or  any  parte  of  them,  you  improue 
the  best  healpes  the  Countrey  afFoards  for  the  Indian  language,  that 
it  may  bee  these  South  West  Indians  (some  of  whome  wee  are  now 
informed  desire  healp  both  for  reading  and  to  bee  instructed  in  the 
things  of  God  and  Christ)  may  understand  and  haue  the  benefitt 
of  what  is  printed."  Their  postscript  reads  :  "  Wree  desire  you 
would  bee  slow  in  withdrawing  Indian  professors  from  paying 
accustomed  tribute  and  performing  other  lawfull  services  to  theire 
Sagamores  till  you  haue  seriously  considered  and  aduised  with  the 
Majestrates  and  Elders  of  the  Massachusetts,  least  the  passage  and 
spreading  of  the  Gospell  be  hindered  thereby." 

Having  received  a  communication  of  the  16th  ult.  from  Mr. 
Mayhew,  the  Commissioners  return  him  an  answer :   "  Wee  doe 

*  Mass.  MS.  Papers. 


110 


ORTHODOX  DEPUTIES. 


[Mass. 
rejoyse  att  the  information  you  giue  vs  of  the  blessing  of  God  vpon 
youer  labours  among  those  poor  barbarous  people  vpon  the  Island 
etc.  and  theire  dayly  coming  in  to  imbrace  the  Gospell  of  Christ."* 
They  observe,  that  for  a  schoolmaster  and  one  or  two  other  persons 
qualified  to  instruct  the  Indians,  £10  each  a  year  are  appropriated ; 
£40  salary  for  himself,  in  addition  to  what  he  had  otherwise ;  £10 
for  sick  and  well  deserving  Indians  ;  £40  towards  a  meeting-house 
for  them,  and  £8  for  a  missionary  boat  to  ply  between  the  Island 
and  the  main.  They  request  him,  as  they  had  Mr.  Eliot,  not  to 
discourage  any  of  the  Christian  Indians  in  paying  accustomed 
tribute  to  their  Sagamores  without  advice  from  Elders  and  Magis- 
trates, lest  the  mission  should  be  thereby  injured. 

23.  They  provide  for  finishing  the  building  f  at  the  College  to 
accommodate  Indian  youths,  who  are  designated  for  missionary 
service. 

25.  In  their  instructions  f  to  the  commander  of  the  expedition 
against  Ninegret,  is  the  subsequent  clause :  "  Above  all  the  rest, 
we  commend  to  your  Christian  care'  the  upholding  the  worship  of 
God  in  your  army  and  to  keep  such  watch  over  the  conversation  of 
all  those,  under  your  charge,  that  all  profaneness,  impiety,  abuse 
of  the  sacred  name  of  God,  luxury  and  other  disorders  may  be 
avoided  or  duly  punished,  that  the  Lord  may  be  pleased  to  go  forth 
before  you,  prosper  all  your  proceedings  and  return  you  to  us  in 
peace,  which  we  shall  daily  pray  for." 

October  17.  The  General  Court  begin  a  session,  §  in  which  they 
make  the  following  regulations  : 

"  Forasmuch  as,  according  to  the  present  form  of  government  in 
this  jurisdiction,  the  safety  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  right  admin- 
istration of  justice,  the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  purity  of  the 
churches  of  Christ  therein,  under  God,  doth  much  depend  upon 
the  piety,  wisdom  and  soundness  of  the  General  Court,  not  only 
Magistrates,  but  Deputies,  it  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  Court 
and  authority  thereof,  that  no  man,  although  a  freeman,  shall  be 
accepted  as  a  Deputy  of  the  General  Court,  that  is  unsound  in 
judgment  concerning  the  main  points  of  Christian  Religion,  as  they 
have  been  held  forth  and  acknowledged  by  the  generality  of  the 
Protestant  orthodox  writers,  or  that  is  scandalous  in  his  conversa- 
tion, or  that  is  unfaithful  to  this  government.  And  it  is  further 
ordered,  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  freeman  to  make  choice 
of  any  such  person,  as  aforesaid,  that  is  known  to  himself  to  be 
under  such  offence  or  offences  before  specified,  upon  penalty  of 
five  pounds,  and  that  the  case  of  such  persons  be  tried  by  the  whole 
General  Court." 


*  Com'rs  MS.     Hazard  Papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  316-7. 

f  Sewall   says,   under  May,    1698:    "  Begining   of  this  month,   the  Indian 
College  (brick)  pulled  down,  sold  to  Mr.  Wells,  builder,  of  Stoughton." 
J  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  265.  §  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


QB  vn  r  TO    ill  I :  OOLLEi  1  1  1 

Ui.Vl.J 

Perceiving  that  the  voluntary  contribution!  for  the  support  of 
the  President  and  Fellows  oi'  the  College  «rere  oof  Likely  to  be 
enough,  the  Legislature  adopt  the  subsequent  course.     u  \\  hi 

annot  but  acknowledge  the  goodness  of  God  towards  his  people 
in  this  wilderness,  in  raising  up  schools  ot'  learning,  and  especially 
the  College,  from  whence  there  hath  Bprung  many  instruments 
both  in  Church  and  Commonwealth,  both  to  this  and  other  plai  i  b, 
and  whereas  at  present  the  work  of  the  College  hath  been  several 
ways  obstructed," — and  "  fearing  lest  we  should  show  ourselves 
ungrateful  to  God,  or  unfaithful  to  posterity,  it' so  good  a  Seminary 
ot'  knowledge  and  virtue  should  fall  to  the  ground  through  any 
neglect  of  ours,  it  is  therefore  ordered,  that  besides  the  profits  of 
the  Ferry,  formerly  granted  to  the  College,  which  shall  be  con- 
tinued, that  there  shall  be  yearly  levied,  by  addition  to  the  country 
an  hundred  pounds,  to  be  paid  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  coun- 
trv  to  the  College  Treasurer,  for  the  behoof  and  maintenance  of 
the  President  and  Fellows,  to  be  distributed  between  them  accord- 
ing to  the  determination  of  the  Overseers  of  the  College  and  this  to 
continue  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Court."  * 

"  Notwithstanding  the  great  care  this  Court  hath  had  and  the 
laws  made  to  suppress  that  swinish  sin  of  drunkenness,  and  persons 
addicted  to  that  vice,  find  out  ways  "  to  elude  the  laws,  it  is  there- 
fore ordered,  that  "  none  licensed  to  sell  strong  waters,  nor  any 
private  house-keeper  shall  permit  any  persons  to  sit  tippling  strong- 
water,  wine  or  strong  beer  in  their  houses,  on  the  penalty  of  20/. 
for  the  first  offence,  or  be  put  in  the  stocks  one  hour ;  for  the 
second,  forfeit  license  and  20/.  and  the  private  house-keeper  pay 
£5,  and  for  the  third,  to  be  bound  in  £20  for  good  behaviour." 

18.  "  Whereas  Shawannon,  Sagamore  of  Xashaway  is  lately 
dead  and  another  is  now  suddenly  to  be  chosen  in  his  room,  they 
being  a  great  people  that  have  submitted  to  this  jurisdiction,  their 
eyes  being  upon  two  or  three  of  the  blood,  one  whereof  is  very 
debased  and  a  drunken  fellow,  and  no  friend  of  the  English, 
another  is  very  hopeful  to  learn  the  things  of  Christ, — this  Court 
doth  therefore  order  that  Mr.  Increase  Nowell  and  Mr.  John  Eliot 
shall  and  hereby  are  desired  to  repair  to  the  Indians  and  labour,  by 
their  best  counsel,  to  prevail  with  them  for  the  choosing  of  such  an 
one,  as  may  be  most  fit  to  be  their  Sagamore,  which  would  be  a 
good  service  to  the  country."  f 

On  the  31st,  the  Committee  about  the  case  of  Lt.  Pike,  having 
reported,  that  most  of  the  subscribers  to  the  petition  for  his  release 
from  the  sentence  against  him,  confessed  that  they  had  done  wrong, 
while  others  justified  the  act,  the  Legislature  require  the  latter  to 
give  bonds  of  £10  each  for  appearance  at  their  respective  County 
Courts  to  answer  for  their  conduct. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Court  MS.  Rec.  t  Ibid. 


112  LETTER  TO  PETERS. 

[Mass. 

On  a  prominent  subject  before  our  fathers,  as  to  the  relative 
membership,  sustained  by  children  of  professing  Christians  to  the 
church,  John  Norton,  termed  by  Increase  Mather,  "that  judicious 
and  engle-eyed  seer,"  presents  this  year,  the  ensuing  propositions.* 

1.  "  Children  are  capable  of  confederating  in  a  public  person." 
One  of  his  reasons  stated,  that  it  was  so  "  from  the  nature  of  com- 
munity, where  the  absent,  yea,  those  that  are  unborn,  are  obligated 
by  the  deed  of  their  plenipotentiary  acting  legally,  2  Sam.  21.  1. 
Joshua  9.  7,  15,  18.  Joshua's  covenant  with  the  Gibeonites  bound 
Saul." 

2.  "  Children  by  divine  Institution,  have  confederated  and  do 
still  confederate  in  their  parents  as  public  persons."  Among  his 
several  proofs,  is  one  in  reference  to  mankind  considered  in  Adam, 
Gen.  2.  17.     Rom.  5.  12.     1  Cor.  15.  22. 

3.  "  By  virtue  of  this  confederation,  children  are  made  church 
members." 

4.  "  This  distinct  membership  gives  them  a  proper  right  unto 
baptism."  One  of  his  explanations  on  this  point  is  :  "  The  children 
of  the  Jews  in  covenant  had  a  proper  right  to  circumcision.  In 
case  of  the  parent's  ceremonial  uncleanness,  notwithstanding  their 
membership,"  they  "  were  suspended  from  their  communion  in 
holy  things;  yet- was  the  child,  even  then,  notwithstanding  the 
parent's  suspension,  to  be  circumcised  the  eighth  day." 

November  9.  A  letter  f  from  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  is 
directed  "to  the  Reverend  and  much  honored  Mr.  Hugh  Peters." 
They  apologize  for  their  long  silence.  They  proceed :  "  Yet  such 
is  our  confidence  of  your  zeal  for  God,  your  real  and  cordial  affec- 
tion to  the  cause  of  God  and  the  liberties  and  welfare  of  his  people 
here,  that  we  are  encouraged  ;  our  necessities,  at  this  time,  also 
compelling  us  to  make  use  of  all  our  friends,  amongst  whom  we 
cannot  but  rank  yourself  among  the  chief,  and  are  confident  you 
will  not  suffer  us  to  be  mistaken  therein,  but  that,  in  due  time,  we 
shall  see  Amicus  return."  They  continue:  "Some  few  among 
ourselves  and  others  of  our  confederates,  offended  at  our  peace, 
address  themselves  to  England,  and,  by  what  means,  or  upon  what 
pretence,  we  know  not,  prevail  with  his  Highness  to  send  a  fleet 
of  ships  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Sedgwick  to  assist  us  against 
the  Dutch."  They  relate,  that  peace  having  been  made  between 
Holland  and  England,  the  fleet  sailed  against  the  French  of  Nova 
Scotia,  took  their  territory,  and  then  applied  to  Massachusetts  for 
forces  to  secure  the  conquest,  but  the  authorities  thereof  declined 
unless  the  Commissioners  showed  their  warrant  for  such  a  course. 
They  subjoin  :  "  Least  our  action  and  answers  should  be  misrepre- 
sented to  his  Highness,  we  thought  it  our  duty  briefly  to  present 
things  as  they  are,  relating  to  the   French,  as   formerly  we  have 

*  First  Principles  of  N.  E.  p.  14-22.  f  Felt's  Memoir  of  Peters,  p.  47. 


ihxsit.ks  PAMILT.  1  13 

1653.] 

done  in  reference  to  the  Dutch.  We  earnestly  entreat  you  would 
be  pleased  bo  far  to  tender  the  welfare  of  this  place,  the  comfort 
and  well-being  of  the  people  of  God  here,  his  honour  and  cause, 
to  the  perpetual  good  oi  posterity  as  to  .your  utmost,  interest  with 
his  Highness,  or  any  other  whom  it.  may  concern,  as  opportunity 
may  present  or  occasion  require,  for  the  obtaining  our  just  desires 
and  establishing  our  rights  and  privileges  to  us  and  our  posterity 
forever,  whereby  you  will  do  acceptable  service  to  God,  and  forever 
oblige  your  true  and  faithful  friends  and  brethren."* 

10.  Dunster,  while  stating  objections  to  the  removal  of  his 
afflicted  family  from  his  college  residence,  till  a  more  suitable 
season,  remarks  :  "  If  a  place  be  found,  that  may  be  comfortable  for 
them,  myself  will  willingly  bow  my  neck  to  any  yoke  of  personal 
denial,  for  I  know  for  what  and  for  whom  by  grace  I  suffer."  The 
General  Court  giant  him  leave  to  remain  till  the  Spring. f 

11.  As  some  overseers  of  the  College  are  taken  away,  part 
by  death  and  others  gone  to  England,  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Allin  of 
Dedham,  John  Norton  of  Boston,  Samuel  Whiting  and  Thomas 
Cobbet  of  Lynn,  are  appointed  to  supply  their  places.  The  Court, 
"  having  perused  and  seriously  considered  the  agreement  of  their 
Commissioners  at  their  last  meeting  at  Hartford,  as  to  ending  all 
former  differences  and  offences  betwixt  the  Government  and  the 
rest  of  their  Confederates,  do  approve  thereof  and  consent  thereto, 
professing  their  resolution  to  act  accordingly,  and  therefore  do 
order,  that  letters  be  sent  to  the  other  three  General  Courts  to 
certify  the  same." 

Note. — May  18, 1653,  John  Guppy,  "being  vnder  a  great  fine  for  putting 
in  more  cornes  than  one  for  the  choyce  of  a  magistrate,  vppon  his  request  to 
this  Court,  hath  his  line  abated  to  twenty  shillings." 


PLYMOUTH. 


1653.  March  1.  An  order  of  Court  reads  :  J  "  Whereas  we 
have  intelligence  out  of  our  native  Countrey  of  danger  that  may  be 
towards  us  in  regard  of  the  great  variances  betwixt  the  two  nations 
of  Holland  and  England,"  a  special  meeting  of  Deputies  and 
Magistrates  is  to  be  summoned,  "  to  conclude  on  such  milletary 
affaires  as  through  God's  blessing  may  probably  tend  to  our  present 
and  future  safety."'  On  the  6th  of  April,  such  a  Convention 
assemble.     Among  various  regulations  for  defence,  is  this  :   "  That 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Papers.  f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 

X  Plymouth  Col.  MS.  Rec. 
15 


114  SCRIPTURE  COMMENTARY. 

[Plym. 

one  third  of  eveiy  milletary  companie  shall  bring  their  armes  with 
powder  and  shott  to  the  meetings  on  the  Lord's  day  both  forenoone 
and  afternoone,  on  paine  of  forfeiting  for  every  one  that  shall  neg- 
lect, two  shillings  and  sixpence  for  every  default."  They  elect  a 
Council  of  War.  On  the  12th  of  May  the  latter  body  conclude, 
that,  if  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  agree  on  a  war 
with  the  Dutch  "  by  the  authoritie  of  the  State  of  England," 
Plymouth,  as  one  of  such  a  Confederation,  "  will  be  in  reddiness 
through  the  healp  of  God  to  assist  and  engage  therein  according  to 
theire  proportions  and  vtmost  abillities." 

30.  A  day  of  humiliation*  at  Barnstable  "  for  the  preservation  of 
God's  people  in  this  land  from  the  purposed  invasion  of  the 
Indians,  especially  the  jSarragansetts,  being  instigated  thereunto  by 
the  Dutch,  even  to  cut  off  all  the  English,  and  also  for  our  own 
Country  being  at  war  with  the  Dutch."  On  the  next  May  11, 
there  was  another  such  an  occasion  for  "  the  present  conceived 
dangerous  estate  of  the  English,"  etc. 

April.  William  Leveridge,  from  Sandwich,  visits  Long  Island, 
and  with  others  from  the  former  place,  purchases  of  the  natives  a 
large  tract  of  land  at  Oyster  Bay,  for  a  new  settlement.f  Shortly 
after  he  moved  hither,  Wood  supposes  that  he  divided  his  labors 
between  the  adjacent  English  planters  and  Indians.  For  his 
instruction  of  the  latter,  from  1653  to  1658,  he  was  allowed  some 
compensation  by  the  Commissioners  for  the  Missionary  Society  in 
England.  In  the  last  year,  the  people  of  Huntington  appropriated 
land  to  him  as  their  minister,  and  in  1662,  enlarged  the  quantity. 
He  continued  to  be  their  pastor  till  1670,  when  he  took  up  his 
abode  at  Newton,  and  dispensed  to  its  inhabitants  the  doctrines  of 
Revelation.  Here  he  died  in  1677,  leaving  two  sons,  Caleb  and 
Eleazer.  In  a  volume  of  Newton  records,  there  is  a  laborious  and 
learned  Commentary  on  a  large  part  of  the  Old  Testament  in  his 
hand-writing  and  an  abbreviated  form.  Hubbard  called  him  "  our 
able  and  worthy  minister." 

June  9.  The  Legislature  enact,  that  any  person  of  sixteen  years 
old,  "  whoe  shall  wittingly  and  willingly  make  or  publish  any  lye, 
which  may  bee  pernitius  to  the  publicke  weale  or  tending  to  the 
damage  of  any  particulare  person,  or  with  entent  to  deceive  and 
abuse  the  people  with  false  newes  or  reports,"  shall  be  fined  10/. 
for  each  offence,  or  set  publicly  in  the  stocks  not  above  two  hours. 
William  Barstow  confesses  his  error  J  for  asserting  that  the  Rev. 
Charles  Chauncey,  of  Scituate,  was  the  death  of  his  brother 
George,  because  he  "  sent  his  Bulls  abroad  to  the  Church  at 
Cambridge,"  and  thus  hindered  him  from  communion  with  them, 

*  Barn.  Ch.  Rec.     N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.  vol.  x.  p.  39. 

f  Wood's  Long  Island,  p.  44,  5.  Thompson's  do.  vol.  ii.  p.  145,  6.  Hub- 
bard's N.  E.  p.  221.     Hist,  of  Newton,  L.  I.  J  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


dbcsa.se  op  lothrop.  Llfi 

1654.] 

which,  occasioning  him  excessive  grief,  brought  him  to  his  end. 
He  engages  to  make  such  retraction  not  only  at  Scituate,  but  at 
Boston  and  wherever  he  uttered  the  said  "  slanderous  speeches," 
and  before  Mr.  Chauncey  and  all  persons  who  have  heard  them. 

30.  As  William  Witherell,  pastor  of  the  New  Church  at 
Scituate,  and  others,  addressed*  the  Old  Church  under  Mr. 
Chauncey,  on  the  5th  of  March,  to  know  why  there  was  not  com- 
munion between  them,  Chauncey  replies,  that  the  cause  of  separa- 
tion between  them  was  well  known,  after  several  Councils  had 
considered  the  subject.  This  brings  out  a  rejoinder,  on  July  8, 
that  such  distance  was  not  so  strongly  founded,  as  had  been  repre- 
sented. As  Mr.  Chauncey  retired  from  Scituate  in  the  autumn, 
the  discussion  dropped.  Then  the  debates  on  his  opinions,  that 
children  and  adults  should  be  immersed,  that  the  Sacrament  should 
be  administered  every  Lord's  day  .and  in  the  afternoon,  became 
quiescent. 

September  13.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Confederation  addressf 
the  Government  of  Rhode  Island  about  the  capture  of  a  vessel, 
belonging  to  Samuel  Mayo  of  Barnstable,  by  one  of  their  cruisers. 
It  appears  that  the  prize  had  the  goods  of  Rev.  William  Leveridge 
of  Sandwich,  on  board,  bound  to  Oyster  Bay  on  Long  Island, 
where  he  intended  to  form  a  settlement  with  others.  She  was 
captured  at  Hempstead,  whose  inhabitants  were  suffering  for  their 
attachment  to  the  English.  The  Commissioners  require  satisfaction 
for  the  act. 

When  Mr.  Leveridge  moved  away  from  Sandwich,  Richard 
Bourne  and  Thomas  Tupper  preached  to  the  congregation.  They 
agreed,  that  the  one  who,  on  the  Sabbath,  had  the  most  adherents 
present,  should  officiate.  They  also  gave  religious  instruction  to 
Indians  with  much  zeal  and  success.* 

November  3.  The  learned,  able,  faithful  and  useful  minister  of 
the  Gospel,  John  Lothrop,  "  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord."  He  accom- 
panied the  first  settlers  of  Barnstable  from  Scituate,  and  continued 
breaking  to  them  the  bread  of  life  till  his  days  on  earth  were 
finished.  He  had  children,  Thomas,  Samuel,  Joseph,  Benjamin, 
Barnabas,  John,  Jane  and  Barbara.  Though  he  wrote  his  name, 
as  here  presented,  yet  many  of  his  descendants  have  spelt  it 
Lathrop.  Morton,  who  knew  him  well,  says  that  he  was  "  willing 
to  spend  and  to  be  spent  for  the  cause  and  church  of  Christ." 

1654.  March  7.  The  Legislature  provide  for  the  government 
of  their  trading  place  on  the  Kennebeck  River. 

Josiah  Hallet  and  Thomas  Gage  are  presented  for  profaning  the 
Lord's  Day,  by  putting  forth  to  sea  out  of  Sandwich  harbor,  and 
fined  according  to  order.§ 


*  History  Scituate,  p.  84-7.         f  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard  vol.  ii.  p.  287. 
J  Baylies'  Mem.  of  Plym.  vol.  ii.  p.  282.  §  Plym.  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 


116  DEPARTURE   OF  ELIZABETH  POOLE. 

[Plym. 

May  21.  As  a  benevolent  and  efficient  helper  in  advancing  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  Colony,  Miss  Elizabeth  Poole,  of  Taunton, 
is  called  to  exchange  worlds,  at  the  age  of  sixty-live  years.  The 
state  of  her  mind  on  the  near  approach  of  her  last  end,  may  be 
learned  from  her  will,  dated  four  days  before  she  died  :  "  Being 
sick  and  weak,  under  the  visitation  of  the  Lord,  yet  being  of  perfect 
memory  and  understanding,  and  willing  to  set  my  house  in  order 
according  to  the  direction  and  message  of  the  Lord  unto  Hezekiah, 
when  he  was  sick,  that  I  might  leave  mine  affairs  so  as  might  be 
peaceable  and  comfortable  to  my  friends  remaining  behind  me,  I 
therefore  commit  my  body  to  the  grave  according  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  God,  who  took  me  from  the  dust,  and  saith  we  shall  return 
unto  the  dust,  there  to  remain  until  the  resurrection,  and  my  soul 
into  the  hand  of  God,  my  heavenly  Father,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  to  me  all  in  all,  and  hath,  as  I  believe  and  am  persuaded 
through  mercy  of  God,  reconciled  me  unto  God,  and  taken  away 
the  guiltiness  of  sin  and  fear  of  death,  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  heavy  to  bear,  and  makes  me  willing  to  leave  the  world,  and 
desire  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  best  of  all."  This  is  a  farewell, 
learned  in  the  school  of  Emmanuel.,  and  infinitely  more  pertinent 
to  the  nature,  necessities  and  obligations  of  the  soul,  than  any  other, 
essentially  different,  however  adorned  with  the  highest  of  worldly 
wisdom.  There  is  cause  to  believe,  that  she  entered  on  the  fruition 
of  its  hopes,  which  has  abounded  and  will  continue  so  to  do  in 
endless  progression. 

June  6.  John  Smith  is  presented  for  needlessly  travelling  from 
Taunton  to  "  Munkateesett "  and  back  again  on  the  Sabbath. 
"  William  Chase,  Sen.,  of  Yarmouth,  is  presented  for  driving  one 
pair  of  oxen  in  the  yoke  upon  the  Lord's  day,  in  time  of  exercise, 
about  five  miles."  * 

Edward  Perry,  for  delaying  to  have  his  marriage  ratified  before 
Mr.  Prence,  as  the  General  Court  had  required,  is  fined  £5,  and 
so  is  to  be  at  every  session  of  the  Court,  on  which  he  thus  disobeys. 

Robert  Titus,  of  Rehoboth,  about  to  move  from  the  Colony,  hav- 
ing received  "  Aaron  Ordway  and  a  woman,  persons  of  evil  fame, 
with  children  "  into  his  house,  is  commanded  to  carry  these  away 
with  him,  or  give  security  so  that  the  Town  may  not  suffer  damage. 

15.  The  Legislature  answer  a  communication  from  Sedgwick 
and  others.  They  say,  that  having  deliberated  on  the  command 
of  Cromwell,  by  the  help  of  God,  we  intend  to  close  with  you  in 
your  intended  enterprise  against  the  Dutch  at  the  Manhatoes,  with 
such  small  help  as  wre  are  able  to  afford.  On  the  20th,  men  are 
ordered  to  be  pressed  for  this  expedition.  On  the  23d,  tidings  of 
peace  between  England  and  Holland  arrive,  and  render  such  hostile 
preparation  no  longer  needed. 

*  Plymouth  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 


SOLEMN    COMPACTING.  117 

1653.] 

20.    At  their  June  Session,*  the  Legislature  enact,  that,   who 
holds  "solemn  conversing  or  compacting  with  the  devil  by  way  of 
Conjuration  and  the  like,"  shall  sutler  death,  and  that  theft  shall  be 
punished  by  restitution  of  three  or  four-fold. 

October  3.  The  General  Court  order  men  to  be  raised,  so  that 
they  may  unite  with  other  forces  of  the  rest  of  the  confederated 

Colonies,  to  march  tor  the  residence  of  Ninigret,  the  Niantick 
Sachem,  and  compel  him  to  terms,  if  he  refuse. 

18.  John  Reyner  leaves  the  Plymouth  Church  and  visits  Boston, 
where  the  Legislature  recommend  him  to  the  new  church  for  a 
teaching  Elder.  But  the  lot  was  divinely  cast  for  him  in  Dover, 
New  Hampshire.  Soon  after  his  departure,  as  Morton  states,  John 
Cook,  who  appears  to  have  been  an  anabaptist,  causes  great  divisions 
in  the  Barnstable  Church. 

November  l2.  Chauncey,  having  gone  from  Scituate  to  wait  in 
Boston  for  a  passage  to  England,  so  that  he  might  comply  with 
a  call  to  resume  the  charge  of  his  former  Congregation  there, 
receives  an  invitation  to  become  President  of  Harvard  College. 
The  Committee,  Messrs.  Mather  and  Norton,  of  the  Overseers, 
offer  him  £100  salary,  and  signify  to  him,  as  they  are  authorized, 
"  that  it  is  expected  and  desired,  that  he  forbear  to  disseminate  or 
publish  any  tenets  concerning  immersion  in  baptism  and  celebration 
of  the  Lord's  supper  at  evening,  or  to  oppose  the  received  doctrine 
therein."  Chauncey  was  inaugurated  on  the  27th  of  the  same 
month.  AVhile  his  predecessor  at  the  College  believed  that  infants 
should  not  be  sprinkled  at  all,  he  believed  that ,  they  should  be 
immersed.  This  is  one  of  the  instances,  wherein  extremes  are  not 
unfrequently  held  by  good  and  learned  men. 


MAINE. 


1653.  May  18.  The  Bay  Legislature  at  their  Session,  now 
commenced,!  pass  various  orders  in  reference  to  Maine.  As  a 
noticeable  novelty,  in  the  enlargement  of  their  Deputies,  they  have 
John  Wincoll  from  Kittery,  and  Edward  Rich  worth  from  York. 
The  voice  of  these  places,  which  had  been  for  legislation  to  favor 
Episcopal  influence,  is  now  for  that  which  sustains  Congregation- 
alism. 

Dissatisfied  with  the  French  under  La  Tour,  who  had  married 
the  widow  of  his  -rival,  D'Aulney,  and  who  exercised  authority  at 
Penobscot  and  farther  eastward,  all  provisions  are  forbidden  to  be 
carried  thither.     Still,  as  several  persons  of  Boston  had  agreed  to 

*  Plym.  Col.  Kec.  t  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 


118  FRENCH  CORRESPONDENCE. 

[Me. 

send  a  small  vessel,  laden  with  such  articles  to  him,  they  allow 
them,  a  fortnight  after,  to  dispatch  her  on  the  voyage. 

July.  Richard  Bellingham,*  having  finished  the  business  of  the 
quarter  Court  in  Yorkshire,  with  Commissioners  for  that  purpose, 
appears  at  Wells  to  receive  the  submission  of  the  other  places  in 
Maine,  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.  For  this  end,  eventful 
to  the  people  immediately  concerned,  he  is  joined  by  Daniel  Den- 
nison,  Edward  Rawson,  Thomas  Wiggin  and  Brian  Pendleton. 
These  Commissioners  had  notified  the  inhabitants  of  Wells,  Saco 
and  Cape  Porpoise  to  convene,  on  the  4th,  at  Rev.  Joseph  Emer- 
son's house.  On  the  first  day  only  six  took  the  oath  of  freemen, 
including  the  minister.  William  Ward  well,  when  his  name  was 
called,  remained  silent  and  left  the  room  with  a  contemptuous  air. 
But  brought  back  in  the  afternoon  by  a  constable,  to  answer  for  his 
conduct,  he  apologized.  The  next  day,  he  and  about  nineteen 
more  took  the  like  oath.  Several  others  did  the  same  subsequently. 
Thus  the  last  section  of  Gorges'  restricted  Patent,  comes  under  the 
control  of  men,  whom  he  was  once  royally  empowered,  though 
ineffectually,  to  govern. 

5.  With  regard  to  Saco  and  Cape  Porpoise,f  of  the  Lygonia 
Patent,  seventeen  of  the  first  and  twelve  of  the  second  place,  yield 
in  a  similar  manner.  The  three  Towns  are  promised  all  the  privi- 
leges which  such  corporations  have  in  Massachusetts,  and  to  be 
included  in  Yorkshire.  They,  as  Kittery  and  York,  are  ex- 
empted from  taxes,  except  for  Town  and  County,  and  permitted  to 
enjoy  all  political  rights  without  the  condition  of  being  members  of 
the  Church. 

While  the  Board  were  in  session  at  Wells,  cases  in  relation  to 
the  Church  here,  are  brought  to  their  cognizance.  On  complaint  of 
Morgan  Howell,  John  Baker  is  arraigned  before  them  "  for  abusive 
and  opprobrious  speeches,  uttered  by  him  against  the  minister  and 
ministry,  and  for  upholding  private  meetings  and  prophesying  to 
the  hinderance  and  disturbance  of  public  assembling,  etc."  They 
require  him  to  give  bond  for  regular  behavior,  and  forbid  him  to 
preach  publicly  any  more  in  this  jurisdiction.  Another  case  was, 
that  Mr.  Permott^  and  William  Wardwell  had  been  dismissed  from 
the  Church  there,  but  they  still  claimed  all  its  privileges.  The 
Court  advise  them  no  longer  to  press  their  demands,  lest  they  sub- 
ject themselves  to  penal  liability.  At  Cape  Porpoise  the  Church 
was  so  constituted,  that  they  were  unable  to  transfer  their  civil 
relations  to  any  other  Colony.  The  Board  disannul  such  obligation, 
so  that  they  may  promise  allegiance  to  Massachusetts. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Rec.     Maine  MS.  Rec. 

f  Mass.  Ct.  MS.  Rec.     Maine  MS.  Rec.     Sullivan's  Me.  p.  360,  1. 

X  Not  unlikely  Pormont,  who  left  Boston  for  Exeter  with  Wheelwright. 


SUBMISSION  OP  maim:.  119 

IMS.] 

The  people  of  Saco,*  though  desirous  of  employing  an  educated 
minister,  were  unable  to  obtain  one.  The  Commissioners  grant 
them  leave  to  employ  Robert  Boothe,  a  pious  man,  t<>  lead  their 
religious  assemblies,  until  they  can  be  more  suitably  supplied. 

They  summon  George  Barlow  before  them,  charged  with  enter- 
taining visionary  opinions,  and  expressing  them  to  the  disturbance 
of  the  public-  peace.  They  caution  him  not  to  preach  or  prophesy 
any  more  in  the  Town,  on  penalty  of  £10  and  costs. 

Having  made  all  the  needed  arrangements  for  the  government 
of  these  places,  the  Board  close  their  present  labors  with  a  Protest, 
which  they  order  the  Marshal  of  the  County  to  proclaim  publicly. 
A  passage  from  this  document  follows :  "  We  protest  against  all 
persons  whatever,  that  shall  challenge  jurisdiction,  or  that  shall 
exercise  any  act  of  authority  over  them  or  over  any  other  persons, 
inhabiting  within  the  limits  of  our  patent,  but  what  shall  be  derived 
from  us  as  Commissioners,  or  from  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts." 

Though  the  submission  was  so  bloodlessly  finished,  yet  there 
were  strong  men,  who  refused  to  be  numbered  among  its  partakers. 
Of  these  were  George  Cleaves  of  Casco,  John  Bonython  of  Saco, 
Henry  Joscelyn  of  Black  Point,  and  Robert  Jordan,  an  Episcopal 
clergyman,  of  Spurwink. 

The  whole  enterprise  of  receiving  Maine  under  their  protection 
and  control,  was  conducted  by  the  Bay  Authorities  with  a  firm,  but 
kind  and  liberal  policy.  Different  opinions  of  their  conduct,  in 
reference  to  this  concern,  have  been  expressed.  That  a  fair  con- 
struction of  their  Charter  allowed  them  so  to  do,  is  evident  from 
its  language.  Still,  such  a  construction  plainly  spread  over  the 
soil  which  was  originally  patented  to  Mason  and  Gorges.  Here 
is  the  issue  for  and  against  the  transaction. 

Such  infringements  existed,  from  the  conflicting  grants  of  char- 
ters, in  all  the  settlements  of  America.  New  England  was  thus 
claimed  by  the  Dutch,  English  and  French,  and  its  Colonies  were 
patented  so  that  they  long  trenched  on  each  other's  soil.  Hence, 
in  that  period  of  unsettled  boundaries,  it  was  no  strange  thing  for 
one  claim  of  territory,  when  laid  out,  in  thought  or  action,  to 
its  farthest  limits,  to  cover  another  claim,  equally  strong.  When 
Massachusetts  notified  Godfrey,  that  they  intended  to  comprise 
Maine  within  their  jurisdiction,  he  spiritedly  asked  them  why,  if  it 
belonged  to  them,  they  had  not  taken  such  a  step  before.  They 
replied :  "  It  was  some  years  after  we  came  hither,  before  we  knew 
the  extent  of  our  line,  the  date  or  validity  of  other  Patents  contained 
therein  or  bordering  thereupon,  as  we  now  do,  and  therefore  were 
slow  to  do  any  thing  that  might  occasion  any  clashing  therein,  till 
all  doubts  in  that  respect  were  removed,  as  you  cannot  but  observe 

*  Mass.  Court,  and  Maine  MS.  Rec. 


120  INFRINGEMENT  OF   CHARTERS. 

[Me. 

in  our  proceedings  with  those  of  Piscataqua,  so  in  regard  of  your- 
selves, though  we  have  been  long  satisfied,  by  those  whom  we  em- 
ployed to  run  our  northerly  line,  that  the  place  where  you  inhabit 
did  fall  within  our  jurisdiction.  You  seem  to  set  out  the  limits  of 
our  Patent  three  miles  N.  E.  of  Merrimacke  river  at  the  sides 
which  then  was  knowne,  and  the  River  is  of  another  denomination 
upwards.  If  you  had  well  perused  the  words  of  our  Patents  and 
the  true  sense  of  them,  we  believe  you  would  change  your  mind." 
They  had  mentioned  the  fact,  that  while  Parliament  acknowledged 
the  Charter  of  Massachusetts,  they  had  nullified  that  of  the  Ply- 
mouth Company,  on  which  the  Patents  of  Maine  and  New  Hamp- 
shire depended  for  existence.  They  add  for  substance,  that  while 
the  population  had  regularly  constituted  governments  here,  and  the 
proprietors,  residing  in  England,  exercised,  a  care  towards  them, 
they  thought  it  not  expedient  to  move  in  the  concern ;  but  when 
the  reverse  was  true,  and  a  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants,  on 
account  of  their  disturbed,  uncertain  and  anxious  condition,  sought 
for  their  protection,  they  judged  the  time  had  arrived  for  them  to 
grant  the  request.  They  might  have  further  remarked,  that,  how- 
ever their  Charter  swept  westward,  even  to  the  Pacific,  they  had 
not  seen  the  day  when  they  should  attempt  to  bring  the  Dutch  of 
New  Netherland  and  directly  within  their  range,  under  their  laws ; 
but  that  they  would  have  none  infer  from  this  delay,  that  they  had 
the  least  intention  to  surrender  or  forget  their  claim  in  such  a 
direction.  Nor  was  it  an  unheard  of  event  for  men  in  power  to 
alter  territorial  lines  and  legislative  policy.  The  very  original  Pa- 
tentees of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  did,  when  Bishop  Laud 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Commission  for  English  America,  unite 
their  counsels  and  efforts  with  his  to  destroy  the  Companies  of  New 
Plymouth  and  Massachusetts,  and  bring  them  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  Colonies  under  one  General  Governor  for  the  overthrow  of 
Congregationalism  and  the  promotion  of  Episcopacy.  Gorges  him- 
self was  appointed  such  a  Governor,  and  waited  only  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  execute  his  orders.  He  and  Mason  thought  themselves, 
from  their  relation  to  the  Throne  and  the  national  Church,  justified 
in  their  purpose  and  conduct.  No  less  justified  did  the  Rulers  of 
the  Bay  consider  themselves,  when  changes  occurred  sufficient,  in 
their  judgment,  to  require  the  extension  of  their  bounds  so  as  to 
include  the  soil  previously  patented  to  Gorges  as  well  as  to  Mason. 
Erom  the  wish  of  Cromwell  and  the  Parliament  to  suppress  Epis- 
copacy and  Royalty,  and  to  spread  the  influence  of  Puritanism  in 
this  as  well  as  in  the  mother  country,  and  from  their  avowed 
friendliness  to  the  Bay  Authorities,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that 
these  had  encouragement  from  those,  so  to  extend  their  control 
eastward.  Whatever  views  may  be  taken  of  this  subject,  there  can 
be  no  just  doubt  but  that  the  change  was  highly  beneficial  to  the 
inhabitants  of  this  Province. 


GOVERNMENT   at   KENNNBB<  k  LSI 

1654.] 

1654.  March  7.  The  General  Court*  of  Plymouth  elect  and 
empower  Thomas  Prince  to  form  and  administer  government  in 
their  Patent  at  Keunebeck.  This  is  done  in  compliance  with  let- 
ters from  the  Council  of  State  in  London.  Of  his  instructions,  we 
have  as  follows :   When  the  inhabitants  shall  be  convened  by  his 

order,  he  shall  administer  to  them  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
State  of  England,  and  of  fidelity  to  Plymouth  authorities,  lie 
shall  grant  them,  thus  obligated,  leave  to  choose  Assistants  for  him 
in  the  government  of  the  people,  lie  was  excused  from  requiring 
them  to  conform  with  the  peculiarities  of  the  present  Colony,  such 
as  the  demand  for  them  to  be  church  members  before  they  could 
vote  for  the  Legislature,  or  be  elected  to  this  body.  This  modifi- 
cation was  similar  to  what  Massachusetts  had  allowed  other  parts  of 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire. 

May  £3.  According  to  summons  from  Prince,  the  inhabitants  of 
Kennebeck  assemble  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Ashley  at  Merry 
Meeting.  Among  various  regulations  adopted,  three  call  for 
present  notice.  One,  which  forbids  the  capital  offence  of  "  solemn 
conversing  or  compacting  with  the  Devil  by  way  of  conjuracon." 
Another  requires  the  "  wilful!  prophaning  of  the  Lord's  day  to 
be  punished  according  to  the  discretion  of  the  Assistants."  The 
third  appoints  judicial  trials  by  a  jury  of  twrelve  men.  Of  those 
who  take  the  oath  of  fidelity,  is  Thomas  Purchase,  "  gentleman," 
who  is  elected  an  Assistant  of  the  government. 

August.  The  tidings  of  peace  having  suppressed  the  busy  prepa- 
ration for  the  invasion  of  New  Netherland,  the  Commissioners, 
authorized  by  Crormvell,  turn  their  collected  forces  against  the 
French  of  Nova  Scotia.  On  the  16th.  as  the  signal  for  the  sub- 
mission of  such  territory  to  the  English,  Port  Royal  capitulates. 
Thus  a  country,  which  was  ceded  to  the  Court  of  St.  Cloud,  at  the 
treaty  of  St.  Germain,  much  to  the  dissatisfaction  and  alarm  of 
New  England,  is  regained  and  brought  under  their  control.  The 
people  of  Maine  were  particularly  relieved  by  this  event,  in  the 
prospect  that  the  strong  dominant  influence  exerted  by  the  Romish 
priests  over  the  Eastern  Indians  would  be  diminished,  and  they 
should  be  free  from  the  peril  of  invasion  by  civilized  neighbors, 
who  had  no  religious  sympathy  with  them. 

October  9.  Robert  Jordan,  in  Boston  prison, f  petitions  for 
release.  He  is  probably  thus  situated  for  his  resistance  to  the  Bay 
Authorities. 

20.  The  Commissioners  of  Cromwell  desire  Massachusetts  to 
protect  the  eastern  territory,  conquered  from  the  French.  Their 
words  are  :  "  That-  you  would  be  pleased  to  declare,  that  if  the 
English  inhabiting  in  the  country  of  Acadia,  be  at  any  time 
assaulted  wTith  an  enemy,  or  in  any  occasion  of  needing  help  from 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  t  Mass.  MS.  Papers. 

16 


L 


122  ORTHODOXY   OF  WHEELWRIGHT. 

[N.  H. 

this  government,  you  will  assist  us  with  such  men  as  we  may  stand 
in  need  of,  we  paying  for  them  according  to  the  custom  of  paying 
soldiers  in  this  country.  We  hope  that  respect  and  compliance 
with  England  will  be  argument  enough  to  admit  this  favour,  in 
which  we  hope  we  attend  much  the  good  of  these  plantations." 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 

1654.  May  3.  The  Bay  Legislature,*  having  received  a  petition 
from  Hampton,  make  the  following  reply :  "  The  Court  doth 
declare,  though  they  are  not  willing  to  recall  those  uncomfortable 
differences  that  formerly  passed  between  this  Court  and  Mr. 
Wheelwright,  concerning  matters  of  Religion  or  Practice,  nor  do 
they  know  what  Mr.  Rutherford  and  Mr.  Wellsf  hath  charged  him 
with,  yet  judge  meet  to  certify  Mr.  Wheelwright  hath  long  since 
given  such  satisfaction  both  to  the  Court  and  Elders  generally,  as 
that  he  is  now,  and  so  for  many  years  has  been,  an  officer  in  the 
Church  of  Hampton,  within  our  jurisdiction,  and  that  without 
offence  to  any,  so  far  as  we  know,  and  we  are  informed  he  hath 
been  a  useful  and  profitable  instrument  of  doing  much  good  in 
that  church." 

The  next  August  24,  the  Secretary  gave  the  following  certificate: 
"  Hearing  that  Mr.  Wheelwright  is  by  Mr.  Rutherford  and  Mr. 
Weld  rendered  in  some  books  printed  by  them  as  heretical  and 
erroneous,  they  now  signify  that  Mr.  Wheelwright  hath,  for  these 
many  years,  approved  himself  a  sound,  orthodox,  and  profitable 
minister  of  the  Gospel  among  the  churches  of  Christ." 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Wheelwright  published  a  vindication  of 
himself  against  representations  made  of  him  by  Mr.  Weld  and  Mr. 
Rutherford. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

1653.  February  18.  William  Dyer  having  arrived  J  from  Lon- 
don with  an  order  from  the  Council  of  State  there  revoking  the 
patent  of  Coddington,  writes  to  the  freemen  of  Providence,  that 
"  upon  Tuesday  come  seven-night,"  he  will  meet  them  and  others 
immediately  concerned  at  Portsmouth.     Newport  dates  a  letter,  on 

*  Mass.  MS.  Rec. 

t  Rev.  Messrs.  Samuel  S.  Rutherford  and  Thomas  Weld  of  England. 

1  Staples's  Providence,  p.  88,  9. 


CONTENTIONS  IN   RHODE   BLAND.  I£J 

the  subject  of  re-union,  for  the  former  of  these  two  places.  A  few 
ilivs  before,  Dyer  made  B  similar  communication  to  the  inhabitants 
of   Warwick. 

25.  Commissioners  from  the  last  town  and  Providence  assemble. 
They  reply  to  individuals  of  the  Island,  who  appear  to  have  made 
proposals  for  a  re-union  with  the  Main.  A  Committee  arc  appointed 
to  consider  the  matter,  but  nothing  appears  to  have  been  effectually 
done. 

Some  ideas,  from  a  communication  forwarded  by  Providence  to 
Roger  Williams,  indicate  how  they  regarded  the  subject  so 
agitated.  They  express  their  dissatisfaction  with  Dyer's  procedure 
in  treating  the  towns  on  the  Main  as  having  less  concern  in  the 
commission,  which  he  brought,  than  those  on  the  Island.  They 
represent  that  he  declared  that  Mr.  Clark  had  co-operated  with  Mr. 
Williams  and  himself  to  obtain  such  a  document.  They  observe, 
"  In  our  meeting,  our  agitations  were  many,  and  somewhat  fiery." 
They  mention  persons,  who  "  strove  to  persuade  us  upon  the  Main, 
so  to  account  ourselves  as  being  in  disorder,  a  confused  rout,  or  as 
one  acknowledged  the  Island  was,  and  that  all  officers,  places, 
orders  of  courts,  law,  and  cases  depending,  were  all  to  be  accounted 
null,  and  that  we  must  all  come  to  a  popular  meeting,  as  scattered 
stones,  to  lay  a  new  foundation  of  government  for  the  Colony  of 
Providence  Plantations." 

They  proceed  :  "  But  wre  being  still  in  the  same  order  you  left 
us,  as  also  observing  two  great  evils  such  a  course  would  bring  on 
us,  first,  the  hazard  of  involving  all  in  the  disorder  and  bloodshed 
which  had  been  committed  on  Rhode  Island  since  their  separation 
from  us  ;  secondly,  the  evading  and  frustrating  of  justice  in  divers 
weighty  causes,  then  orderly  depending  in  our  Courts." 

March  7.  Probably  as  a  means  of  gaining  the  favor  of  the 
Authorities  in  England,  and  thus  affording  aid  to  the  efforts  of 
Roger  Williams  in  London,  twelve  men  of  Providence  sign  the 
following  :  "  I  do  declare  and  promise,  that  I  will  be  true  and  faith- 
ful to  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  as  it  is  now  established, 
without  a  King  or  House  of  Lords."  It  appears  that,  previously, 
Robert  Williams  was  not  pleased  with  the  conduct  of  some  among 
Gorton's  people  on  this  subject.  His  words  are :  UI  do  hereby 
certify  that  the  sub-committee  at  W7arwick  have  declared  disloyalty 
unto  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  for  the  said  Committee  de- 
clare, then  dated  the  24th  of  December,  1652,  against  the  letter  of 
credence  ordered  and  sent  unto  our  agent,  Mr.  Roger  Williams, 
supplicating  their  honours'  favour  and  pleasure  in  these  parts." 

April  1.  Being-  at  Belleau,  the  residence  of  Sir  Henry  Vane, 
Roger  Williams  addresses*  his  friends  of  Providence  and  War- 
wick.    He  mentions  the  difficulties  which  he  encounters,  as  to  the 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  285-8. 


124  REPROOF   BY   VANE. 

[R.I. 

object  of  his  visiting  England.  One  obstruction  is  :  "  Oar  adversa- 
ries, Sir  Arthur  Haselrig  and  Col.  Fenwicke,  who  hath  married 
his  daughter,  Mr.  Winslow  and  Mr.  Hopkins,  both  in  great  place  ; 
and  all  the  friends  they  can  make  in  the  Parliament  and  Council, 
and  all  the  Priests,  both  Presbyterian  and  Independent ;  so  that 
we  stand  as  two  armies  ready  to  engage,  observing  the  motions 
and  postures  of  each  other,  and  yet  shy  each  of  other.  Under 
God  the  sheet  anchor  of  our  ship  is  Sir  Henry,  who  will  do  as  the 
eye  of  God  leads  him,  and  he  faithfully  promised  me,  that  he  would 
observe  the  motion  of  our  New  England  business." 

June  4.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Main  *  assemble  and  protest 
against  the  late  acts  of  those  on  the  Island,  and  especially  that, 
granting  leave  to  commit  reprisals  on  the  Dutch.  They  hold  the 
ensuing  language :  "  Which  is  like,  for  aught  we  see,  to  set  all 
New  England  on  fire,  for  the  event  of  war  is  various  and  uncertain, 
and  although  the  honored  Council  of  State's  direction  to  us  is, 
videlicet,  to  offend  the  Dutch  as  we  shall  think  necessary,  yet  we 
know  not  for  what  reason  or  for  what  cause  the  said  inhabitants  of 
the  Island  have  given  forth  the  said  Commission."  About  this  time, 
they  disfranchise  the  persons,  who  allow  the  validity  of  the  Island 
commissions  against  the  Dutch. 

June.  In  reply  to  the  appeal  of  William  Arnold  and  others  of 
Patuxet,  the  Bay  empower  them  to  bring  actions  against  all  who 
attempt  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  them;  without  their  orders. 

September  5.  He  notifies  f  the  Massachusetts  Court,  that  "  Gor- 
ton and  his  confederates  "  are  preparing  strong  accusations  against 
them  to  lay  before  Cromwell. 

13.  The  Commissioners  +  of  the  Union  address  the  Authorities 
of  the  Island,  relative  to  the  capture  of  a  Plymouth  vessel  by  one 
of  their  privateers.  They  represent  the  act  as  altogether  wrong, 
and  require  that  due  satisfaction  be  made.  Their  words,  as  con- 
tinued, are :  "  If  you  refuse  wee  shall  be  nessesitated  to  thinke  of 
som  other  course  to  preserue  and  vindicate  the  vnited  Collonies 
from  such  injuries  and  insolences  as  are  or  may  bee  committed 
vnder  pretence  but  by  abuse  of  commission  from  England." 

1654.  February  8.  Roger  Williams  intending  to  embark  for 
Providence,  Henry  Vane  dates  a  letter,§  to  be  taken  by  him,  for 
the  people  of  this  territory.  He  addresses  them  as  sincerely  de- 
sirous for  their  highest  good.  He  asks  :  "  How  is  it,  that  there 
are  such  divisions  amongst  you,  such  headiness,  disorders,  tumults, 
injustice,  the  noise  whereof  echoes  unto  the  ears  of  all,  as  well 
friends  as  enemies,  by  every  return  of  ships  from  those  parts  ? 
Are  there  no  public  self-denying   spirits  that,  at  least,  upon  the 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Staples' s  Annals.  f  Hutchinson  Papers,  p.  '2-31. 

%  Cora'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  287. 
§  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  289-93.     R.  Is.  Col.  Rec. 


FIFTH   MONARCHY   Mi:v  1  M 

Roondi  of  common  eafety,  equity  and  prudence,  can  find  out  tome 
way  or  means  of  anion  and  reconcilement  for  you  amongst  your- 
leWesj  before  you  become  ■  prey  to  common  enemies,  especially 
since  this  State,  by  the  last  letter  from  the  Council  of  State,  gave 
you  your  freedom,  Bfl  BUpposing  that  I  better  use  would  have  been 
made  of  it  than  there  hath  been.     Surely,  when  kindly  and  proper 

remedies  are  applied  and  are  ineffectual,  it  speaks  loudly  and 
broadly  the  high  and  dangerous  distemper  of  sueh  a  body,  as  if 
the  wounds  were  incurable.''  He  proceeds  and  remarks,  that  he 
hopes  better  things  of  them,  and  that  they  will  become  united  and 
thus  encourage  their  friends  and  silenee  their  enemies. 

Early  in  the  summer,  Roger  Williams  reaches  home.  Tie 
accompanies  the  letter  of  Vane  with  one  of  his  own,  frankly  stating 
what  sacrifices  he  had  made  for  Providence,  and  earnestly  desiring 
them  to  come  under  the  patent  government  with  the  other  three 
towns.  Some  of  his  expressions  *  are  given :  "  I  have  spent  almost 
five  years'  time  with  the  State  of  England.  It  hath  been  told  me 
that  I  labored  for  a  licentious  and  contentious  people ;  that  I  have 
foolishly  parted  with  town  and  colony  advantages,  by  which  I 
might  have  preserved  both  town  and  colony  in  as  good  order  as 
any  in  the  country  about  us.  This,  and  ten  times  more,  I  have 
been  censured  for,  and  at  this  present  am  called  a  traitor  by  one 
party,  against  the  State  of  England,  for  not  maintaining  the  charter 
and  the  Colony  ;  and  it  is  said  that  I  am  as  good  as  banished  by 
yourselves,  and  that  both  sides  wished  I  had  never  landed,  that  the 
fire  of  contention  might  have  had  no  stop  in  burning.  Indeed,  the 
words  have  been  so  sharp  between  myself  and  some  lately,  that  at 
last  I  was  forced  to  say,  they  might  well  silence  all  complaints  if  I 
once  began  to  complain,  who  was  unfortunately  fetched  and  drawn 
from  my  employment,  and  sent  so  vast  distance  from  my  family,  to 
do  your  work  of  a  high  and  costly  nature  for  so  many  days  and 
weeks  and  months  together,  and  there  left  to  starve  or  steal,  or  beg 
or  borrow.  But  blessed  be  God,  who  gave  me  favor  to  borrow 
one  while  and  to  work  another,  and  thereby  pay  your  debts  there, 
and  to  come  over  with  your  credit  and  honor,  as  an  agent  from 
you,  who  had,  in  your  name,  grappled  with  the  agents  and  friends 
of  all  your  enemies  round  about  you." 

July  12.  In  a  letter  f  to  John  Winthrop  at  Pequod,  Roger  Wil- 
liams mentions  various  subjects.  He  speaks  of  leading  men  in 
England,  of  Major  General  Harrison  as  "  most  high  flown  for  the 
kingdom  of  the  saints  and  of  the  fifth  monarchy  now  risen,"  and  as 
placed  under  duress  by  order  of  Cromwell.  He  continues  :  "  I 
mourn  that  any  of  our  parts  were  so  madly  injurious  to  trouble 
yours.  I  yet  have  hopes  in  God,  that  we  shall  be  more  loving  and 
peaceable  neighbors.     I  had   word   from  the   Lord  President  to 

*  Staples's  Ann.  of  Prov.  p.  98.  f  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  x.  p.  1-4. 


126  LIBERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE. 

[R.I. 

Portsmouth,  that  the  Council  had  passed  three  letters  as  to  our 
business.  First,  to  encourage  us ;  second,  to  our  neighbour  Colo- 
nies not  to  molest  us ;  third,  in  exposition  of  that  word,  dominion, 
in  the  late  frame  of  the  government  of  England,  viz.,  that  liberty 
of  conscience  should  be  maintained  in  all  American  plantations,  etc. 
Sir,  a  great  man  in  America  told  me,  that  he  thought  New  England 
would  not  bear  it.  I  hope  better,  and  that  not  only  the  necessity, 
but  the  equity,  piety,  and  Christianity  of  that  freedom  will  more 
and  more  shine  forth,  not  to  licentiousness,  (as  all  mercies  are  apt 
to  be  abused,)  but  to  the  beauty  of  Christianity  and  the  lustre  of 
true  faith  in  God  and  love  to  poor  mankind,  etc."  Williams  refers 
to  his '  having  taught  scholars  while  in  London,  which  he  did  as  a 
means  for  his  support.  "  It  pleased  the  Lord  to  call  me  for  some 
time  and  with  some  persons,  to  practice  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin, 
French  and  Dutch.  The  Secretary  of  the  Council,  (Mr.  Milton,) 
for  my  Dutch  I  read  him,  read  me  many  more  languages."  Such 
association  with  the  great  poet,  must  have  been  to  Williams  the 
source  of  no  ordinary  satisfaction. 

August  27.  The  Providence  people  reply  *  to  the  letter  of  Henry 
Yane.  The  communication  savors  of  Koger  Williams's  thoughts 
and  style  as  they  really  were.  Some  passages  of  it  follow :  "  From 
the  first  beginning  of  the  Providence  Colony,  occasioned  by  the 
banishment  of  some  from  Massachusetts,  we  say,  ever  since,  to  this 
day,  we  have  reaped  the  fruits  of  your  constant  loving  kindness  and 
favor  toward  us."  It  rebukes  Coddington  for  obtaining  his  patent 
and  thus  causing  disturbance,  and  also  the  course  of  Dyer.  It  re- 
verts to  the  abuse  which  the  inhabitants  made  of  their  liberties,  as 
a  source  of  trials.  On  this  point  it  observes  :  "  We  have  not  known 
what  an  excise  means ;  we  have  almost  forgotten  what  tythes  are, 
yea,  or  taxes  either  to  Church  or  Commonwealth."  It  thanks  Vane 
for  the  frank  exhibition  of  his  benevolence  to  the  Colony  in  reproof, 
and  hopes  that  it  may  prove  effectual  in  their  greater  harmony  and 
more  regular  deportment. 

3 1 .  The  General  Assembly,  f  composed  of  Commissioners  from 
Providence  and  Warwick,  Portsmouth  and  Newport,  form  a  re- 
union. They  agree,  that,  as  "  there  have  been  differences  and 
obstructions  among "  these  four  towns,  "  arising  by  Mr.  Cod- 
dington's  commission," — "  all  the  transactions  done  by  the  author- 
ity "  of  the  two  Island  corporations  from  the  date  this  document 
went  into  operation,  until  Mr.  Dyer  brought  over  orders  from 
the  Council  of  State  in  1652,  shall  be  valid  for  them — and  "  all 
the  transactions  "  of  the  two  Main  corporations,  for  the  same 
period,  shall  be  of  like  authority  for  them.  They  further  agree, 
that  the  transactions  of  the  two  Island  towns  and  of  part  of  the  two 
Main  towns,  with  them,  since  Mr.  Dyer's  arrival  to  this  day,  and, 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  293-6.     R.  Is.  Col.  Rec.  t  R.  Is.  Col.  Rec. 


days  of   RECREATION.  127 

1654.] 

also,  that  transactions  of  wthfl  rest  of  the  inhabitant!  af  Warwick 
and  Providence,  in  the  said  time,"  shall  remain  on  their  respective 

accounts. 

The  Court  agree  "that  they  arc  willing  to  order  this  Colony  by 
the  authority  of  the  Charter  granted  to  us  by  this  Honored  Parlia- 
ment of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  bearing  date  the  fourteenth 

day  of  March,  1643-1." 

September.  It  is  ordered  *  that  no  Colonist  shall  sell  liquors  to 
any  Indians,  on  penalty  of  £5  for  each  offence;  that  every  Town 
appoint  one  or  two  houses  to  entertain  strangers,  and  that  all  others 
are  forbidden  to  retail  beer,  wine  and  strong  liquors,  on  penalty  of 
the  same  amount. 

"  Whereas  there  have  been  several  complaints  to  this  Assembly 
against  the  incivilities  of  persons,  exercised  upon  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  which  is  offensive  to  divers  among  us  ;  and  whereas  it 
is  judged  that  the  occasion  thereof  ariseth  because  there  is  no  day 
appointed  for  recreation  ;  it  is  therefore  referred  to  the  considera- 
tion and  determination  of  each  Town  to  allow  what  days  they  shall 
agree  upon  for  their  men  servants,  maid  servants  and  children  to 
recreate  themselves,  to  prevent  the  incivilities  which  are  amongst 
us  exercised  on  that  day." 

It  is  ordered  that  all  those  inhabitants,  in  this  Colony,  that  have 
been  received  freemen  to  act  in  any  Town  or  Colony  since  Mr. 
Coddington's  Commission  was  exhibited,  shall  be  owned  freemenf 
of  the  Colony. 

September  13.  At  a  Court  for  election, J  letters  of  thanks  are 
ordered  for  Cromwell,  Henry  Vane,  Mr.  Holland,  and  John  Clark. 
All  legal  processes  are  required  to  be  in  the  name  of  the  Protector. 
As  an  expression  of  gratitude  to  Roger  Williams  and  of  respect  for 
his  public  spirit,  the  electors  choose  him  President  of  the  Colony. 

Soon  after  Williams's  election,  some  one  forwarded  a  paper  §  to 
the  town  of  Providence,  containing  the  position,  "  that  it  was 
blood-guiltiness  and  against  the  rule  of  the  Gospel,  to  execute 
judgment  upon  transgressors  against  the  public  and  private  weal." 
To  this  Williams  replied :  "  That  ever  I  should  speak  or  write  a 
tittle  that  tends  to  such  infinite  liberty  of  conscience  is  a  mistake, 
and  which  I  have  ever  disclaimed  and  abhorred."  He  compares  a 
community  of  different  denominations  to  a  ship's  company.  "  If 
any  of  the  seamen  refuse  to  perform  their  service,  or  passengers  to 
pay  their  freight ;  if  any  refuse  to  help  in  person  or  purse,  towards 

*  R.  Is.  Col.  Rec 

fin  1655,  the  rolls. of  freemen  for  each  town,  are  laid  before  the  General 
Assembly  and  put  on  record.  They  follow.  Providence,  42  ;  Portsmouth,  71  ; 
Newport,  95  ;  Warwick,  38.  Reckoning  these  in  comparison  with  the  popula- 
tion to  be  as  1  to  4,  it  would  give  to  such  places  about  the  number  of  inhab- 
itants, as  follow  :— Providence,  168  ;  Portsmouth,  284  ;  Newport,  380  ;  War- 
wick, 152. 

X  R.  Is.  Col.  Rec.    MS.  Ct.  Rec.     Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  296.        §  Ibid.  p.  297. 


128  ABUSE   OF   LIBERTY. 

[Com. 

the  common  charges  or  defence  ;  if  any  refuse  to  obey  the  common 
laws  and  orders  of  the  ship,  concerning  their  common  peace  and 
preservation ;  if  any  shall  mutiny,  and  arise  up  against  their  com- 
manders and  officers  ;  if  any  should  preach  or  write,  that  there 
ought  to  be  no  commanders  nor  officers,  because  all  are  equal  in 
Christ,  therefore  no  masters  nor  officers,  no  laws  nor  orders,  no 
corrections  nor  punishments ;  I  say,  I  never  denied  but  in  such 
cases,  whatever  is  pretended,  the  commander  or  commanders  may 
judge,  resist,  compel,  and  punish  such  transgressors,  according  to 
their  deserts  and  merits."  However  these  observations  approve 
themselves  to  the  friends  of  law  and  order,  still  others  faulted 
them.  One  who  then  supported  his  course,  but  subsequently, 
being  united  with  the  Quakers,  even  Richard  Scott,  dissented  from 
him,  and  used  the  following  language  :  "  Though  he  (Williams) 
professed  liberty  of  conscience,  and  was  so  zealous  for  it  at  the  first 
coming  home  of  the  charter,  that  nothing  in  government  must  be 
acted  till  that  was  granted,  yet  he  could  be  the  forwardest  in  their 
government  to  prosecute  against  those  that  could  not  join  with  him 
in  it,  as  witness  his  presenting  of  it  to  the  Court  of  Newport. " 
The  charter  or  patent  here  spoken  of  was  the  one  obtained  by 
Williams.  The  passage  quoted  shows  that  while  he  complained  of 
the  Bay  Authorities  for  not  allowing  freedom  of  conscience  to  a 
sufficient  degree,  others  did  the  same  in  reference  to  himself. 

October  5.  Williams  writes  to  the  Governor*  of  Massachusetts  : 
"  At  my  last  departure  for  England,  I  was  importuned  by  ye  Nar- 
raganset  Sachems,  and  especially  by  Nenecunant,  to  present  their 
petition  to  the  high  Sachem  of  England,  that  they  might  not  be 
forced  from  their  religion  ;  and  for  not  clearing  their  religion,  be 
invaded  by  war.  For  they  said  they  were  daily  visited  with  threat- 
enings  by  Indians,  that  came  from  about  Massachusetts,  that  if  they 
would  not  pray,  they  should  be  destroyed  by  war."  Such  fears 
may  have  arisen  in  the  minds  of  the  Narragansets,  or  may  have 
been  suggested  to  them  by  Indians,  who  did  not  know  the  purpose 
of  the  Bay  Authorities,  or  who  were  inclined  to  misrepresent  it,  if 
they  did.  There  is  no  proof  that  such  authorities  ever  intended  to 
force  their  religion  on  any  of  the  natives  at  the  point  of  the 
sword. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1653.  February  23.  The  report  being  spread,  that  a  plot 
existed  between  the  Dutch  and  Indians  to  destroy  the  English,  the 
inhabitants  of  New  Haven  and  Connecticut  are  much  alarmed. 
The  General  Court  of  the  latter  thus  expressf  themselves  :  "  Being 

*  Knowles's  Memoir  of  Williams,  p.  273.    R.  Is.  Col.  Rec.     f  Conn.  Ct.  Rec. 


DISSENT  OP   BRADSTREET.  1  .'!> 

i<  ;:>:*.] 

willing  to  attend  all  the  wayes  of  God's  providence  for  the  preser- 

vatyou  and  safety  of  the  plantation  of  Sebrooke  with  all  other 
within  this  Jurisdictyon,  according  to  the  power  and  means  that  is 
in  their  hands,  doe  order,"  that  additional  preparations  for  defence 
be  made  at  Saybrook. 

April  15.  They  advise  the  inhabitants  of  this  place,  who  dwell 
in  its  outer  parts,  "that  they  would,  till  they  receive  farther  advice, 
speedily  gather  their  familyes  togeather  into  the  towne  as  they 
tender  their  own  safety."  They  require  the  Indians,  within  their 
bounds,  to  deliver  up  their  arms  as  "  an  evident  testimonye  of  their 
fidellity  to  the  English,"  and,  if  they  refuse,  to  be  treated  as 
conspirators. 

September  8.  The  Connecticut  Court  pass  the  subsequent  regu- 
lation. "  Whereas  it  is  observed  that  many  seamen  weigh  anchor 
in  the  harbors  of  several  Plantations  within  these  Liberties  and 
pass  out  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  the  grief  and  offence  of  the  behold- 
ers," such  conduct  is  forbidden,  except  license  be  obtained  from 
the  "  head  officer  "  of  the  Town  next  to  the  harbor  where  any 
vessel  lies,  whose  captain  sails  thence  on  the  Sabbath. 

20.  After  a  long  and  anxious  discussion,*  the  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies  conclude,  with  the  exception  of  Simon 
Bradstreet,  that  they  are  "  called  by  God  to  make  a  present  war 
against  Ninnegret,  the  Niantick  Sachem,  and  such  as  cleaving 
to  him  shall  maintain  his  late  hostile  and  bloody  proceedings." 
They  apportion  the  men  to  be  raised  by  each  Colony.  The  Council 
of  Massachusetts  declare  on  the  24th,  that  they  cannot  carry  this 
order  into  effect,  because  they  see  no  sufficient  reasons.  Immedi- 
ately, the  Commissioners  from  the  other  Colonies  give  their  opinion 
that  Massachusetts  had  not  complied  with  the  articles  of  the  Con- 
federation, and  that  war  with  the  Dutch  was  justifiable.  The  latter 
of  these  positions  was  repeated  in  a  few  days  after.  Bradstreet 
made  an  able  reply  to  his  colleagues. 

On  the  28th,  the  Commissioners  allow  Mr.  Pierson,  of  Branford, 
£12  "  towards  his  charge  and  paines  in  fitting  himselfe  to  teache 
the  Indians." 

October  12.  The  Legislature  of  New  Haven  assemble.f  They 
resolve  "  that  the  Massachusetts  had  broken  their  covenant  with 
them,  in  acting  contrary  to  the  articles  of  Confederation,"  for  not 
consenting  to  a  war  with  the  Dutch.  The  Colony,  so  accused, 
judged  very  differently. 

On  the  21st,  the  Connecticut  Court  £  choose  a  Committee  to 
visit  New  Haven  and  confer  with  a  similar  body  there,  about  their 
perils  and  application  to  England  for  aid  to  carry  on  the  war  with 
the  Dutch. 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  291-3,  303. 

t  N.  Haven  Gen.  Ct.  Bee.  %  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

17 


130  REQUEST   OF  CROMWELL  FOR  FRIGATES. 

[COxXN. 

On  the  29th,  the  Committee  order  that  the  writings,  prepared 
for  this  purpose,  shall  be  forwarded  to  their  friends  in  London. 
Among  these  is  a  relation  *  of  the  circumstances  of  both  Colonies, 
who,  in  their  address  to  Cromwell,  use  the  following  language  : 
"  That  unless  the  Dutch  be  either  removed,  or  so  far,  at  least,  sub- 
jected, that  the  Colonies  may  be  free  from  injurious  affronts,  and 
secured  against  the  dangers  and  mischievous  effects  which  daily- 
grow  upon  them,  by  their  plotting  with  the  Indians,  and  furnishing 
them  with  arms  against  the  English  ;  and  that  the  league  and  con- 
federation between  the  four  united  English  Colonies  be  confirmed 
and  settled,  according  to  the  true  sense,  the  peace  and  comfort  of 
these  smaller  western  Colonies  will  be  much  hazarded,  and  more 
and  more  impaired." 

A  principal  inducement  for  this  step  was  the  great  discontent 
which  many  entertained,  because  immediate  aggressions  were  not 
made  upon  the  Dutch.  Insurrectionary  movements  were  even 
begun  for  such  action,  especially  in  Fairfield  and  Stamford. 

November  3.  Rev.  William  Hooke,  of  New  Haven,  writes  f  to 
Cromwell,  on  the  same  subject.  He  mentions  the  disinclination  of 
Massachusetts  to  unite  with  the  three  other  Colonies  of  the  Union, 
in  a  war  with  the  Dutch.  He  observes  :  "  We  are  like  to  feele 
the  sad  effects  hereof,  for  greate  discontents  are  risen  in  the  mindes 
of  many  in  the  countrey  farr  and  neare,  who  are  willing  to  shake 
off  all  yokes.  A  language  of  mutiny  and  sedition,  and  of  renounc- 
ing the  present  authority,  is  heard  among  us,  whereby  we  are 
endangered  as  well  from  within  as  from  without  ourselves."  He 
proposes  to  the  Protector  the  supplying  of  two  or  three  frigates  to 
clear  the  coast  of  Dutch  vessels  of  war.  He  remarks  that  if  he  and 
the  Parliament  should  require  obedience  here  to  the  Rulers,  and 
the  Bay  to  assist  the  other  members  of  the  Confederation,  in  case 
of  hostilities  with  New  Netherland,  "  it  may  please  the  Lord  to 
heale  our  breaches  and  present  distempers,  and  to  cause  us  to  live 
againe,  wherein  you  shall  do  a  singular  service  to  many  churches 
of  Christ,  and  be  (through  grace)  an  instrument  in  God's  hand, 
of  effecting  greate  things  in  these  four  Colonies,  as  God  hath  used 
you  to  accomplish  greate  matters  in  three  kingdomes."  This  appli- 
cation was  received  favorably. 

23.  The  Legislature  of  Connecticut  allow  that  the  £20,  pre- 
viously granted  for  a  fellowship  at  Harvard  College,  shall  be  paid 
in  the  spring. 

This  year,  Davenport's  "  Messiah  already  come,"  is  published  in 
London. 

11654.  March  1.  John  Haynes,  Governor  J' of  Connecticut, 
departs  from  this  life.    He  emigrated  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  and  Printed  Rec.  f  Thurloe's  State  Papers,  vol.  i. 

p.  364,  5.  %  Farmer's  Gen.  Reg.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  223,  4. 


ALIENATION   OF  TflB  CONFEDERATES.  ISl 

1654.] 

from  Copford  Hall,  in  Kssrx,  with  the  Kev.  Thomas  Hooker, 
1633  ;  was  chosen  Assistant  in  1634,  6,  and  Governor  1635.  Eie 
moved  to  Connecticut  1636,  took  up  his  residence  at  Hartford,  was 
elected  Governor  1639,  and  bo  every  other  year  till  his  death, 
ile  had  two  wives  and  eight  children,  who  were  Robert,  Hezekiah, 
John,  Roger,  Mary,  Joseph,  Ruth,  and  Mabel.  The  Magnalia 
observes  :  "  To  him  is  New  England  many  ways  beholden."  He 
was  an  eminent  exemplification  ot'  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  the 
Gospel,  for  the  free  enjoyment  of  which  he  made  large  sacrifices, 
and  tasked  his  talents  and  attainments. 

6.  Connecticut  rulers  pass*  the  following  :  "  In  respect  of  a  sad 
breach  God  hath  made  amongst  us,  in  regard  of  the  sudden  death 
of  our  late  Governor,  and  the  like  mortality  of  our  neighbors  in 
the  Bay,  and  some  eminent  removals  of  others  ;  spreading  opinions 
in  the  Colonies ;  the  condition  of  our  native  country  ;  the  aliena- 
tions of  the  Colonies  in  regard  of  the  combination  ;  it  is  therefore 
ordered,  that  there  may  be  a  day  of  humiliation  throughout  this 
jurisdiction  on  the  15th  day  of  this  month."  In  view  of  promised 
aid  from  the  Council  of  State  in  London,  for  hostilities  against  the 
Dutch,  they  give  instruction  for  the  seizure  of  the  house,  called 
the  Hope,  with  all  its  appurtenances,  near  Hartford.  Such  property 
was  taken  June  27  of  the  preceding  year,  by  forces  under  John 
Underhill.  Acquainted  with  the  sad  consequences  which  attend 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  by  the  Indians,  they  forbid  any 
person  to  supply  them  with  "  strong  water,  sack,  or  wine,"  on 
penalty  of  40/.  for  the  least  quantity,  and  £5  for  a  pint.  At  their 
session  of  October  3,  they  put  cider,  metheglin,  and  beer,  except 
common  household  beer,  which  is  to  be  given,  under  a  like  ban. 

June  8.  Governor  Eaton,  of  New  Haven,  receives  a  letterf  from 
Cromwell,  stating  that  he  sent  ships  and  supplies  to  reduce  the 
Dutch.  This  communication  is  accompanied  by  another  from 
Robert  Sedgwick  and  John  Leverett,  commissioned  to  command 
in  such  an  enterprise,  in  which  they  desire  that  commissioners  may 
be  appointed  to  consult  with  them  in  Boston. 

On  the  9th,  the  General  Court  take*  measures  accordingly. 
They  vote  the  requisite  men  and  provisions.  They  lay  an  embargo 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  expedition. 

10.  The  Deputy  Governor,  Thomas  Wells,§  of  Connecticut,  an- 
swers a  letter  from  Sedgwick  and  Leverett.  He  states,  that  the 
Colony  will  be  ready  to  co-operate  with  them  against  the  Dutch, 
as  the  Protector  had  required  them.  He  remarks :  "  I  am  glad 
to  heare  of  your  safe  arrivall  after  so  long  and  tedious  a  voyage, 
and  hope  you,  are  preserved  to  be  instruments  for  the  good  of  the 
Church  and  Commonwealth."     On  the  13th,  the  Legislature,  m 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  227. 

X  X.  H.  Ct.  MS.  Rec.         §  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.    Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  252,  3. 


132  THE   SWEDES  AT  DELAWARE. 

[Cotrw. 

conformity  with  his  statement,  choose  and  instruct  two  commis- 
sioners to  contract  with  Cromwell's  agents  for  their  quota  of  soldiers. 
On  the  23d,  tidings  which  were  received  of  peace  between  Eng- 
land and  Holland,  arrested  the  spirited  preparation  for  an  attack  on 
New  Netherland,  and  relieved  the  people  from  the  anxious  suspense 
of  doubtful  issues  and  anticipated  invasion. 

The  New  Haven  Legislature  *  order  provisions  for  an  expedition 
against  the  Dutch. — They,  "  considering  the  great  weight  of  this 
business,  and  that  all  good  success  depends  upon  God's  blessing, 
did  therefore  order,  that  the  4th  day  of  the  next  week  shall  be  set 
apart  by  all  the  Plantations  in  this  Jurisdiction,  to  seek  God  in  an 
extraordinary  way,  in  Fasting  and  Prayer  for  a  blessing  upon  the 
enterprise  abroad,  and  for  the  safety  of  the  Plantations  at  home." 
But  this  intended  expedition  was  relinquished,  and  the  commanders 
for  it  undertook  another  against  the  French  forts  on  St.  John's 
river,  and  reduced  them  to  English  authority. 

July  5.  They  order  a  letter  for  the  "  Swedes  at  Delaware  Bay, 
informing  them  of  the  propriety  which  some  of  this  Colony  have 
to  large  tracts  of  land  on  both  sides  of  Delaware  Bay  and  River, 
and  desiring  a  neighborly  correspondence  with  them  both  in  trad- 
ing and  planting  there  and  an  answer  hereof."  On  the  11th,  the 
non-intercourse  between  the  Dutch  and  "  other  forreigne  nations  is 
repealed  "  by  Connecticut,  and  they  order  letters  for  the  Missionary 
Corporation,  General  Monk  and  Mr.  Hopkins  in  England.  Sep- 
tember 14,  they  adopt  the  subsequent  order :  "  Notwithstanding 
former  provision  made  for  the  conveyance  of  the  knowledge  of  God 
to  the  natives  amongst  us,  little  hath  hitherto  been  attended  through 
want  of  an  able  interpreter,  this  Court  being  earnestly  desirous  to 
promote  and  further  what  lies  in  them  a  work  of  that  nature, 
wherein  the  Glory  of  God  and  the  everlasting  welfare  of  those 
poor,  lost,  naked  sons  of  Adam  is  so  deeply  concerned,  do  order 
that  Thomas  Mynor  of  Pequot  shall  be  written  unto  from  this 
Court  and  desired,  that  he  would  forthwith  send  his  son,  John 
Mynor,  to  Hartford,  where  this  Court  will  provide  for  his  mainte- 
nance and  schooling,  to  the  end  he  may  be  for  the  present  assistant 
to  such  elder,  elders  or  others,  as  this  Court  shall  appoint,  to  inter- 
pret the  things  of  God  to  them,  as  he  shall  be  directed,  and  in  the 
mean  time  fit  himself  to  be  instrumental  that  way  as  God  shall  fit 
and  incline  him  thereunto  for  the  future. "f 

September  23.  The  Commissioners  address  J  the  Swedish  Gov- 
ernor relative  to  the  lands  of  New  Haven  on  both  sides  of  Dela- 
ware Bay  and  River.  They  remark  that  they  hope  "  the  peace 
and  good  accord  in  Europe,  betwixt  England  and  Sweden,  will  have 
a  powerful  influence  on  our  spirits  in  these  parts   of  America." 

*  X.  H.  Ct.  MS.  Rec.  t  Conn.  Ct.  MS.  and  Printed  Rec. 

J  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  320,  2,  6. 


INDIAN   BTUDBNTS  FOR  CAMBRIDGE.  L33 

1654.] 

On  a  proposition  from  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut  for  the 
instruction  of  Indians  in  their  territory,  and  the  employment  of 
John  Mynor  as  an  interpreter  of  Messrs.  Newton,  Stone  and  others, 
when  they  preach  to  them,  and  for  his  being  placed  under  the 
tuition  of  Mr.  Stone,  the  Commissioners  make  provision  accord- 
ingly.*— They  order,  that  Thomas  and  John,  sons  of  Thomas  Stan- 
ton, who  are  skilled  in  the  Indian  tongue,  and  whom  their  father 
is  willing  to  give  up  for  the  missionary  cause, — be  educated  at 
Cambridge,  "to  be  helpful  in  teaching  such  Indian  children  as 
shall  be  taken  into  the  College."  They  desire  Mr.  Rawson  to 
provide  accommodation  for  the  two  Stantons  at  the  College,  or  some 
private  house  till  the  new  building  for  the  Indians  be  ready. — On 
the  25th,  they  allow  Mr.  Pierson  for  "fitting  himself  for  the 
Indian  work,"  £15,  and  New  Haven  Commissioners  £5  "for  such 
Indians  as  desire  to  be  instructed  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ." — 
They  write  William  Steele,  President  of  the  Missionary  Corpora- 
tion, that  Mr.  Pierson  is  composing  a  catechism  for  the  Indians  of 
his  neighborhood,  as  Eliot  had  already  for  those  in  Massachusetts. 

October.  The  Commissioners  having  concluded  to  send  forces 
against  Ninnegret,  whose  hostile  attitude  alarmed  Connecticut  and 
New  Haven,  both  of  these  Colonies  raise  their  proportion  of  sol- 
diers.— On  the  3d,  the  Court  of  the  former  Colony  require  the  5th 
day  of  the  next  week,  to  be  set  apart  for  public  fasting  and  humil- 
iation, "  to  seek  the  presence  and  blessing  of  the  Lord  upon  the 
expedition  to  the  Narragansetts,  wherein  our  future  peace  and 
comforts  are  much  concerned."  The  chief  result  of  this  enterprise 
was  the  surrender  by  Ninnegret  of  the  Pequods  under  his  pro- 
tection. 

November  2.  The  people  of  New  Haven  f  are  informed  by  the 
Chief  Magistrate,  of  the  correspondence  between  the  Swedish  Gov- 
ernor at  Delaware  Bay,  and  others,  and  a  Committee  are  raised  to 
hear  proposals  from  any  of  New  Haven,  who  intend  to  move 
thither  and  occupy  lands  purchased  by  some  of  the  latter  place. — 
On  the  27th,  the  Committee  report,  that  there  is  a  general  desire 
of  the  Church  in  New  Haven  that  the  proposed  emigration  be  car- 
ried on  "  according  to  God  "  and  "  on  foundations  laid  as  here." — 
On  the  11th  of  December,  Mr.  Daniel  Eaton  and  another  agree  to 
lead  this  enterprise,  if  the  Town  of  New  Haven  express  a  corres- 
ponding desire. 

This  year,  Davenport  brings  +  up  the  subject  of  founding  the 
College  at  New  Haven,  previously  proposed.  This  TowTn  grant 
land,  and  Milford  give  £100  for  so  laudable  a  purpose. 

*  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard  Coll.  f  N.  H.  MS.  Rec. 

f  Holmes's  Annals,  vol.  i.  p.  302.     Stiles's  Judges,  p.  40. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Massachusetts.  Church  relation  of  children.  —  Mission.  —  Dunster. —  Call 
to  him  from  Dublin.  —  Norton's  leaving  Ipswich. — Maiden  apology.  —  N. 
Rogers's  death.  —  College.  —  Mission.  —  Baptism.  —  Mayo.  —  Powell.  —  Lev- 
erett.  —  Protector.  —  Mrs.  Mather.  —  Papacy.  — Witchcraft.  — Emigration  to 
Jamaica.  —  Publication.  —  Children  of  the  Church.  —  Quakers.  —  Difficulties. 

—  Plymouth  admonished.  —  Support  of  ministers.  — Examination  of  Quakers. 

—  Mission.  —  Law  against  Quakers Synod  proposed.  —  Death  of  Noyes.  — 

Cromwell.  —  Moral  decline  of  Rhode  Island.  —  Baptists.  —  Gookin.  —  Cob- 
bet.  —  Baptism  of  children.  — Regal  title  for  Cromwell.  —  Families  of  min- 
isters suffer.  —  Mission.  —  Baptists.  —  Publication.  —  Catechism.  —  Result  of 
Council.  —  Excommunication.  —  Endicott's  letter.  —  Quakers.  —  I.  Mather. 

—  Cawdrey.  —  Situation  of  ministers.  —  Quakers.  —  Mission.  —  Parsonage 
house.  —  Support  of  ministers. — Release  of  Pike.  —  T.  Mayhew,  Jr.,  lost. 

—  Lay  preaching.  —  Publication.  —  Inquisition.  Plymouth.  Worship.  — 
Reyner.  —  Winslow.  —  Reasons   of    Bradford.  —  Support   of    the   ministry. 

—  Denial  of  the  Scriptures.  —  Sabbath.  —  Gaming.  —  Prejudice  against  an 
able  ministry.  —  Standish.  —  Quakers.  —  Bradford.  —  Ministers.  —  Arms  at 
meeting  house.  —  Oath.  —  Newman  as  a  missionary.  —  Letter  to  Rhode 
Island.  —  Quakers.  Maine.  French  forts. —  Submission  of  inhabitants. — 
Sabbath  violation.  — Publication  of  marriage.  —  Remonstrance.  —  Treaty.  — 
Lygonia.  —  Religion  to  be  Protestant. — Trouble  at  Wells. — Fletcher. — 
Disaffection.  —  Josselyn.  —  Jordan.  New  Hampshire.  Browne.  —  Maud. — 
Reyner.  —  Dudley.  —  Witchcraft.  —  Wheelwright.  —  Worcester.  —  Quaker 
books.  Rhode  Island.  Enforcement  of  Laws.  —  Cromwell's  letter. — 
Submission.  —  Government     denounced.  —  Offences.  —  Prisons.  —  Stocks. 

—  Dissensions.  —  Williams's  request.  —  Gorton's  Saltmarsh.  —  Vane.  —  The 
Pope.  —  Rescue  of  a  prisoner.  —  Coddington's  engagement.  —  Laws.  — 
Williams.  —  Quakers.  —  Baptists.  —  Moral  decline.  —  Charge  of  treason.  — 
Quakers.    Connecticut.   Emigrants  for  Delaware. —  College  laws —  Pequods. 

—  Mission.  —  Hartford  Church.  —  Cromwell's  proposition.  —  Prudden.  — 
Haynes.  —  Quakers.  —  Catechism.  —  Memorabilia.  —  Synod.  —  Hooke.  — 
Will  of  Hopkins.  —  Answer  of.  N.  Haven.  —  Questions.  —  Synod.  —  Connec- 
ticut proceedings Freemen.  —  Fast.  —  Fen  wick.  —  Winthrop.  —  Blinman. 

—  Divorce.  —  Quakers.  —  Missions.  —  Quaker  books.  — Publication. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

1655.  March  2.  The  Dorchester  Church,*  under  Richard 
Mather,  had  taken  the  relation,  which  they  thought  the  children  of 
their  members  sustained  to  them,  into  consideration,  and  they  voted, 
that  the  children  of  such  members,  as  held  to  their  fathers'  cove- 

*  Dorchester  Ch.  Rec. 


DUN8TBB   lWinu)  TO   IRELAND.  \>'> 

1655.] 

nant,  should  be  baptized.  Ihit  as  some,  whose  parents  had 
belonged  to  the  church,  were  not  fit  to  profess  religion  nor  vote 
on  ecclesiastical  questions,  doubts  arose,  and  letters  were  sent,  for 
advice,  to  Boston,  Etoxbury,  Dedham  and  Braintree  Churches,  to 

be  answered  within  a  month  or  six  weeks.  Replies  are  received 
iVom  them  except  that  of  Braintree.     Boston    Church   desires  the 

Dorchester  Church  to  forbear,  and  declares  two  votes  on  what 
the  latter  had  done.  Dedham  Church  "  sees  not  light  to  go  so  far 
as  we  of  Roxbury,  though  divers  of  them  fear  it  might  make  the 
practice  bring  in  the  corruption  of  Old  England,  which  we  fled 
from,  yet  have  voted  that  they  see  no  cause  to  dissuade  us." 

£1.  Pres.  Steele  of  the  Missionary  Corporation,  addresses*  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Union.  An  extract  follows  :  "  We  perceive, 
that  through  the  blessing  of  Him  who  is  love  itself,  the  Commis- 
sioners did  comfortably  close  as  in  the  affairs  of  the  Corporation,  so 
also  in  the  business  of  the  Confederation,  which  is  no  small  joy  to 
us,  not  only  in  regard  of  the  happiness  which  attends  it,  but  also  in 
respect  of  the  work  wherein  we  labor,  which  otherwise  in  human 
probability  wrould  have  been  wholly  obstructed.  We  together  with 
yourselves  (are)  prostituted  to  all  the  malicious  tongues  and  pens 
that  the  wit  of  man  could  do  or  say  against  us.  We  hope  that  the 
same  spirit  of  love  and  union  so  becoming  the  Gospel  of  peace 
which  we  all  profess,  will  so  strongly  breathe  in  you  and  us,  that 
the  work  of  the  Lord  wherein  we  are  mutually  engaged  might 
prosper  in  our  hands." 

April  4.  Dunster,  in  his  reply  f  to  the  presentment  for  what  he 
said  at  Cambridge  on  the  Sabbath  and  before  the  Congregation 
against  the  ordinance  of  infant  baptism,  then  administered,  makes 
various  comments.  He  denies  having  spoken  anything  in  contempt 
of  God's  Word.  He  allows,  that  as  to  the  manner  of  some  of  his 
remarks,  it  was  unseasonable,  but  as  to  the  matter  of  them,  he 
declares  his  belief  that  it  was  right  in  the  sight  of  God. 

May.  Edward  Roberts  writes*  to  Dunster  from  Dublin  in  Ire- 
land. "  I  am  wholly  a  stranger  to  you,  further  than  as  to  report, 
which  hath  spread  itself  to  the  rejoicing  of  many  that  fear  the 
Lord  ;  and  hearing  that  your  portion  hath  been  to  suffer  in  some 
measure  for  the  cross  of  Christ,  myself  and  some  others,  that  truly 
love  you  on  the  ground  aforesaid,  made  it  our  request  to  the  truly 
virtuous  Lord  Deputy,  to  provide  for  you  in  this  land,  who  readily 
embraced  the  same  and  ordered  fifty  pounds  for  the  bringing 
over  yourself  and  family.  You  need  not  fear  accommodations 
here,  though  I  hope  that  will  not  be  your  chief  motive,  but 
rather  the  honour-  of  the  Lord  and  his  great  name.  You  may, 
through  mercy,  have  free  liberty  of  your  conscience,  and  opportu- 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  327,  8. 

t  Middlesex  Ct.  MS.  Rec.         J  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  218,  9. 


136  PERIL  LEST  NORTON  LEAVE  THE  COUNTRY. 

[Mass. 

nity  of  associating  with  saints  and  free  publishing  the  Gospel  of 
truth,  which  is  greatly  wanted  amongst  us,  there  being  but  few 
able  and  painful  men,  who  make  the  service  of  God  their  work." 
Though  Mr.  Dunster  did  not  comply  with  so  kind  a  communica- 
tion, it  must  have  yielded  him  no  small  consolation  amid  his 
afflictions. 

May  23.  Transactions  *  of  the  General  Court  follow.  A  Com- 
mittee, designated  by  them,  report  on  the  case  between  the  first 
Boston  Church  and  the  Ipswich  Church.  They  state,  that  great 
and  increasing  discord  prevailed  in  the  latter,  relative  to  Mr. 
Norton's  having  left  them  to  preach  for  the  former.  It  is  related, 
that  on  the  request  of  the  Boston  Church  for  that  of  Ipswich  to 
give  him  up,  the  matter  was  submitted,  February,  1653,  to  a 
Council.  The  Boston  applicants  understood  from  a  vote  of  the 
Ipswich  people,  that  these  consented  to  part  with  their  teacher, 
though  the  latter  afterwards  said  it  was  not  so.  The  want  of 
agreement  between  the  parties  caused  another  Council  the  next 
November,  who  advised  that  Mr.  Norton  continue  in  Boston. 
Ipswich  demurred  at  the  result.  Hence  difficulties  arose,  "  which 
threaten  the  dissolution  of  Ipswich  Church,"  while  the  Boston 
Church  are  disappointed  and  the  country  in  danger  of  losing  Mr. 
Norton,  because  of  the  contention.  Therefore  the  Court  propose 
that  a  Council  of  twelve  churches  sit  at  Ipswich  the  second  Tuesday 
of  June,  and  appoint  a  committee  to  attend  for  expressing  their 
wish,  that  Mr.  Norton  remain  in  Boston. 

On  the  petition  of  Edward  Saunders,  that  his  "  sentenced 
halter  "  might  be  left  off  from  his  neck,  it  is  allowed,  because  he 
had  shown  evidence  of  reformation.  Individuals  of  Maiden 
"acknowledge  the  offence  they  gave  to  the  Court  and  several 
churches  about  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Matthews,"  and  desire  to  be 
freed  from  the  rest  of  their  fine.  Chauncey  is  granted  500  acres 
of  land,  if  he  continue  three  years  as  President  of  the  College. 

July  3.  Nathaniel  Rogers  of  Ipswich,  aged  57,  diesf  of  what 
appears  to  have  been  the  influenza,  which  prevailed  throughout 
New  England.  He  was  long  subject  to  a  depression  of  spirits  and 
of  spitting  blood,  as  trials  of  his  faith.  He  kept  a  diaiy,  which 
probably  contained  many  historical  memoranda  of  value  and 
interest.  But,  at  his  express  solicitation,  two  of  his  friends  com- 
mitted it  to  the  flames.  The  Magnalia  says  that,  while  at  Ipswich, 
"  he  went  over  the  five  last  chapters  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
in  his  ministry  ;  the  twelfth  chapter  to  the  Hebrews  ;  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  Hosea  ;  the  doctrine  of  self-denial  and  walking  with 
God ;  and  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  to  the  great  satisfaction 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Papers  and  Rec. 

f  History  of  Ipswich,  p.  219-21.  Hubbard's  N.  E.  p.  54.  Magnalia,  Book 
iii.  chap.  14. 


PATRIARCHAL   BLESSING    iMiT.viT.n.  L37 

L655.] 

of  all  bis  hearers,  irith  many  other  subjects  more  occasionally 
handled.  It  was  counted  pity  that  the  public  should  nol  enjoy 
.some  o(  his  discourses.  But  his  physician  told  him,  that  if  he 
went  upon  transcribing  any  of  his  composures,  his  disposition  to 
accuracy  would  bo  deeply  engage  him  in  it,  as  to  endanger  his 
life.'  Wherefore,  he  left  but  tow  monuments  of  his  ministry,  but 
in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  which  were  many."  He  left  a  manu- 
script in  Latin,  of  which  he  was  complete  master.  It  was  a  plea 
in  favor  of  Congregationalism, — a  subject  which  commanded  some 
of  the  ablest  pens  in  Old  and  New  England.  Perceiving  that  the 
use  of  tobacco  made  him  its  slave,  he  resolutely  and  entirely  broke 
from  its  thraldom.  In  the  last  years  of  his  lite,  the  circumstances 
connected  with  the  invitation  of  his  colleague,  Norton,  to  succeed 
Cotton  in  Boston,  were  the  occasion  of  much  uneasiness  to  him. 
One  of  his  last  acts,  in  imitation  of  patriarchal  example,  was  to 
bless  the  three  children  of  his  daughter,  Hubbard,  who  was 
remarkably  faithful  in  all  her  duties  to  him,  as  a  parent.  As  his 
spirit  was  about  to  forsake  its  clayey  tenement,  he  was  heard  to 
express  words  of  communion  with  his  covenant  God,  "  My  times 
are  in  thy  hands."  Besides  the  worthy  child,  Margaret,  already 
mentioned,  he  had  sons,  John,  Nathaniel,  Samuel,  Timothy  and 
Ezekiel.  His  afflicted  helpmeet,  Margaret,  mourned  his  departure 
but  for  a  short  period.  Her  mortal  put  on  immortality,  the  23d  of 
next  January.  He  is  thus  described  by  the  son-in-law,  before 
named  :  "  He  had  eminent  learning,  singular  piety  and  holy  zeal. 
His  auditory  were  his  Epistle,  seen  and  read  of  all  that  knew 
them." 

Among  events,  unfavorable  to  the  religious  influence  of  the 
College  on  the  country,  was  the  trouble  it  experienced  in  requiring 
the  students  to  study  there  four  instead  of  three  years.  Seventeen 
of  the  scholars  left  on  this  account.  Cotton  Mather  remarked  of 
the  seceders  :  "  This  dis'aster  hindered  not  their  future  service- 
ableness  in  the  churches  of  the  faithful,  and  some  of  them  indeed 
proved  extraordinary  serviceable." 

September  15.  The  Missionary  Corporation  writef  to  our  Com- 
missioners :  "  We  are  ordered  by  the  Council  at  Whitehall  to  give 
an  account  of  receipts  and  disbursements,"  and  therefore  desire  the 
same  from  the  Overseers  of  the  Mission  in  New  England.  They 
relate,  that  complaints  are  made,  that  the  ministers  and  school- 
masters, employed  to  instruct  the  Indians,  are  scantily  paid  for 
their  labors,  and  that  this  tends  to  injure  the  cause  at  home.  They 
desire  that,  if  the  report  be  true,  it  may  be  rectified. 

*  Hubbard's  N.  E.  p.  554.  "In  1655  was  another  general  faint  cough  that 
passed  through  the  whole  country  of  New  England.  It  was  so  epidemical, 
that  few  persons  escaped  a  touch  thereof ;  few  were  able  to  visit  their  friends, 
or  perform  the  least  testimony  of  respect  to  any  of  their  relations  at  a  distance." 

t  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  330-3. 
18 


138  BAPTISM    OF  A   CHILD    OMITTED. 

[Mass. 

They  order  a  coat  of  coarse  cloth  for  the  Sagamore  of  Agawam, 
for  encouraging  him  "to  learn  to  know  God  and  excite  other 
Indians  to  do  the  like ;  the  schoolmasters  and  interpreters  are  to 
be  allowed  their  yearly  pensions  as  formerly."  They  assign  pay  to 
Mr.  Leveridge  for  previous  service. 

This  year,  Thomas  Gould  *  of  Charlestown,  has  a  child  born. 
He  has  a  meeting  of  many  friends  at  his  house  to  thank  God  for 
mercy  to  his  wife.  He  soon  receives  notice  to  call  on  the  Elder 
and  give  a  reason  for  withholding  the  child  from  baptism.  In  the 
course  of  some  days,  he  appears  before  the  church,  and  when  asked 
the  cause  of  such  omission,  he  replies,  that  he  did  not  see  his  way 
clear.  This  disagreement  continued  to  increase.  In  its  progress 
for  about  two  years,  as  Gould  related,  "  The  Deputy  Governor, 
meeting  me  in  Boston,  called  me  to  him  and  said  unto  me,  Good- 
man Gold,  I  desire  you,  that  you  would  let  the  Church  baptize 
your  child.  I  told  him  that  if  the  Church  would  do  it  on  their 
own  account,  they  should  do  it,  but  I  durst  not  bring  my  child. 
So  he  did  call  at  Mistress  Nortowen  of  Charlestown,  and  prayed 
her  to  fetch  Goodman  Gold's  child."  But  this  part  of  the  agree- 
ment was  not  fulfilled.  Many  of  the  brethren  then  said,  "  If  I 
would  not  let  my  child  partake  one  ordinance,  it  was  meet  I  should 
not  partake  of  the  other."  Then  Elder  Green  remarked,  "  Brother 
Gold,  you  are  to  take  notice,  that  you  are  admonished  of  three 
things,"  withholding  the  child  from  baptism  ;  "  irreverent  carriage 
in  time  of  administration  of  a  baptism  ;  "  and  not  complying  with 
your  word.  "  Therefore  you  are  not  to  commune  with  us  till  you 
give  us  satisfaction." 

November  9.  John  Mayo,  who  had  preached  at  Eastham,  is 
ordained  f  over  the  new  Church  in  Boston.  Powell,  whom  they 
had  earnestly  wished  to  assume  such  an  office  among  them,  but  not 
allowed  by  the  General  Court,  because  they  thought  his  qualifica- 
tions of  education  insufficient,  becomes  their  Ruling  Elder. 

Peter  Bulkly,  in  a  communication  to  the  Legislature,  mentions  £ 
servants  and  children  of  some  families,  who  are  disobedient  and  go 
abroad  "  in  the  nights,  and  run  into  other  sinful  miscarriages,  not 
to  be  suffered  under  a  Christian  Government."  He  desires  that 
every  Magistrate  may  have  power  to  correct  such  offenders,  by 
fining  the  older  of  them  and  having  the  younger  whipped.  He 
remarks,  "  It  is  time  to  begin  with  more  severity  than  hath  been, 
unless  we  will  see  a  confusion  and  ruin  coming  upon  all." 

23.  The  Commission  §  for  Leverett  to  London  is  dated.  Among 
his  instructions  is,  that  he  would  desire  Cromwell  not  to  act  on  any 
complaints  against  Massachusetts  until  they  were  made  acquainted 

*  "SYillard's  Answer  to  Russell,  p.  13,  4.  Gould's  Relation.  Backus,  vol.  i. 
p.  357-66.  f  Robbins's  Second  Ch...  Boston,  page  9. 

J  Mass.  MS.  Papers.  §  Hutchinson's  Coil.  p.  271-0. 


DECEASE  OF  K.  MATHER'S   w  in.  L39 

with  them  and  had  opportunity  to  answer.  The  (  kmrt  recommend 
him  to  Edward  Hopkins  for  assistance  in  his  agency.  They  thank 
the  latter  for  his  co-operation  with  Winslow,  deceased,  and  observe 

that  their  prayer   has   been  tor  a  reward  to  him  and  "many  others, 

whom   the  Lord  hath  Btirred  up  to  wish  well  to  his  exiled   ones    in 

these  parts." — In  their  address  to  the4  Protector  they  remark  :   "  We 

desired  Capt  Leverett  to  give  your  Highness  a  true  account 

of  all  our  actings,  not  doubting  but  the  clearing  of  our  innocency 
will  be  most  acceptable  to  your  Highness,  being  confident  no  im- 
pression to  the  contrary  will  be  received,  before  we  have  had  the 
opportunity  to  vindicate  the  same  from  any  aspersions  that  may 
occasionally  be  cast  upon  us." 

This  year,  Catharine,*  the  wife  of  Itichard  Mather,  dies.  She 
was  daughter  to  Edmund  lioult  of  Bury,  in  Lancashire,  "a  godly 
and  prudent  maid,"  and  was  married  to  Mr.  Mather,  September  29, 
16:24,  over  ten  years  before  the  requisitions  of  conformity  drove 
him  and  his  family  to  New  England.  She  had  four  sons,  prior  to 
such  emigration,  and  two  afterwards.  The  life  of  her  husband, 
gives  her  the  subsequent  character :  "  That  which  of  outward 
afflictions  did  most  aggrieve  him  was  the  death  of  his  dear  wife, 
who  had  been  for  so  many  years  the  greatest  outward  comfort  and 
blessing  M'hich  he  did  enjoy ;  which  affliction  was  the  more  grievous 
in  that  she,  being  a  woman  of  singular  prudence  for  the  manage- 
ment of  affairs,  had  taken  off  from  her  husband  all  secular  cares, 
so  that  he  wholly  devoted  himself  to  his  study  and  to  sacred  em- 
ployments." What  was  a  fuller  indication  of  her  correct  acquaint- 
ance with  heavenly  wisdom,  was  her  private  conversation  with  her 
youngest  son,  Increase.  She  told  him,  at  times,  when  a  child, 
there  were  two  things,  which  she  mostly  desired  for  him,  "  Grace 
to  fear  and  love  God,  and  learning,  that  might  accomplish  him  to 
do  service  for  God."  Child,  she  said  to  him,  "  if  God  make  thee 
a  good  Christian  and  a  good  scholar,  thou  hast  all,  that  even  thy 
mother  asked  for  thee."  Her  frequent  maxim  to  him  was,  "  Seest 
thou  a  man  diligent  in  business,  he  shall  stand  before  kings  ;  he 
shall  not  stand  before  mean  men."  On  her  death-bed,  when  he 
was  fifteen  years  old,  she  exhorted  him  to  become  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel,  and  set  before  him  the  scriptural  encouragement,  "  They 
that  be  wise  shall  shine  #s  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and 
they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever." 
How  exceedingly  different  from,  and  how  vastly  superior  is  this, 
to  the  vain  ambition  of  most  parents,  who  urge  their  children  for- 
ward in  the  way  of  earthly  promotion,  which  excludes  Gospel 
piety,  as  unfit  to  be  its  fairest  grace  and  its  noblest  object !  Though 
through  her  exemplary  life,  Mrs.  Mather  had  fears  of  death,  yet 

*  Life  of  Richard  Mather,  p.  25.  Memoirs  of  Remarkables  of  Increase  Ma- 
ther, p.  3,  4. 


140  PAPACY  —  WITCHCRAFT. 

[Mass. 

when  its  hand  was  upon  her,  she  was  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in 
the  power  of  his  might.  She  calmly  looked  at  the  darkness  of  the 
grave  and  the  realities  of  eternity  ;  she  departed  in  the  brightness 
of  unclouded  hope,  saying,  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  hath  pre- 
pared for  them  that  love  him." 

On  occasion*  of  further  cause  for  fear  lest  the  interests  of  Papacy 
be  subserved  among  the  natives  and  another  powerful  resistance  be 
set  up  among  them  to  the  spread  of  the  Reformation  in  the  country, 
our  fathers  are  called  to  notice  that,  this  year,  a  large  number  of 
the  Onondagoes  visit  Quebec ;  solicit  and  obtain  missionaries  from 
the  French,  who  proselyte  several  of  their  chiefs. 

1656.  April  13.  The  Missionary  Corporation  address  f  the 
Commissioners.  They  mention,  that  over  £1,259  in  stock,  now 
here  and  in  the  hands  of  the  overseers,  "  will  answer  the  charge  of 
carrying  on  the  work  this  year."  They  desire,  that  as  Eliot  and 
Mayhew  are  the  principal  laborers  among  the  Indians,  the  Com- 
missioners would  propound  it  to  "  the  Churches  and  University, 
that  some  other  persons,  whose  hearts  the  Lord  shall  draw  out, 
might  receive  such  encouragement,  as  might  best  conduce  to  the 
attainment  of  the  ends,"  for  which  the  society  was  constituted. 

May  14.  The  General  Court  assemble.  Some  of  their  proceed- 
ings follow.  The  Indian  town  at  Patucket,  bordering  on  Chelms- 
ford, by  a  petition  of  Eliot,  who  preached  to  the  natives  there, 
is  allowed  enlargement.  The  extension  is  to  embrace  Sagamore 
John's  planting-ground. 

Mrs.  Anne  Hibbins  {  is  condemned  for  witchcraft,  and  ordered 
to  be  executed,  June  19,  immediately  after  the  Lecture  at  Boston. 
Having  considered  a  communication  from  Cromwell  to  them,  and 
his  instructions  to  Daniel  Gookin  for  encouraging  emigrants  to 
Jamaica,  the  Court  vote  a  reply  to  him,  expressive  of  their  grati- 
tude for  his  favor. 

Fast  is  appointed!  on  June  11,  for  abounding  errors,  "  especially 
those  of  the  Ranters  or  Quakers,  ||  that  the  Protector  may  be  pre- 
served from  the  machinations  of  evil-minded  persons,  that  the 
Lord's  presence  and  blessing  may  be  on  the  naval  and  land  forces 
of  our  native  country,  at  home  and  abroad,  that  He  would  go  out 
with  the  Protestant  armies  against  Antichrist  and  his  adherents, 

*  Univ.  Hist.  vol.  xxxix.  p.  457,  8.     Charlevoix  Nouv.  Prance  i.  320. 

f  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  352,  3. 

X  She  was  executed,  though  contrary  to  the  exertions  of  such  men  as  John 
Norton.     Hutchinson,  vol.  i.  p.  173,  3d  ed.  §  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

||  Roger  Williams,  in  his  dispute  with  some  of  this  denomination,  says  that 
they  were  called  Quakers  by  "  Gervace  Bennet,  a  Justice  of  Derby,  and  others, 
1650,  from  that  strange  and  uncouth  possessing  of  their  bodyes  with  quaking 
and  shaking  of  their  bodyes  even  in  publick  assemblyes,  which  extraordinary 
motions  I  judged  to  come  upon  them,  not  from  the  Holy  Spirit  and  Power  of 
God,  but  from  the  spirit  and  power  of  Satan."  But  Fox  says,  it  was  because 
11  we  bid  him  (the  Justice)  and  his  company  tremble  at  the  word  of  God." 


FASHIONS  —  CHILDREN   OP  THE  CHURCH.  Ill 

1666.] 

grant  peace  and  unity  among  the  Churches,  thai  the  ordinances  of 
Christ  may  become  more  effectual  to  all,  especially  to  children  and 
servants." 

This  year,  a  hook,  treating  of  duties   from  children  to  parents, 

and  parents  to  children,  by  Thomas  Cobbet,  is  printed  in  London. 
Not  very  friendly  to  new  modes,  which  the  young  imitated  more 
than  lie  thought  for  their  benefit,  he  catechises  them  in  plain  stylo. 
M  How  tender  were  your  parents  of  their  dealings  with  men,  to 
discharge  a  good  conscience  therein  ;  of  their  very  outward  garb, 
what  they  wore,  and  of  what  fashion  ;  but  you,  their  children, 
regard  not  what  you  do,  nor  how  you  deal  with  others,  nor  what 
von  wear,  nor  of  what  fashion,  so  the  newest.  Did  ever  your  good 
father  or  grandfather  wear  such  ruffianly  hair  upon  their  heads  ? 
or  did  your  godly  parents  frisk  from  one  new-fangled  fashion  to 
another,  as  you  do  I  " 

The  subsequent  regulations  *  are  adopted  by  the  Ipswich  Church. 
1.  "  We  look  at  children  of  members  in  full  communion,  which 
were  about  fourteen  years  old  when  their  father  and  mother  joined 
the  Church,  or  have  been  born  since,  to  be  members  in  and  with 
their  parents.  2.  We  look  at  such  children  as  under  the  care  and 
watch  of  our  Church,  and  as  they  grow  up  to  be  about  fourteen 
years  old,  to  be  liable  to  our  Church  censures,  in  case  of  offence 
and  scandal.  3.  We  look  at  it  as  the  duty  of  the  Elders  and 
brethren  to  endeavour  in  their  respective  places  to  instruct  them, 
and  to  call  upon  them  to  know  the  Lord,  and  to  carry  it  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  the  Gospel.  4.  We  look  upon  it  as  the  Elders' 
duty  to  call  upon  such  children,  being  adults,  and  are  of  under- 
standing, and  not  scandalous,  to  take  the  covenant  solemnly  before 
our  Assembly.  5.  We  judge  that  the  children  of  such  adult  per- 
sons, that  are  of  understanding,  and  not  scandalous,  and  shall  take 
the  Covenant,  shall  be  baptized.  6.  That  notwithstanding  the 
baptizing  the  children  of  such,  yet  we  judge  that  these  adult  per- 
sons are  not  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  nor  to  act  in  Church 
votes,  unless  they  satisfy  the  reasonable  charity  of  the  Elders  or 
Church,  that  they  have  a  work  of  faith  and  repentance  in  them." 

Hubbard  f  relates  :  "  Baptism  unto  this  time  had  been  admin- 
istered unto  those  children  only,  whose  immediate  parents  were 
admitted  into  full  communion  in  the  churches  where  they  lived. 
But  now  the  country  came  to  be  increased,  and  sundry  families 
were  found,  that  had  many  children  born  in  them,  whose  immedi- 
ate parents  had.  never  attempted  to  join  to  any  of  the  churches,  to 
which  they  belonged,  and  yet  were  very  much  unsatisfied,  that  they 
could  not  obtain  baptism  for  their  children  ;  the  cause  occasioned 
many  debates  between  the  ministers  of  the  country.  Many  of  their 
people  were  scrupulous  about  any  innovation." 

*  Ipswich  Church  Records.  f  History  of  New  England,  p.  562. 


1-A2  QUAKERS  FROM  BARBADOES. 

[Mass. 

July  11.  The  Council  pass  the  following:*  "  Whereas,  there 
are  several  laws,  long  since  made  and  published  in  this  jurisdiction, 
bearing  testimony  against  heretical  and  erroneous  persons,"  yet 
Simon  Kempthorne,  of  Charlestown,  master  of  the  ship  Swallow, 
of  Boston,  hath  brought  two  women  from  the  Island  of  Barbadoes, 
Mary  Fisher, f  and  the  wife  of  one  Austin,  who,  on  examination, 
are  not  only  transgressors  of  former  laws,  "  but  hold  many  very 
dangerous,  heretical,  and  blasphemous  opinions ;  "  and  they  have 
confessed,  that  they  came  hither  expressly  to  propagate  the  said 
errors  and  heresies,  bringing  "  with  them,  and  spreading  here 
sundry  books,  wherein  are  contained  many  most  corrupt,  pernicious, 
heretical,  and  blasphemous  doctrines,  contrary  to  the  truth  of  the 
Gospel  professed  amongst  us."  The  Council,  therefore,  regarding 
the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  truth  enjoyed  and  professed  in 
this  country  among  the  Churches  of  Christ,  order  such  books  J  to 
be  searched  for,  collected,  and  burnt  by  the  common  executioner, 
and  the  said  Mary  and  Anne  to  be  kept  close  prisoners,  and  none 
to  communicate  with  them  without  leave  from  authorities,  "  to 
prevent  the  spreading  of  their  corrupt  opinions,"  until  put  on 
board  of  some  vessel,  and  sent  out  of  the  Colony  ;  and  the  said 
captain  to  transport,  or  cause  them  to  be  transported  directly  to 
Barbadoes,  whence  they  came,  at  his  own  charge,  for  which  he  is 
required  to  give  bond  for  £100  sterling,  and,  if  refusing,  to  be  im- 
prisoned until  he  complies. 

Hull,  in  Ins  diary,  speaks  of  these  persons  as  follows  :  "  This 
summer,  two  women,  called  Quakers,  came  from  the  Barbadoes  to 
oppose  the  ministry,  and  also  to  breed  in  the  people  contempt  of 
Magistracy,  but  were  cut  short  of  their  intents,  being  kept  in 
prison  until  opportunity  was  of  sending  them  whence  they  came, 
which  was  done.  They  were  persons  uncivil  in  behaviour,  shew- 
ing no  respect  to  any,  ready  to  censure  and  condemn  all ;  them- 
selves would  be  thought  the  only  knowing  persons,  and  their 
spirit  infallible,  carrying  a  semblance  of  humility,  but  exceeding 
proud." 

Nicholas  Upshall,  an  aged  member  of  the  first  church  in  Bos- 
ton, became  much  interested  in  Fisher  and  Austin.  He  sup- 
plied them  with  provisions,  and  zealously  embraced  their  principles. 
After  being  confined  about  five  weeks,  the  two  females  were  sent 
back  to  Barbadoes. 

28.  Boston  pass  the  following  order  :  §  "If  any  young  persons 

*  Mass.  MS.  Papers.     Bishop's  X.  E.  Judged,  p.  2-12,  22,  3. 

f  Bishop  relates,  that  she  went  to  Adrianople  for  delivering  a  message  to  the 
Grand  Vizier  ;  and  that,  being  near  his  camp,  she  desired  a  man  to  inform  him, 
that  an  English  woman  had  something  to  declare  from  the  Great  God  to  the 
great  Turk.  She  was  allowed  an  introduction  to  him.  He  heard  her  exhort- 
ation with  great  civility,  and  offered  to  have  her  guarded  safely  to  Constanti- 
nople, which  she  declined. 

1  Mass.  MS.  Papers.  §  Drake's  Boston. 


NEGLECT;  01  CLERICAL  BUPPOBT.         1  !■» 

it  ;;>»;.] 

or  others  be  found  without  either  meeting-house,  idling  or  playing 
(.luring  the  time  of  publick  exercise  on  the  Lord's  day,  the  Con- 
stable shall  bring  them  before  the  Magistral  ." 

August  7.    M    e  Quakers  arrive  at  Boston,  in  the  Speedwell  of 
Ion,  commanded  by  Robert  Locke.     Their  names  are  William 
Brend,  Thomas  Thurston,  Christopher  Holder,  John   Copeland, 
Richard  Smith,    Mary  Prince,  Dorothy  Waugh,  Sarah  Gibl 
and  Mary  Witherhead.     They  are  apprehended  and  imprisoned. 

Smith  was  of  Long  Island.  He  attended  public  worship,  and 
after  the  minister  was  done,  publicly  requested  that,  as  the  Gov- 
ernor desired  him  to  converse  with  some  of  the  ministers,  so  that 
they  might  convince  him  of  his  error,  if  such  were  present,  they 
would  accordingly  address  him.  When  told  that  the  proposed 
interview  was  intended  to  be  private,  he  wanted  it  otherwise.  After 
three  weeks'  detention,  he  was  sent  home  by  water. 

Persons  of  such  a  denomination  *  were  very  active  in  the  mother 
country.  Some  of  them  sent  letters  to  Cromwell,  denouncing 
judgments,  unless  he  pulled  down  the  remains  of  Anti-Christ, 
i.  e.,  Church  ministers  and  their  maintenance. 

1-L  The  Assistants,  having  written  f  to  the  Churches  of  Haver- 
hill and  Salisbury  to  settle  differences  between  them,  but  without 
the  desired  effect,  appoint  a  Council  of  two  messengers  from  the 
Churches  of  Boston,  Cambridge  and  Ipswich,  to  assemble  the 
°,7th,  at  the  two  first  towns,  and  give  their  advice.  Questions  are 
drawn  up  for  the  General  Court,  relative  to  a  case  of  defamation 
between  a  member  of  the  Haverhill  Church  and  another  of  Rowley 
Church.  On  September  5,  as  the  Assistants  had  recently  desired 
the  Sudbury  Church  to  compose  their  troubles,  but  they  had  not, 
they  appoint  other  Churches  to  meet  in  Council,  by  their  messen- 
gers, October  7,  for  such  a  purpose. 

September  2.  The  Magistrates  prepare  a  communication^:  for  the 
Commissioners.  They  refer  to  the  covenant  of  the  L'nited  Colo- 
nies not  only  "  to  strengthen  the  hearts  and  hands  of  each  other  in 
the  propagating  and  maintaining  of  Religion  in  its  purity,  but  also 
to  be  assisting  to  each  other  where  any  deficiency  in  such  respects 
may  appear.  In  the  right  improvement  of  such  means  and  ordi- 
nances as  the  Lord  hath  appointed  all  his  to  use  and  improve  for 
the  edification  of  the  body,  whereof  Christ  is  the  Head  till  his 
second  coming,  having  heard  sometime  since,  that  our  Neighbours, 
Colony  of  Plymouth,  our  beloved  brethren,  in  a  great  part,  seem 
to  be  wanting '  to  themselves  in  a  due  acknowledgment  of,  and 
encouragement  to  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  so  as  many  pious 
ministers  have  (how  justly  we  know  not)  deserted  their  stations, 
callings  and  relations.     Our  desire  is  that  some  such  course  might 

*  Xeal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  abridgment,  vol.  ii.  p.  21-5. 

t  Mass.  MS.  Papers.         $  Com'fs.  MS.  Bee.     Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  283-6. 


U4  .  PARISH   OBLIGATIONS. 

[Mass. 

be  taken  as  that  a  pious  orthodox  ministry  may  be  re-stated 
amongst  them,  that  so  the  flood  of  error  and  principles  of  anarchy 
which  will  not  long  be  kept  out  where  Satan  and  his  instruments 
are  so  prevalent  as  to  prevail  to  the  crying  down  of  ministry  and 
ministers,  may  be  prevented."  They  pass  to  a  subject  of  recent 
occurrence.  "  There  have  arrived  among  us  several  persons  pro- 
fessing themselves  Quakers,  fit  instruments  to  propagate  the  king- 
dom of  Satan.  For  the  securing  of  ourselves  and  neighbors  from 
such  pests,  we  have  imprisoned  them  till  they  be  dispatched  away 
to  the  place  whence  they  came ;  one  of  whom,  Richard  Smith,  we 
have  let  out  of  prison  to  return  to  his  family  at  Southampton, 
whence  we  hope  and  doubt  not  our  neighbors  of  Connecticut  will 
be  careful  so  to  order  it  as  he  may  not  do  the  least  prejudice,  and 
that  some  general  rules  may  be  also  commended  to  each  General 
Court  to  prevent  the  coining  in  amongst  us  from  foreign  places 
such  notorious  hereticks  as  Quakers,  Ranters,"  etc. 

4.  The  Commissioners,  having  considered  these  suggestions, 
remark  :  "  We  cannot  but  acknowledge  the  godly  care  and  zeal  of 
the  gentlemen  of  Massachusetts  to  uphold  and  maintain  those  pro- 
fessed ends  of  coming  into  these  parts  and  of  the  combination  of 
the  United  Colonies,  which,  if  not  attended  in  the  particulars  afore- 
said, will  be  rendered  wholly  frustrate,  the  profession  miserably 
scandalized,  ourselves  become  a  reproach  in  the  eyes  of  those,  that 
cannot  without  admiration,  behold  our  sudden  defection  from  our 
first  principles.  We  cannot  therefore  but  with  all  earnestness 
commend  it  to  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  the  several  Jurisdictions, 
to  take  effectual  care  and  make  answerable  provision,  that  Religion 
and  the  ordinances  of  Christ  professed,  may  be  upheld  and  main- 
tained, which  cannot  be  but  by  a  due  encouragement  of  an  able 
and  orthodox  ministry,  and  a  discountenancing  of  that  which  is 
heterodox,  and  an  effectual  course  to  keep  out  heretics,  the  great 
engine  of  Satan  in  these  times  to  overthrow  the  truth."  Among 
their  remarks  on  the  particular  reasons  for  clerical  encouragement 
and  support,  they  observe,  that  a  minister  sustains  a  relation  "  to 
the  whole  Society,  whether  in  church  order  or  not,"  and  that  they 
are  bound  to  pay  him  the  salary  contracted  for,  though  some  of 
them  may  refuse ;  and  that  they  should  have  power  to  compel  such 
delinquents  to  pay  their  proportions.  They  recommend  to  the 
Legislatures  of  their  respective  jurisdictions  to  pass  such  orders  as 
may  secure  these  ends.  In  connection  with  this  subject,  they 
observe  :  "If  any  Society  or  Township  shall  be  wanting  either  out 
of  neglect  or  opinion  to  procure  and  maintain  an  orthodox  ministry 
according  to  the  Gospel,  we  conceive  by  the  rules  of  Scripture  and 
practice  of  not  only  Christian  governments  but  even  of  Heathen, 
who  not  only  held  their  Sacra  in  veneration,  but  took  care  of  those 
that  had  the  keeping  of  them  and  the  charge  of  making  known 
their  mysteries, — the  several  General  Courts  stand  charged  with 


EXAMINATION   OF  QUAKKR8.  1  Ml 

1656.] 

the  care,  that  the  people  professing  Christianity  own  and  live 
according  to  the  rules  and  ordinances  of  their  profession,  and  that 
the  dispensers  thereof  be  encouraged." 

pt  8.  An  examination*  of  the  persona  who  landed  at  Boston 
from  the  vessel  of  Capt  Locke,  takes  place  before  the  Assistants. 

1  (J.  "  \Yhethcr\ou  own  not  yourselves  to  be  such  as  are  called 
by  y€  name  of  Quakers  I 

Arts.    Wee  are  all  so  called.      Wee  are  all  of  one  minde. 

\l  (^.  Whether  you  brought  not  over  hither  severall  bookes 
wherein  are  contained  the  severall  opinions  of  yl  sect  or  people  ( 

Ans.  Mary  Prince  and  another,  yea,  those  y*  were  taken  from  vs. 

o  ty.   Wherefore  came  you  into  these  parts  ? 

Ans.  By  all, — to  doe  ye  will  of  God,  whateuer  he  should  make 
known  to  be  his  will. 

4  Q.  How  doe  you  make  it  appear  y*  God  called  you  hither  ? 

Ans.  Dr.  Waugh, — he  that  beleives  hath  ye  wittness  in  him- 
self. Brend, — by  the  power  of  ye  Spirit  of  ye  Lord.  It  was  a 
crosse  to  my  will.  I  would  not  have  come,  but  the  Lord  hath 
brought  me  downe  to  obey  him  in  his  call. 

5  Q.  Doe  you  acknowledge  ye  light  in  every  man's  conscience, 
j*  comes  into  ye  World  is  Christ  and  yl  yl  light  would  saue  him  if 
obeyed  ? 

The  answer  to  y9  in  their  bookes  is, — The  light  is  but  one,  which 
is  Christ,  who  enlightens  euery  one,  and  all  are  enlightened  with 
one  light,  as  in  ye  3d  page  of  y*  booke  and  in  ye  close  of  ye  booke, 
adding  yl  ys  is  called  ye  light  of  your  conscience,  the  true  teacher, 
and  said  to  be  the  first  step  to  peace.  Mary  Prince,  doe  you  owne 
the  letter  you  sent  me,  which  was  shown  to  her  ? 

Ans.  Yes,  and  said,  it  was  ye  eternall  Word  of  ye  Lord,  which 
must  stand  foreuer — and  should  stand ;  and  said  further,  she  wrote 
this  as  a  prophetesse  of  the  Lord  and  wTas  guided  by  ye  infallible 
Spirit  of  ye  Lord. 

6  Q.  Whether  you  owne,  that  the  Scriptures  are  the  Rule  of 
knowing  God  and  living  to  Him  ? 

Ans.  The  eternall  Word  is  the  Rule  of  theire  Hues  and  not  ye 
written  Word,  and,  in  answer  to  y*  question  propounded  from 
thence,  that  if  you  had  not  the  Scriptures  to  direct  you,  yett  you 
have  yl  within  you,  which  was  before  Scripture,  y*  wrould  guide 
you  aright.  To  which  Mary  Prince  answered,  yea,  and  it  was  a 
sufficient  guide. 

7  Q.  Doe  you  acknowledge  y*  Christ  is  God  and  Man  in  one 
person  ? 

This  they  will  not  acknowledge. 

8  Q.  Doe  you  acknowledge  one  God  subsisting  in  three  persons, 
Father,  Sonne  and  Holy  Ghost  ? 

*  Mass.  MS.  Papers. 
19 


146  RAILING  AT  THE   GOVERNOR. 

[Mass. 

Ans.  They  acknowledge  no  Trinity  of  persons. 

9  Q.  Whether  you  acknowledge  yl  God  and  Man  in  one  person 
remaine  foreuer  a  distinct  person  from  God  ye  Father,  and  God  ye 
Holy  Ghost,  and  from  ye  Saints,  notwithstanding  theire  vnion  and 
communion  with  him  ? 

This  they  will  not  acknowledge. 

10  Q.  Doe  you  acknowledge  yourself  a  sinner  ? 
This  they  will  not  acknowledge. 

11  Q.  Doe  you  acknowledge  Baptism  with  water  to  be  an  ordi- 
nance of  God  ? 

This  they  will  not  acknowledge." 

William  Brend  addresses*  a  communication  to  the  Governor 
and  Magistrates.  A  few  extracts  follow :  "  Feare  the  Lord  God 
and  abuse  not  his  messengers  which  he  sends  vnto  you  and  will 
send,  though  you  imprison  and  abuse  them  and  put  some  of  them 
to  death  for  being  obedient  to  his  call,  and  though  you  make  laws 
never  so  strict  to  keepe  them  out,  the  Lord  will  find  a  way  to  pro- 
claim and  set  vp  his  owne  name  in  this  place.  The  Lord  of  this 
Campe  whom  ye  world  derides,  persecutes  and,  in  scorne,  calls 
Quakers,  will  by  them  dash  ye  nations  to  pieces.  Therefore,  repent 
and  turne  to  y*  of  God  in  your  consciences,  which  condemns  for 
all  iniquity,  and  for  opposing  ye  Lord  in  any  of  his  servants  by 
fines,  imprisonments  or  banishments.  This  from  a  messenger  sent 
by  ye  most  high  God  of  heaven  and  earth  into  New  England, 
though  you  will  not  believe  it,  you  shall  know  it." 

About  this  time,  as  Hutchinson  f  relates,  the  following  occurred : 
"As  the  Governor  was  going  from  public  worship  on  the  Lord's 
day  to  his  own  house,  several  gentlemen  accompanying  him,  Mary 
Prince  called  to  him  from  a  window  of  the  prison,  railing  at  and 
reviling  him,  saying,  Wo  unto  thee,  thou  art  an  oppressor ;  and 
denouncing  the  judgments  of  God  upon  him.  Not  content  with 
this,  she  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor  and  Magistrates,  filled  with 
opprobrious  stuff.  The  Governor  sent  for  her  twice  from  the 
prison  to  his  house,  and  took  much  pains  to  persuade  her  to  desist 
from  such  extravagancies.  Two  of  the  ministers  were  present,  and 
with  much  moderation  and  tenderness  endeavoured  to  convince  her 
of  her  errors ;  to  which  she  returned  the  grossest  railings,  reproach- 
ing them  as  hirelings,  deceivers  of  the  people,  Baal's  priests,  the 
seed  of  the  serpent,  of  the  brood  of  Ishmael  and  the  like." 

Sept.  15.  The  Commissioners,  as  agents  of  the  Missionary  Corpo- 
ration in  England,  write  J  to  their  President.  They  state :  "  We 
have  agreed  to  allow  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Mayhew  £50  a  year,  to 
either  of  them,  out  of  the  stock  here,  with  due  encouragements  to 
schoolmasters,   interpreters,  and  some  youths,  both  English  and 

*  Mass.  MS.  Papers.  f  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  181. 

X  Com'rs.  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  354-8. 


missionary   summ.iks  and  TEACHERS.  117 

[696.] 

Indian,  to  be  trained  up  at  school  and  at  college  for  after  times 
with  other  helps."  They  request  thai  £  1,000  may  be  forwarded 
for  the  work,  in  English  goods,  according  to  the  invoice.  They 
OD8erve  :  "  We  approve  your  care  in  purchasing  lands  there,  so  we 
desire  some  considerable  stock  may  ever  remain  here  to  answer 
such  losses  or  casualties,  as  the  wise  God  may  herein  exercise  with, 
though  we  hope  he  will  accept  and  hless  our  joint  aims,  labors, 
and  adventures  in  this  service."  They  name  the  individuals 
employed  in  the  mission,  assistants  to  Mr.  Eliot ;  his  brother 
Francis  Eliot,  at  £30  a  year  ;  Sosaman,  Momquason,  and  Job,  who 
are  Indian  interpreters  and  schoolmasters,  at  £10  each  :  assistants 
to  Mr.  May  hew,  Peter  Folger,  at  £30  salary  ;  Iiiacoomes  and 
Punuppaqua,  interpreters,  at  £10  each  :  Mr.  Weld,  for  the  board 
and  instruction  of  eight  Indian  boys  and  one  girl,  £85  ;  and 
Abraham  Pierson,  of  Connecticut,  £15  ;  Thomas  Stanton,  for 
teaching  the  Indian  language  to  his  son  John,  and  furthering  "  him 
for  the  work,"  £20. 

At  the  request  of  Mr.  Chauncey,  the  Commissioners  permit  the 
Indian  Building  at  Cambridge  to  accommodate  some  English 
students. 

17.  The  Commissioners  answer*  a  letter  of  the  22d  ult.,  from 
the  Governor  of  New  Netherland,  concerning  the  delivery  of 
fugitive  servants.  The  communication  of  the  latter  person  has  the 
subsequent  passage  :  "  It  hath  pleased  the  bountiful  God  to  quiet 
and  change  that  sad  and  bloody  war  of  our  superiors  in  Europe, 
into  a  desirable  peace,  in  a  nearer  union  and  firmer  confederacy.  I 
have  been  hitherto,  and  am  also  still  desirous,  that  the  fruits  thereof 
may  redound  to  the  good  of  both  nations,  which,  by  the  Providence 
of  God,  were  dispersed  in  these  remote  parts  of  the  world,  far  from 
their  native  countries,  left  unsettled  amongst  multitudes  of  bar- 
barous savages,  whose  intent  and  practice  hitherto  have  been,  and 
do  continue  the  ruin  of  the  Christian  nations,  therefore  the  same 
union  and  further  combination  amongst  Christians  of  one  profes- 
sion, the  more  requisite  both  for  the  honor  of  God,  and  welfare  of 
men." 

At  the  conclusion  of  their  session,  the  Commissioners  make  the 
following  proposal :  f  "To  the  end  that  the  works  of  God  and  his 
goodness,  which  hath  been  great  towards  his  people  in  their  first 
planting  of  this  desolate  wilderness,  may  never  be  forgotten,  but  to 
be  kept  in  a  thankful  and  perpetual  remembrance  to  the  praise  of 
his  grace,  and  the  comfort  of  posterity,  and  that  the  generations  to 
come  may  truly  understand  the  main  ends  and  aims  in  our  trans- 
migration hither  from  our  dear  native  country,  and  the  great  things 
God  hath  done  for  their  fathers,  we  thought  it  no  less  than  our 
duty  to  commend  it  to  the  several  General  Courts,  that  they  would 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  364,  5.  t  Ibid.  p.  367. 


148  REMARKABLE  PROVIDENCES. 

[Mass. 

please  to  appoint  some  meet  persons  in  each  Jurisdiction,  to  collect 
the  special  and  most  remarkable  passages  of  God's  Providence 
towards  us,  since  the  first  arrival  of  the  English  in  these  parts, 
which  Collections,  being  brought  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Com- 
missioners at  Boston,  some  one,  qualified,  may  be  appointed,  and 
desired  to  compose  the  same  into  a  history,  and  prepare  it  for  the 
press." 

About  this  year,  John  Whiting  *  begins  to  assist  Mr.  Norris,  of 
Salem,  in  the  ministry.  He  was  son  of  William  Whiting,  of  Hart- 
ford, and  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1653,  where  he  was  a 
tutor.  He  was  employed  at  Salem,  not  far  from  three  years.  He 
moved  thence  with  his  wife,  Sybil,  daughter  of  Deacon  Edward 
Collins,  of  Cambridge,  and  children,  to  his  native  place,  where,  in 
1669,  he  was  settled. 

October  14.  The  Legislature  assemble.  With  their  views  of  a 
religious  Commonwealth,  as  the  great  and  constant  end  of  the 
Massachusetts  Company,  and  of  the  means  which  they  deemed 
essential  for  its  preservation,  they  pass  the  ensuing  law.  They 
were  aware  of  its  severity,  and  of  the  consequent  accusations  to 
which  they  would  be  exposed.  However  others  might  differ  from 
them  with  regard  to  its  nature  and  necessity,  they  felt  persuaded, 
that  it  was  a  barrier  absolutely  requisite  to  arrest  the  flood  of 
errors,  ready  to  cross  the  Atlantic  from  England,  and  bear  down 
all  the  institutions  for  which  they  had  toiled  and  suffered.  What- 
ever may  be  the  diversity  of  our  opinions  relative  to  their  motive 
and  action,  they  were  fully  persuaded,  that  an  exigency  in  their 
affairs  had  come,  which  demanded  a  strong  remedy,  though  a  cross 
to  their  own  benevolence,  and  the  occasion  of  much  misery  to 
those  who  would  not  be  warned  to  keep  from  its  violation,  and 
from  purposely  and  perseveringly  rushing  upon  its  penalties. 
"  Whereas  there  is  a  cursed  sect  of  hereticks,  lately  risen  up  in 
the  world,  which  are  commonly  called  Quakers,  who  take  upon 
them  to  be  immediately  sent  of  God  and  infallibly  assisted  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  to  speak  and  write  blasphemous  opinions,  despising 
government  and  the  order  of  God  in  Churches  and  Commonwealth, 
speaking  evil  of  dignities,  reproaching  and  reviling  magistrates 
and  ministers,  seek  to  turn  the  people  from  the  Faith  and  gain 
proselytes  to  their  pernicious  ways.  This  Court  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  premises  and  to  prevent  the  like  mischief  as  by  their 
means  is  wrought  in  our  native  land,  doth  hereby  order,"  that  the 
captain  of  every  vessel,  who  brings  any  persons  of  such  a  denom- 
ination or  "  other  blasphemous  heretics "  into  this  jurisdiction, 
shall  pay  £100,  unless  he  was  ignorant  of  their  being  such,  and  he 
shall  have  them  carried  back  at  his  own  charge.  They  also  order, 
that  Quakers  coming  into  their  boundaries  shall  be  confined  in  a 

*  Annals  of  Salem,  vol.  ii.  p.  626. 


BYNOD  or  THE  UNION   PROPOSED.  11(.) 

1656.] 

House  of  Correction,  be  severely  whipped  when  put  there,  kept 
constantly  at  work  and  debarred  from  conversation  with  other  per- 
sons. They  further  require,  that  whoever  imports  the  books  of 
that  denomination  shall  be  fined  £5  for  each  of  them,  and  the  same 

amount,  if  spreading  and  not  giving  them  up  ;  and  if  he  defends 
their  doctrines,   shall   pay   40/.   i'or   the    first   offence,   .CI   for   the 

second,  and  for  the  third,  he  imprisoned  till  banished.  They 
direct,  that  this  law  be  published  in  several  parts  of  Boston  by 
beat  of  drum.* 

Desirous  to  prevent  disorder  and  irreligion  at  the  College,  of 
which  there  had  been  recent  development,  the  Court  empower  f 
the  President  and  Fellows  to  punish  delinquent  scholars,  "  either 
by  line  or  whipping  in  the  Hall  openly,  as  the  nature  of  the 
offence  shall  require,  not  exceeding  10/.  or  ten  stripes  for  each 
offence." 

Thanksgiving  to  be  November  5th,  to  "  God  that  hath  given  us 
the  Gospel  of  his  Son,  and  caused  us  to  cleave  unto  and  embrace 
the  same,  in  some  measure,  in  these  backsliding  times,"  granted  us 
peace  and  abundance  from  the  earth,  "  supplied  our  churches  with 
officers  beyond  our  expectation,  made  up  some  breaches,  as  also  for 
the  preservation  of  our  nation  in  all  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
they  have  passed  through." 

A  warrant  is  ordered  for  the  marshal  general,  or  his  deputy,  to 
impress  a  suitable  boat  and  sufficient  hands  to  deliver  the  Quakers, 
brought  in  by  Capt.  Locke,  on  board  of  his  vessel,  so  that  he  may 
carry  them  back. 

21.  Nicholas  Upshall,  having  reproached  the  magistrates,  and 
censured  the  law  against  the  Quakers,  is  fined  £20,  and  ordered  to 
continue  in  prison  until  the  same  is  paid.  It  is  further  required, 
that  when  he  has  satisfied  the  demand,  he  shall  depart  from  the 
jurisdiction  within  a  month ;  and  if  he  return,  shall  be  kept  a  close 
prisoner  until  he  publicly  retract,  before  some  County  Court,  the 
offensive  speeches  he  has  uttered.  A  few  days  after,  Dorothy,  his 
wife,  petitions  that  the  remainder  of  his  fine  may  be  remitted,  and 
it  was  granted.  His  mind,  for  years,  had  not  been  settled  as  to  the 
order  of  the  churches.  He  was  admonished,  August  10,  1651,  by 
the  First  Church  of  Boston,  for  withdrawing  from  communion  with 
them,  and  declining  to  give  the  reason. 

A  letter  X  from  Connecticut  is  read.  It  proposes  a  Synod  of 
Elders,  who  belong  to  the  Confederation,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering questions  which  appertain  to  the  Churches.  Accordingly, 
Mather,  Allin,  Norton,  and  Thatcher,  of  Suffolk,  Bulkley,  if  he  can 
come,  Chauncey,  Symmes,  Sherman,  and  Mitchel,  of  Middlesex, 
Norris,  Ez.  Rogers,  Whiting,  and  Cobbet,  of  Essex,  are  selected  by 
the  Legislature  to  assemble  the  5th  of  next  June,  in  Boston,  to  unite 

•  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  and  Papers.  f  Ibid.  X  Ibid. 


150  DECEASE   OF  JAMES  NO  YES. 

[Mass. 

with  other  Elders  from  the  rest  of  the  Union,  so  that  they  may- 
deliberate  and  decide  on  the  questions  which  may  come  before 
them.  Robert  Turner  is  appointed  to  entertain  the  Synod,  and  the 
charges  thereof  are  to  be  paid  by  the  Treasurer.  A  copy  of  this 
resolve,  and  of  the  letter  and  queries  from  Connecticut,  are  ordered 
for  the  rest  of  the  confederate  Colonies,  with  a  request,  that  they 
will  assist  by  their  Elders  at  the  time  and  place  designated. 

22.  James  Noyes,  teacher  with  Thomas  Parker,  pastor  of  the 
Newbury  Church,  dies,*  in  his  forty-eighth  year.  Though  partial 
to  Presbyterianism,  yet  he  held  his  opinions  with  charity  for  his 
opponents.  His  conditions  of  admission  to  the  Church  were 
repentance  and  faith,  and  submission  to  Gospel  ordinances.  He 
baptized  children  of  parents  who  were  neither  church  members, 
nor  owners  of  a  covenant,  but  were  simply  baptized.  He  and  his 
colleague  regarded  the  commencement  of  the  Sabbath  as  on  Satur- 
day evening.  He  bore  the  long  and  tedious  illness,  which  brought 
him  to  the  grave,  with  Christian  resignation.  His  last  end  was 
eminently  that  of  the  righteous.  He  left  a  wife,  Sarah,  who  died 
September  13,  1691,  and  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom 
were  married  and  had  children. 

Besides  his  Temple  Measured,  and  a  Catechism,  published,  he 
left  in  MS.  his  Moses  and  Aaron,  printed  after  his  decease.  In 
the  Epistle  dedicatory  of  this  work,  Mr.  Parker  says,  that  Mr. 
Noyes's  death,  as  supposed,  was  hastened  by  the  sadness  which  he 
felt  at  the  execution  of  Charles  L,  and  the  defeat  of  his  son, 
Charles  II.  The  same  true,  surviving  friend,  gives  the  subsequent 
portraiture  of  the  departed :  "  He  was  a  man  of  singular  qualifica- 
tions ;  in  piety  excelling,  an  implacable  enemy  to  all  heresy  and 
schism,  and  a  most  able  warrior  against  the  same.  He  was  of  a 
reaching  and  ready  apprehension,  a  large  invention,  a  most  pro- 
found judgment,  a  rare,  tenacious,  and  comprehensive  memory, 
fixed  and  unmoveable  in  his  grounded  conceptions,  sure  in  words 
and  speech,  without  rashness,  gentle  and  mild  in  expression,  with- 
out all  passion  or  provocative  language  ;  and  as  he  was  a  notable 
disputant,  so  he  never  would  provoke  his  adversary,  saving  by  the 
short  knocks  and  heavy  weight  of  argument.  He  was  of  so  loving 
and  compassionate  and  humble  carriage,  that  I  believe  never  any 
were  acquainted  with  him,  but  did  desire  the  continuance  of  his 
society  and  acquaintance.  He  was  resolute  for  the  truth,  and  in 
defence  thereof,  had  no  respect  to  any  persons.  He  was  a  most 
excellent  counsellor  in  doubts,  and  could  strike  at  a  hair's  breadth, 
like  the  Benjaminites,  and  expedite  the  entangled  out  of  briars. 
He  was  courageous  in  dangers,  and  still  was  apt  to  believe  the  best, 
and  made  fair  weather  in  a  storm.  He  was  much  honoured  and 
esteemed  in  the  country,  and  his  death  was  much  bewailed.     I 

*  Magnalia,  2d  Am.  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  436-40. 


iLONISTS   POR  JAMAICA.  151 

1656.] 

think  he  may  be  reckoned  among  the  greatest  worthiei  of  hu 

£4.  The  Court  answer1  the  proposal  of  Cromwell  for  some  ot' 

the  colonists  to  settle  at  .Jamaica.  They  Bay  that  it  was  laid  before 
the  people,  "  in  compliance  with  your  highness'  good  and  pious 
intentions  of  planting  the  place  with  such  as,  through  the  blessing 

oi  (iod,  may  hopefully  promote  a  design  so  religious."  They 
desire  that,  it'  the  report  of  mortality  there  should  prevent  such 
emigration,  he  would  regard  the  want  of  compliance  with  his  wish 
as  no  sign  of  their  neglecting  his  communication.  They  observe 
that,  without  his  favorable  support,  "  we  cannot  be  secure  from  the 
clamors  and  calumnies  of  some,  whose  endeavours  may  be  to  render 
us  obnoxious  to  your  displeasure."  Hutchinson  informs  us  that 
only  a  few  families  accepted  the  invitation. 

December  10.  Leverett  writes  f  to  Endicott.  He  mentions  an 
interview  which  he  had  with  Cromwell.  The  latter  said,  "  that  he 
did  apprehend  the  people  of  New  England  had  as  clear  a  call  to 
transport  themselves  to  Jamaica,  as  they  had  from  England  to  New 
England,"  and  that  the  tendency  of  settling  this  port  with  such 
emigrants  would  be  "  to  the  overthrow  of  the  man  of  sin."  He 
remarked,  that.  Capt.  Gookin  informed  him  that  "  some  consider- 
able numbers  would  go  "  thither.  While  such  conversation  was  in 
progress,  one  of  the  Council  came  in  and  expressed  himself  "  con- 
cerning New  England's  rigidness  and  persecution."  Cromwell 
replied  in  their  favor,  "  that  they  acted  like  wise  men,  and  God 
had  broken  the  designs  of  evil  instruments,  bearing  witness  with 
them  against  evil  seducers  which  had  risen  up  among  them,  men- 
tioning one  or  two."  The  gentleman  answered  :  "  The  miscarriages 
of  particular  persons  proved  not  God's  bearing  witness  against  the 
body  of  them,  that  departed  from  them  for  their  rigidness."  Lev- 
erett rejoined  :  "  If  Rhode  Island  and  those  parts  were  intended, 
that  then  God  had  borne  witness  against  them  in  general,  as  well  as 
against  particulars,  which  would  appear  by  that  looseness  and  pro- 
faneness  they  were  left  to,  so  that  they  had  not  only  declined  in 
Christian  religion,  but  moral  observations." 

30.  Thomas  Gould  is  admonished  +  by  the  Middlesex  Court 
for  denying  baptism  to  his  child,  and  thus  putting  himself  and  de- 
scendants in  peril  of  the  Lord's  displeasure,  as  in  the  case  of  Moses 
and  others.     They  allow  him  further  time  to  consider  the  matter. 

This  year,  Daniel  Gookin,§  being  one  of  the  Assistants,  is  elect- 
ed, by  the  Legislature,  Ruler  over  the  praying  Indians  within  their 
jurisdiction.  His  only  encouragement,  for  the  first  years  of  his 
arduous  duties,  was  the  enlarged  opportunity  of  experiencing  the 
pure  and  precious  incomes  of  Christian  benevolence  and  effort. 

*  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  176,  7.  t  Graham's  U.  S.  vol.  i.  p.  287. 

t  MS.  Middlesex  Rec.  §  Gookin's  Hist.  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s. 

vol.  i.  p.  177. 


152  MAKING  CROMWELL  A  KING. 

[Mass. 

Thomas  Cobbet  lothfully  leaves  *  Whiting  at  Lynn,  and  goes  to 
supply  the  place  of  Norton  at  Ipswich,  which  continues  to  be  noted, 
as  having  an  unusual  proportion  of  highly  educated  and  talented 
inhabitants. 

1657.  January  14.  The  Chelmsford  Church,  under  John  Fisk, 
adopt  the  subsequent  rules.  Professors'  children  are  to  be  baptized. 
Those  of  them,  being  fourteen  years  old  and  above,  are  under  the 
watch  and  discipline  of  the  Church.  Those  younger,  are  respon- 
sible to  the  Church,  through  their  parents  or  guardians.  All  of 
them,  whatever  be  their  age,  are  to  be  encouraged  by  the  Church 
to  learn  the  principles  of  Religion,  and  to  seek  preparation  for  full 
communion. 

29.  The  first  Church  }  of  Boston  decide  the  following  question 
in  the  affirmative.  "  Whether  the  relation  of  immediate  children 
of  church  members  be  such,  as  giveth  ye  Church  a  church-power 
over  them,  and,  consequently,  whether  y4  it  is  ye  dutye  of  ye 
Church  to  exercise  y4  power  regularly  vpon  them,  that  their  knowl- 
edge and  life  may  be  answerable  to  ye  ingagment  of  their  relation. 
And  whether  it  be  ye  Churches  minde,  y*  solemne  notice  be  given 
to  them  seasonably."  On  February  22d,  Ann  Gillam,  for  with- 
drawing from  the  fellowship  of  the  same  Church,  is  excommuni- 
cated by  silent  consent  of  the  brethren.  On  March  23d,  these 
appoint  Norton  and  William  Davis  for  messengers  to  attend  a 
Council,  at  Hartford,  to  advise  about  difficulties  in  the  Church  there. 

April  4.  After  the  subject  f  of  making  Cromwell  a  king  had 
been  long  agitated,  Parliament  vote  that  it  would  be  a  great  benefit 
to  the  nation,  if  he  would  accept  of  such  a  title.  At  his  request, 
they  appoint  a  Committee  to  wait  on  him  and  confer  about  the 
proposal.  On  the  13th,  the  Committee  urge  him  to  be  King. 
The  officers  of  the  army,  on  the  20th,  petition  against  this.  May 
8,  Cromwell  concludes  to  remain  as  he  is,  Protector,  and  not  King. 
On  the  25th,  Parliament  enlarge  his  powers  as  Lord  Protector. 

11.  The  Missionary  Corporation  §  send  a  letter  from  Cooper's 
Hall  in  London  to  the  Commissioners.  They  remark  that,  on 
account  of  peril  from  the  pirates  at  sea,  and  other  considerations, 
they  think  it  better,  according  to  the  act  of  Parliament  for  their 
formation,  to  invest  their  contributions  in  land,  and  appropriate  the 
income  thereof  to  the  mission,  instead  of  sending  over  goods  as  they 
had  done.  They  authorize  the  Commissioners  to  expend  £500 
for  "  carrying  on  the  work  this  year."  They  mention  John  Black- 
leech  as  very  suitable  for  a  missionary  among  the  Indians. 

May  6.  As  various  families  ||  of  ministers,  deceased,  suffer  to 
"  the  reproach  of  the  Churches  and  to  the  scandal  of  our  profes- 
sion," the   Legislature  appoint  a  Committee  for  each  County  to 

*  Felt's  Hist,  of  Ipswich.  f  MS.  Rec.  +  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  164,  5. 

§  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.    Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  374,  5.        ||  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


DUNSTKR'S  PRESENTMENT.  L5fl 

1657.] 

inquire  into  the  truth  of  Buch  a  statement  and  report  to  them,  M 
that  they  "which  are,  by  God's  promise,  nursing  fathers  to  the 
Churches,  may  see  that  then1  be  meat  in  Grod's  house." 

June  1.  The  Records  of  the  first  Church  of  Boston  read:  "Our 
lister  Fogg  tor  her  disorderly  singing  and  her  idleness,  and  for 
saying  Bhee  is  commanded  of  Christ  so  to  doe,  was  admonished  with 
y'  consent  of  y'  Church,"  and  was  excommunicated  on  the  1:3th  of 
J  uly,  lor  persisting  in  the  same  course. 

4.  Eliot  writes*  to  Atherton,  of  Dorchoster,  and  thanks  the 
people  there  for  allowing  the  preparation  at  Puncapoag,  and  desires 
that  an  entry  may  be  made  in  their  Town  Records,  that  they 
approve  and  permit  the  Indians  there  "  to  sit  down  and  make  a 
town  and  enjoy  such  accommodations  as  may  be  sufficient  to  main- 
tain God's  ordinances  among  them  another  day." 

16.  Several  casesf  are  brought  before  the  Middlesex  Court. 
Dunster  appears  to  answer  a  presentment  at  Cambridge,  April  7, 
for  neglecting  to  have  his  child  baptized,  and  non-compliance  with 
a  previous  summons.  He  replies  that,  as  all  well  knew,  his  faith 
rejected  infant  baptism.  He  is  admonished  of  the  danger  in  cher- 
ishing such  opinions,  and  required  to  give  bond  for  his  appearance 
before  the  Court  of  Assistants.  Thomas  Gould  is  alike  dealt  with 
for  a  similar  charge.  Mary,  daughter  of  Stephen  Gates  of  Lancas- 
ter, is  complained  of  for  bold  and  unbecoming  speeches  in  the  con- 
gregation, on  the  Sabbath,  and  especially  against  Mr.  Rowlandson, 
the  minister  there.  She  confesses  the  irregularity,  is  admonished 
and  required  to  pay  costs  of  the  suit. 

The  Libertine  Schooled^  by  Claudius  Gilbert,  minister  of  Lim- 
erick, Ireland,  and  printed  in  London,  1657,  has  the  following  in 
its  preface. — Some  oppose  all  kinds  of  magistratical  power  ;  others, 
limitations  of  it.  "  Specially  Mr.  Thomas  Cobbet,  in  1653,  of 
New  England,  hath  found  abundant  cause  to  praise  the  Lord  for 
the  due  exercise  and  vindication  of  that  power,  the  neglect  and 
opposition  whereof  was  like  to  have  proved  their  overthrow  in 
Civils  and  Ecclesiasticals.  The  same  spirit  of  error  hath  struggled 
there  so  hard  for  libertinism,  (it)  hath  gotten  too  much  strength 
and  favor  in  these  nations." 

A  catechism,§  composed  by  John  Fisk,  is  printed  this  year,  in 
Cambridge,  at  the  request  and  expense  of  his  congregation.  It 
was  called  the  "  Watering  of  the  Plants  in  Christ's  Garden,  or  a 
shorter  catechism  for  the  entrance  of  our  Chelmsford  children." 

19.  Twenty-six  ministers  of  the  confederate  Colonies,  who 
assembled  by  request  of  magistrates  at  Boston,  on  the  4th  instant, 
give  in  the  result  .of  their  deliberations.  The  occasion  of  their 
being  so  convened,  follows.     The  Platform  adopted  in   1648,  had 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  99,  100.         f  Middlesex  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 
X  Am.  Ant.  Soc.  Lib.  Tracts,  1650-90.  §  Hist  of  Chelmsford,  p.  123. 

20 


154  THE   CONFEDERATE   SYNOD  ASSEMBLE. 

[Mass. 

been  the  rule  of  the  Churches.  It  allowed  no  children  to  be 
baptized,  except  those  of  parents  who  were  members  in  full  com- 
munion where  they  resided.  This,  in  connection  with  the  regret- 
ted fact,  that  many  parents  made  no  profession  of  religion,  caused 
a  large  number  of  children  to  continue  without  baptism.  Such  a 
state  of  things  produced  wide-spread  dissatisfaction,  and  led  to 
many  consultations  on  the  means  of  providing  a  remedy.  Con- 
necticut, who  did  not  require  church  membership  as  a  condition  of 
being  freemen  of  their  company,  as  other  Colonies  of  the  Confed- 
eration did,  were  more  urgent  and  active  for  the  session,  than  they. 
Indeed,  New  Haven  opposed  the  proposition  for  it,  fearful  of  its 
purpose  and  tendency.  In  1656,  the  former  of  these  two  Colonies 
sent  a  committee  of  magistrates  to  consult  with  similar  officers 
in  Massachusetts,  who  mutually  agreed  to  invite  the  Synod  to 
meet  as  already  mentioned.  The  substance  of  their  conclusions* 
was  published  in  England  about  two  years  afterwards,  and  was 
entitled,  "A  disputation  concerning  church  members  and  their 
children,  in  answer  to  twenty-one  questions."  This  publication 
contained  the  subsequent  queries  and  replies. 

Question  1.  Whether  any  children  of  confederate  parents  be 
under  their  parents'  covenant,  and  members  with  them  ? 

Answer.  Some  children  of  confederate  parents  are,  by  means  of 
their  parents'  covenanting,  in  covenant  also,  and  so  members  of 
the  church  by  divine  institution.  1.  Because  they  are  in  that  cov- 
enant, for  substance,  which  was  made  with  Abraham,  Gen.  xvii.  7, 
compared  with  Deut.  xxix.  12,  13,  etc. ;  2.  Such  children  are  by 
Christ  affirmed  to  have  a  place  and  portion  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  etc.,  Matth.  xix.  14,  Mark  x.  14,  Luke  xviii.  16 ;  3.  Else 
no  children  could  be  baptized,  baptism  being  a  church  ordinance, 
and  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  etc.,  with  many  others. 

Q.  2.  Whether  all  children,  of  whatever  year  or  conditions,  were 
so ;  as  1,  absent  children  never  brought  to  the  church :  2,  born 
before  their  parents'  covenanting  :  3,  incorrigible,  or  seven,  ten,  or 
twelve  years  old  :  4,  such  as  desire  not  to  be  admitted  with  their 
parents  of  such  an  age  ? 

A.  Only  such  children  as  are  in  their  minority,  covenant  with 
their  parents  ;  for  adult  children  are  to  covenant  in  their  own 
persons.  The  whole  household  of  Lydia,  the  jailer  and  others 
were  baptized ;  and  a  child  at  the  ages  mentioned,  is  infans  in  foro 
ecclesia?. 

Q.  3.  Till  what  age  shall  they  enter  into  covenant  with  their 
parents,  whether  sixteen,  twenty-one,  etc.  ? 

A.  As  long  as  in  respect  to  age  or  capacity  they  cannot,  accord- 
ing to  ordinary  account,  be  supposed  able  to  act  for  themselves,  so 

*  Hubbard's  New  England,  p.  563-9.     MS.  Coll.  of  the  Am.  Ant.  Soc. 


DISCIPLINE  FOB  PARENTS  AND  (Illl.DKKN.  IV. 

1657.] 

long  they  shall  enter  in  by  means  of  their  parens'  covenant  ; 
because,  whilst  they  are  children,  and  in  their  minority,  they  sue 

not  otherwise  capable  of  covenanting.  Ishniael  was  admitted  to 
the  seal  by  his  lather's  covenant,  at  thirteen  years  of  age.  Gen. 
xvii.  £5. 

(^.  4.  What  a  child  is  subject  to,  from  seven  to  sixteen  years 
old  > 

Answer  1.  Church  discipline  is  taken  either  more  largely,  for 
the  act  of  a  church  member,  dispensed  to  a  church  member  as  such 
by  way  of  rebuke,  etc. — Luke  xvii.  3,  4  ;  Matth.  xviii.  15  :  or  more 
strictly  for  the  act  of  the  whole  church,  dispensed  to  a  member 
thereof,  as  in  case  of  public  rebuke,  etc. — Matth.  xviii.  17 ;  2  Cor. 
ii.  ■)  ;  1  Tim.  i.  20.  In  the  first  sense,  children  in  their  minority 
are  subject  to  church  discipline  immediately,  but  not  in  the  second. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  elders  and  church  to  call  upon  parents 
to  bring  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord.     Eph.  vi.  4. 

o.  Beside  their  subjection  to  ecclesiastical  discipline,  they  are 
also  subject  to  civil  discipline,  whether  domestical,  scholastical,  or 
magistratical. 

Q.  5.  Whether  a  father  may  twice  covenant  for  his  children  in 
minority  in  several  churches  ? 

A.  1.  When  a  parent  is  called  to  remove  from  one  church  to 
another,  he  is  also  called  to  enter  into  covenant  in  that  church 
to  which  he  removes. 

2.  When  the  parent,  thus  removing,  entereth  into  covenant,  his 
children  then  in  minority  covenant  in  him ;  the  child,  and  the 
power  of  government  over  him,  must  go  together. 

Q.  6.  Whether  the  end  of  a  deputy  covenant  be  not  to  supply 
personal  incapacity,  or  whether  children,  ripe  for  personal  covenant- 
ing in  respect  of  age,  should  covenant  by  a  deputy,  as  others  that 
are  unable  thereunto  ? 

A.  1.  Children  in  minority,  whose  immediate  parents  are  in 
church  covenant,  do  covenant  in  their  parents,  as  in  answer  to 
question  1. 

2.  Children  adult  ought  to  covenant  in  their  own  persons,  as 
may  be  gathered  from  Deut.  xxvi.  IT,  18,  19,  and  xxix.  10,  and 
Josh.  xxiv.  18,  27  :  Nehem.  ix.  ult.  and  x.  28. 

Q.  7.  Whether  as  large  qualifications  be  not  required  of  a 
member's  child  to  the  participation  of  the  Lord's  supper  and 
other  privileges,  as  were  requirable  of  his  parents  at  their  first 
entrance  ? 

A.  The  holding-  forth  of  faith  and  repentance  with  an  ability  to 
examine  themselves  by  way  of  confession  to  the  judgment  of 
charity  were  all  requirable  in  the  parent  for  admission  into  the 
church  to  full  communion,  and  the  same  is  requisite  to  the  regular 
admission  of  the  parents'  child,  being  grown  adult,  unto  his  full 


156  THE  HALF  WAY  COVENANT. 

[Mass. 

communion  with  the  church.  The  sum  of  the  answer  amounts  to 
thus  much  :  1,  that  they  are  to  have  faith  and  repentance ;  2,  that 
this  faith  and  repentance  must  appear  to  others. 

Q.  8.  Whether  by  covenant  seed,  is  meant  the  seed  of  immediate 
parents  only,  or  of  remote  also  ? 

A.  The  gospel,  by  covenant  seed,  intends  only  the  seed  of 
immediate  parents  in  church  covenant,  as  appears  from  1  Cor.  vii. 
14.  It  can  no  where  else  expediently  be  bounded.  Depinge  ubi 
scitum. 

Q.  9.  Whether  adopted  children  and  bound  servants  be  cov- 
enant seed  ? 

A.  Adopted  children  and  infant  servants,  regularly  and  abso- 
lutely subjected  to  the  government  and  dispose  of  such  heads  of 
families  as  are  in  church  covenant,  though  they  cannot  be  said  to 
be  their  natural  seed,  yet  in  regard  the  scriptures  (according  to 
the  judgment  of  many  godly  learned)  extend  to  them  the  same 
covenant  privileges  with  their  natural  seed  ;  we  judge  not  any 
churches  who  are  like-minded  with  them  for  their  practice  herein. 
All  which,  notwithstanding,  yet  we  desire  at  present  to  leave  this 
question,  without  all  prejudice  on  our  parts,  to  after  free  disqui- 
sition. 

Q.  10.  Whether  the  child,  admitted  by  his  father's  covenant, 
be  also  a  deputy  for  his  seed,  without  or  before  personal  covenant- 
ing ;  or  without  or  before  like  personal  qualifications  in  kind,  as 
his  father  was  to  enjoy  when  he  became  a  deputy  ? 

A.  It  is  the  duty  of  infants  who  confederate  in  their  parents, 
(as  in  answer  to  question  1,)  when  grown  up  to  years  of  discretion, 
though  not  yet  fit  for  the  Lord's  supper,  to  own  the  covenant  they 
made  with  their  parents,  by  entering  thereinto  in  their  own  per- 
sons ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  call  upon  them  for  the 
performance  thereof;  and  if  being  called  upon  they  shall  refuse  the 
performance  of  this  great  duty,  or  otherwise  continue  scandalous, 
they  are  liable  to  be  censured  for  the  same  by  the  church.  And 
in  case  they  understand  the  grounds  of  religion,  are  not  scandalous, 
and  solemnly  own  the  covenant  in  their  own  persons,  wherein  they 
give  up  both  themselves  and  their  children  unto  the  Lord,  and 
desire  baptism  for  them,  we  (with  due  reverence  to  any  godly, 
learned,  that  may  dissent)  see  not  sufficient  cause  to  deny  baptism 
unto  their  children.* 

Q.  11.  Whether  children,  begotten  by  an  excommunicate  per- 
son, he  so  remaining,  are  to  be  baptized  ? 

A.  We  cannot,  for  the  present,  answer  the  arguments  for  the 

*  "  This  proposition  was  consented  unto  by  a  synod,  called  to  meet  at  Boston 
in  1662.  They  add,  that  the  same  may  be  said  concerning  the  children  of  such 
persons  who,  being  dead,  or  necessarily  absent,  either  did  or  do  give  the  church 
cause,  in  judgment  of  charity,  to  look  at  them  as  thus  qualified,  or,  had  they 
been  called  thereunto,  would  have  thus  acted." 


EXAMINATION   OP  FITNES8   FOB  BEAL8.  157 

W57.] 

negative,  for  the  promise  made  to  the  wed  belongs  only  to  the  scc.l 
of  immediate  parents  in  covenant  now  onder  the  gospel ;  and  such 
as  arc  excommunicate,  arc  to  be  looked  upon  as  heathen  and  pub- 
licans. 

ty.  12.  Whether  a  child  born  of  a  person  justly  censurable,  yet 
not  actually  excommunicate,  be  to  be  baptized  ( 

A.  We  answer  affirmatively,  for  divine  institution,  which  is  the 
foundation  of  the  covenant  membership  of  the  child,  imputes  only 
the  covenant,  and  not  any  other  act  of  the  parents  to  the  child. 

(j).  13.  Whether  a  member's  child's  unfitness  for  seals  disableth 
not  his  seed  for  membership  or  baptism  ? 

A.  This  question  is  answered  in  the  tenth,  agreeing  in  scope 
therewith. 

Q.  14.  Whether  a  member's  child  be  censurable  for  anything 
but  scandalous  actions,  and  not  also  for  ignorance  and  inexperience  ? 

A.  A  member's  child,  (like  as  it  is  with  all  other  members,)  is 
censurable  only  for  scandalous  sins,  consequently  for  ignorance  and 
inexperience,  when  scandalous.     Matth.  xviii.  15,  18.   1  Cor.  v.  11. 

Q.  15.  Whether  a  member's  child  must  only  examine  himself, 
and  may  not  be  examined  by  others,  of  his  fitness  for  seals  ? 

A.  It  is  a  duty  of  a  member's  child  to  examine  himself,  and  yet 
he  is  also  subject  to  the  examination  of  others,  because  the  elders 
are  to  give  an  account,  Heb.  xiii.  18,  and  therefore  must  take  an 
account ;  and  it  appertaineth  to  them  to  see  that  the  holy  things 
be  not  defiled  by  the  access  of  any  unclean  or  unworthy  person. 

Q.  16.  Whether  any  officers  must  examine  in  private,  or  else  in 
public  before  the  church  ? 

A.  Concerning  their  examination  in  private  before  the  elders, 
the  former  reasons  conclude  affirmatively.  It  is  spiritual  wisdom 
by  preparing  the  stones  beforehand,  to  prevent  after  noise  in  the 
building.    1  Kings,  vi.  7. 

Q.  17.  Whether  the  same  grown  member's  child  must  not  be 
examined,  of  his  charitable  experience  before  baptism,  as  well  as 
before  the  Lord's  supper  ? 

A.  We  think  the  elders  do  well  to  take  an  account  of  children 
concerning  the  principles  of  religion,  according  to  their  capacity, 
before  they  be  baptized.  But  if  children  be  yet  in  minority,  their 
right  unto  baptism  being  founded  upon  the  covenant  made  in  their 
parents,  this  examination  is  to  be  looked  as  conducing  to  the  better 
application,  but  not  to  the  being  of  their  baptism. 

Q.  18.  Whether  baptized  children,  sent  away  for  settlement, 
and  not  intending  to  return,  are  continually  to  be  accounted  mem- 
bers ? 

A.  Baptized  children,  though  locally  removed  from  the  church 
unto  which  they  do  belong,  are  to  be  accounted  members,  until 
dismission,  death,  or  censure,  dissolve  the  relation. 

Q.  19.  Whether  historical  faith  and  a  blameless  life  fit  a  mem^ 


158  CONDITIONS  OF  FULL  COMMUNION. 

[Mass. 

ber's  child  for  all  ordinances  and  privileges,  and  he  must  be  exam- 
ined only  about  them  ? 

A.  Not  only  historical  faith  and  a  blameless  life,  but  also  such 
an  holding  forth  of  faith  and  repentance  as,  unto  judgment  of 
charity,  showeth  an  ability  to  examine  themselves  and  discern  the 
Lord's  body,  is  requisite  to  fit  a  member's  child  for  all  ordinances 
and  privileges ;  and  his  blameless  life  notwithstanding,  a  member's 
child  is  to  be  examined  concerning  the  other  qualifications. 

Q.  20.  Whether  if  a  church  member  barely  say,  it  repents  me, 
though  seventy  times  seven  times  following  he  relapse  into  the 
same  gross  evils,  as  lying,  slander,  oppression,  etc.,  he  be  to  be 
forgiven,  and  not  censured  ? 

A.  Notwithstanding  a  brother  offends  seventy  times  seven  times, 
i.  e.  many  times,  a  definite  number  being  put  for  an  indefinite,  yet 
whilst  God  enables  him  to  repent,  it  is  our  duty  to  forgive.  But 
to  say  in  words,  I  repent,  and  to  gainsay  it  in  deeds,  is,  according 
to  Scripture,  not  to  repent ;  yet  an  ingenuous  and  solemn  profes- 
sion of  repentance,  nothing  appearing  to  the  contrary,  is  to  be 
accepted  as  true  repentance  in  the  judgment  of  charity.  1  Cor. 
xiii.  7. 

Q.  21.  Whether  a  member  under  offence,  and  not  censured,  or 
not  with  the  highest  censure,  can  authoritatively  be  denied  the 
Lord's  supper,  or  other  church  privileges  ? 

A.  None  but  the  church  can  authoritatively  deny  to  the  mem- 
ber his  access  unto  the  Lord's  supper,  because  the  power  thereof 
is  only  delegated  to  that  subject.  Matt,  xviii.  17.  Neither  can 
the  church  deny  unto  a  member  his  access  to  the  Lord's  supper, 
until  she  hath  regularly  judged  him  to  be  an  offender ;  and  the 
first  act  whereby  he  is  judicially  declared  so  to  be,  is  admonition, 
whereby  he  is  made  judicially  unclean ;  Levit.  xxii.  3—6 ;  and  is 
thereby  authoritatively  denied  to  come  unto  the  Lord's  supper. 
All  which  notwithstanding,  there  are  cases  wherein  a  brother 
apparently  discerned  to  be  in  a  condition  rendering  him  an  un- 
worthy communicant,  should  he  proceed  to  the  Lord's  supper, 
may  and  ought  regularly  to  be  advised  to  forbear,  and  it  is  his 
duty  to  hearken  thereunto ;  yet  none  should  forbear  to  come 
worthily,  which  is  their  duty,  because  to  their  private  apprehension, 
another  is  supposed  (at  least)  to  come  unworthily,  which  is  his 
sin. 

Though  this  document  was  carefully  and  prayerfully  prepared, 
yet,  while  it  met  the  wishes  of  a  large  proportion  among  the  min- 
isters and  their  congregations,  it  did  not  those  of  the  rest.  Partic- 
ularly did  the  half-way  covenant,  as  comprised  in  the  tenth  ques- 
tion and  its  accompanying  reply,  excite  the  fears  of  several 
eminent  ministers  and  various  church  members,  lest  it  should 
prove  too  lax,  and  be  thereby  injurious  to  true  religion.     So  un- 


BND   01   MAKING   CEOMWELL  KINO.  L59 

1657,] 

easy  did  the  public  mind  become  in  view  of  this  consideration, 
that  it  was  the  principal  occasion  of  the  Synod  assembled  five 
years  afterwards,  whose  transactions  became  the  theme  of  printed 
discussions. 

June  ~8.  A  young  man  of  twenty-one  years  old,  whose  parents 
had  presented  him  in  baptism,  when  a  child,  having  refused  to 
hear  the  rebukes  of  the  First  Church  in  Boston,*  for  his  immorality, 
is  excommunicated.  Another  of  twenty,  connected  with  them  by 
baptism,  is  admonished  the  next  August,  for  misconduct. 

(89.  Endicott  answers  f  a  letter  of  Leverett.  The  latter  desired 
testimony  to  lay  before  Cromwell,  relative  to  the  case  of  Clark  and 
Holmes,  and  Rhode  Island.  The  former  promises,  that  this  shall 
be  done,  and  that  it  would  be  enough  to  satisfy  his  opponent,  if 
"  a  lover  of  the  truth."  He  remarks :  "  What  the  end  is  of  that 
point  of  State  to  make  the  Protector  king,  I  cannot  fathom  it, 
unlesse  their  proffering  and  his  deniall  thereof  ingratiate  him  the 
more  in  the  hearts  of  the  people."  He  adds :  "  Great  motions 
there  are  in  the  world,  which  the  Lord  direct  and  turne  to  his 
glorie,  the  overthrow  of  his  enemies,  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of 
his  owne  people." 

July.  The  Essex  Court  J  admonish  Cassandra,  wife  of  Laurence 
Southwick  of  Salem,  for  absence  from  public  worship.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  many  prosecutions  of  herself  and  husband  for 
adherence  to  the  Quakers. 

3.  Having  graduated  at  Harvard  the  year  before,  Increase 
Mather  embarks  for  England.  He  visited  his  relatives  in  Lan- 
cashire, and  then  his  brother  Samuel,  recently  ordained  in  Dublin. 
To  advance  in  his  already  eminent  scholarship,  he  entered  Trinity 
College  and  there  took  his  A.  M.,  performing  the  exercise  required 
on  the  occasion,  with  great  applause.  He  was  elected  a  Fellow  of 
this  College,  but  declined  the  honor.  Though  he  had  attractive 
offers  to  continue  in  Ireland,  he  went  back  to  England  and  there 
preached,  some  time,  for  the  congregation  of  John  Howe,  at  Great 
Torrington  in  Devon,  not  far  from  his  brother  Nathaniel,  at 
Barnstable.  On  Mr.  Howe's  return,  he  accepted  an  invitation  from 
Col.  Bingham,  Governor  of  Guernsey,  to  preach  there,  which  he 
did.  Thence,  at  the  earnest  request  of  Rev.  James  Forbes  and 
others,  he  went  to  labor  in  his  profession  at  Gloucester.  He  re- 
turned to  Guernsey,  and  was  there  at  the  Restoration.  On  his 
refusal  to  sign  a  paper  sent  thither  by  General  Monk,  to  be  sub- 
scribed by  those  who  held  public  trusts,  he  was  threatened  with 
the  loss  of  his  salary,  above  £100,  but  escaped  such  an  evil.  On 
Sir  Hugh  Pollard's'  being  made  Governor  of  the  Island,  Mr.  Mather 
resigned  his  station,  because  he  could  not  be  a  conformist.  He 
returned  to  England,  and  was  offered  an  eligible  living,  if  he  would 

*  MS.  Rec.  f  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  309,  10.  +  MS.  Rec. 


160  CLERICAL  STATISTICS. 

[Mass. 

comply  with  the  requisitions  of  the  National  Church.  But  his 
heart  cleaved  to  the  Congregational  order,  and  his  tongue  was  too 
true  to  falsify  his  belief  and  induce  him  to  play  the  hypocrite.  He 
therefore  took  passage  for  New  England,  and  in  due  time  landed 
at  Boston,  "  the  first  of  September,"  1661,  where  he  soon  had 
opportunity  to  show  that  he  was  thoroughly  furnished  for  the  mul- 
tiplied and  difficult  duties  of  his  profession.* 

9.  A  preface  to  the  following  publication  f  is  dated  :  "  A  Re- 
view of  the  True  Nature  of  Schism,"  from  Daniel  Cawdrey,  minister 
of  Biling,  in  Northamptonshire,  by  John  Owen,  D.  D.  The  last 
divine  relates  that  not  long  after  he  wrote  a  treatise  in  1643, 
owning  therein  his  preference  for  Presbyterianism,  he  examined 
Cotton's  Keys,  and,  after  much  examination,  was  induced  to  em- 
brace the  principles  of  this  work.  The  next  year  Owen's  reply  to 
Cawdrey  was  prefixed  to  and  published  with  the  subsequent  work, 
"A  defence  of  Mr.  John  Cotton  from  the  imputation  of  self- 
contradiction,  charged  on  him  by  Mr.  Daniel  Cawdrey,  written  by 
himself  not  long  before  his  death." 

22.  A  report  J  concerning  the  situation  of  clergymen,  as  ordered 
by  the  Legislature,  is  made.  Hingham  has  one  hundred  families. 
Mr.  Hobart  has  twelve  persons  in  his  family,  £90  a  year,  payable 
one-third  in  wheat,  one-third  in  peas,  one-third  in  Indian  corn  and 
rye,  which  is  cleared  off  annually.  He  carries  on  no  farming. 
Weymouth  has  sixty  families.  Mr.  Thatcher  has  a  family  of  seven 
persons,  and  £100  salary  "  in  all  sorts  of  corne."  He  cultivates  no 
land.  Braintree  has  eighty  families.  Messrs.  Flint  and  Thompson 
have  each  £55  a  year  in  produce.  The  former  has  seven  or  eight 
persons  in  his  family,  and  the  latter  three.  "  These  Elders  depend 
generally  vpon  publike  contribution." — Another  report  of  Septem- 
ber 24,  similar  in  its  character,  is  presented.  Dorchester  has  one 
hundred  and  twenty  families.  Mr.  Mather  has  a  family  of  six 
or  seven  persons;  a  salary  of  £100,  paid  generally  at  the  close 
of  the  year,  partly  in  work ;  has  a  competent  stock  of  cattle  and 
good  accommodation  in  land  for  "  corne  and  haye."  Roxbury  has 
eighty  families.  Messrs.  Eliot  and  Danforth  have  each  £60  salary, 
paid  generally  in  corn  or  otherwise,  to  the  content  of  the  parties, 
and  once  a  year.  Eliot's  family  consists  of  eight  persons,  and 
Danforth's  of  six.  Both  have  estate  of  corn  and  cattle.  Dedham 
has  sixty-six  families.  Mr.  Allin  receives  £60  a  year,  in  corn 
and  work ;  has  a  family  of  seven  persons ;  a  good  stock  of  cattle 
and  accommodation  in  corn-land  and  meadow.  Meadfield  has 
forty  families.  Mr.  Wilson's  salary  is  £50,  paid  in  course  of  the 
year,  principally  with  corn.     He  has  a  family  of  six,  cattle  and 

*  Memoir  of  Increase  Mather,  p.  15-23.     Wilson's  Dissenting  Churches,  vol. 
i.  p.  230.  f  Hanbury,  vol.  iii.  p.  126,  471.  %  Mass.  MS.  Papers. 


QUAKERS  ai    I  HE   \  i.\'i:\  Ai;n.  161 

1657.] 

com  with  good  accommodations.     Boston  New  Church,  M< 
Mayo  and  Powell*  have  each  £55  salary,  besides  other  help  from 

friends.      The    family  of  the   one    has    BIZ,  and   of  the   other   .seven 

per>ons.       I  lull  has  twenty  families.      Its  minister's  salary  is  .€40. 

August  1<).  Copeland  and  Holder,  who  had  been  sent  hack  to 
Englandf  the  last  year,  having  landed  at  Rhode  Island,  appear  at 
Martha's  Vineyard.  They  relate :  *  We  went  to  their  meeting- 
house, and  alter  Priest  Mayhew  had  done  his  speeeh,'  "  one  of  us 
■pake  a  few  word.-,  and  then  was  both  of  ns  by  the  constable  thrust 
out  of  doors  and  forthwith  the  doors  were  shut."  They  add,  that 
an  Indian  was  ordered  to  carry  them  from  the  Vineyard.  Thence 
they  passed  to  Plymouth  Colony. 

!ii).  Mary,  the  wife  ot'  John  Clark,}  merchant  tailor  in  London, 
"  being  moved  by  the  Lord"  to  leave  her  husband  and  six  children, 
so  that  she  might  warn  the  people  of  Boston,  accordingly  delivers 
her  message  here,  is  arrested,  whipped  twenty  stripes,  imprisoned 
twelve  weeks  and  then  banished. 

►September  12.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Confederation,  being 
informed  that  Quakers,  coming  this  summer  to  Ilhode  Island,  had 
been  entertained  there,  address  $  the  Governor  of  that  jurisdic- 
tion on  the  subject  of  such  accommodation.  They  advert  to  the 
arrival  of  some,  belonging  to  such  a  denomination,  at  Boston,  to 
"  disperse  their  pernicious  sentiments,"  to  the  care  which  the 
Massachusetts  rulers  exercised  in  laying  the  matter  before  them- 
selves for  advice  ;  and  how  they  commended  to  the  Colonies,  under 
their  government,  that  each  of  them  adopt  measures  to  exclude 
the  sectarians  in  view  from  its  jurisdiction,  and  that  this  had  been 
accordingly  done.  They  proceed  to  state  that,  if  the  Island  coun- 
tenance the  Quakers,  it  will  much  impair  the  means  used  to  keep 
them  out  of  the  country,  and  thus  greatly  encourage  opposition  to 
the  Christian  Religion,  and  therefore,  earnestly  desire  their  co- 
operation. They  request  them  to  communicate  their  decision  to 
the  Bay  Legislature. 

A  motion  ||  is  made  to  the  Commissioners  by  Eliot  and  other 
elders,  that  Daniel  Gookin  and  Humphrey  Atherton  "  might  be 
encouraged  to  assist  in  carrying  on  the  Indian  work  in  respect  of 
civil  government."  As  the  proposition  referred  only  to  Indians 
of  Massachusetts,  the  Commissioners  conclude  that  it  properly 
belongs  to  the  direction  of  this  Colony. 

19.  The  Commissioners  reply  to  a  communication  from  the  Mis- 
sionary Corporation.     They  calculate  the  charges  for  the  Mission, 

*  From  a  vote  of  their  church  in  1661,  it  appears  that,  though  Powell  was 
cho>en  Ruling  Elder,  yet  that  he  served  and  was  paid  as  a  minister,  as  they  and 
he  wished,  but  not  as  the  legislature  ordered.  Robbins'  Hist,  of  Second  Ch., 
Boston.  f  New  Eng.  Ensign. 

X  Bishop's  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  50.  §  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii. 

p.  370,  1.  ||  Ibid.  p.  374,  6,  7. 

21 


102  AN   INDIAN   KEPLY. 

[Mass. 

the  present  year,  between  £600  and  £700.  They  give  a  detail  of 
the  persons  employed  in  the  mission.  Eliot  had  his  son,  his 
brother  Francis,  and  five  Indian  interpreters  and  schoolmasters, 
as  assistants.  Mayhew  had  his  father,  an  English  schoolmaster, 
and  two  Indian  interpreters,  to  aid  him  in  his  labors.  Messrs. 
Pierson,  Richard  Bourne,  Blinman,  Leveridge,  Newman  and 
Tompson  had  been  engaged  to  assist  the  mission.  John  Stanton 
was  still  supported,  as  well  as  nine  Indian  children,  in  preparation 
for  missionaries. 

21.  Copeland  and  Holder,  who  had  landed  at  Rhode  Island, 
been  ordered  from  the  Vineyard  and  Plymouth,  attempt  *  to  ad- 
dress the  congregation  at  Salem,  after  the  minister  had  closed  his 
service,  are  stopped  and  carried  out.  While  men  are  forcing  them 
from  the  house  of  worship,  Samuel  Shattuck,  of  the  same  place, 
interposed  in  behalf  of  Holder.  For  this,  he  and  the  Quakers 
were  taken  to  Boston  and  imprisoned.  On  the  23d,  the  two  last 
are  whipped  thirty  stripes  each.  They  were  kept  in  jail  nine 
weeks.  Shattuck  was  confined  till  he  gave  bond  of  £20  to  answer 
at  the  next  Court,  and  not  to  associate  with  any  of  such  a  denom- 
ination. 

With  regard  to  Copeland  and  Holder,  Gookin  gives  f  the  ensu- 
ing passage  :  "  Certain  Quakers,  landing  upon  the  Island,  (Martha's 
Vineyard,)  went  to  some  of  the  Indian  wigwams.  They  told  the 
Indians,  that  they  had  a  light  within  them  that  was  sufficient  to 
guide  them  to  happiness  ;  and  dissuaded  the  Indians  from  hearing 
Mr.  Mayhew,  or  reading  the  Scriptures ;  and  said  that  those 
ministers  that  preached  from,  or  used  the  Scriptures,  were  as 
Baal's  priests  and  hirelings.  And  at  last  the  Quakers  offered  the 
Indians  some  of  their  pamphlet  books,  which  they  always  carried 
with  them,  exhorting  the  Indians  to  read  them,  and  they  would  be 
of  greater  benefit  to  them  than  the  Bible.  The  Indians  heard  all 
this  discourse  patiently ;  and  then  one  of  the  principal  of  them, 
that  could  speak  English,  gravely  answered  :  '  You  are  strangers 
to  us,  and  we  like  not  your  discourse.  We  know  Mr.  Mayhew, 
that  he  is  a  good  and  holy  man  ;  but  you  we  know  not.  You  tell 
us  of  a  light  within  us  that  will  guide  us  to  salvation ;  but  our 
experience  tells  us  that  we  are  darkness  and  corruption,  and  all 
manner  of  evil  within  our  hearts.  You  dehort  us  from  using 
the  Bible,  but  offer  your  books,  and  commend  them  to  us.  We 
cannot'  receive  your  counsel,  contrary  to  our  own  experience,  and 
the  advice  and  exhortations  of  our  ancient  and  good  teachers. 
Therefore,  we  pray  you,  trouble  us  no  further  with  your  new 
doctrines,  for  we  do  not  approve  them.'  So  the  Quakers,  not  long 
after,  departed  from  the  island,  and  never  since  have  they  been 
infested  with  them." 


•  Bishop's  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  50,  1. 
vol.  i.  p.  203. 


t  Gookin.    Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s. 


BORING   Till-:  TONGUE.  L63 

Ki;>7.] 

October  8.  A  Letter  from  .John  Eliot  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Missionary  Corporation,  mentions  that  he  had  been  confined  by 
sickness,  and  was  partly  able  to  resume   his  mission.     He  states 

that  ho  had  received   £11  Worth  of  BUpplieS,  the  last  of  a  donation 

loft  by  a  deceased  friend  to  the  Indians,  and  some  books  from  Mr. 
Jessy.*  lie  recommends  Jonathan  Ince,  about  to  embark  for 
England,  "  as  a  godly  young  man,  a  scholar  who  hath  a  singular 
(acuity  to  learn  and  pronounce  the  Indian  tongue,"  and  desires 
that,  on  his  return,  he  may  assist  him  in  teaching  the  Indians.  A 
brother  of  .Mr.  Eliot,  being  about  to  close  his  labors  as  an  assistant 
to  him,  was  the  reason  of  such  a  request. 

14.  The  Legislature  assemble.f  Still  considering  themselves  as 
obligated  to  stand  against  what  they  believed  heresy,  and  to  use 
more  severe  means  to  accomplish  this  object,  because  some  of  those 
banished  on  such  an  account  had  returned  without  leave,  they  pass 
a  law,  additional  to  what  already  existed,  in  reference  to  the  Quakers. 
It  is  ordered,  that  any  one  who  brings  them  or  "  other  blasphemous 
hereticks  "  hither,  shall  be  fined  £100,  and  imprisoned  till  the  sum 
be  paid,  as  before  required  ;  whoever  entertains  or  conceals  them, 
knowing  them  to  be  such,  shall  pay  40/.  for  every  hour  he  thus  does  ; 
if  Quaker  men,  after  having  the  present  law  executed  upon  them, 
come  back  to  this  jurisdiction,  they  shall,  for  the  first  offence,  have 
each  one  ear  cut  oft",  and  be  kept  at  hard  work  in  the  house  of  cor- 
rection, till  they  can  be  sent  awray  at  their  own  charge  ;  for  the  second 
offence,  shall  have  the  other  ear  cut  off,  and  confined  as  aforesaid  ; 
if  women  of  the  same  denomination  so  do,  they  shall,  for  the  first 
and  second  offences,  be  severely  whipped  and  similarly  confined  ;  if 
such  persons,  of  either  sex,  come  back  the  third  time,  they  shall 
have  their  tongues  bored  through  with  a  hot  iron,  and  as  pre- 
viously stated,  be  kept  at  hard  labor  till  they  can  be  carried  off  at 
their  own  cost ;  and  all  of  the  inhabitants  who  become  Quakers, 
shall  be  alike  treated.  The  punishment  of  boring  the  tongue  with 
a  hot  iron  was  not  executed  in  this  Colony.  The  order  for  it 
appears  to  have  been  an  imitation  of  one  passed  by  Parliament, 
December,  1656,  in  reference  to  James  Naylor. 

Report  is  made,  that  the  controversy  between  Haverhill  and 
Salisbury  churches  is  hopefully  settled.  The  two  towns  are 
required  to  meet  the  charges  of  the  Council,  though  the  Colonial 
Treasurer  pays  them  for  the  present.  It  is  ordered  that,  for  the 
future,  the  delinquents  in  such  cases,  shall  be  answerable  for  the 
expenses. 

The  subject  which  had  excited  much  public  attention,  and 
drawn  forth  a  labored,  legal  report  from  Samuel  Symonds,  comes 

*  Mr.  Jessy  was  minister  of  the  Church  in  Southwark,  formed  by  Henry 
Jacobs,  and  "  before  his  settlement  there  was  much  pressed  to  go  to  New  Eng- 
land. "     He  was  lost  in  a  vessel  with  the  missionary,  Mayhew. 

t  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


164  PROVISION  FOR  A  PARISH  HOUSE. 

[Mass. 

before  the  General  Court.  It  relates  to  a  vote  in  Ipswich,  taken 
February  25,  1656,  by  a  majority,  for  £100  towards  a  house 
for  Mr.  Cobbet.  Part  of  the  minority  contended  that,  as  they 
gave  no  consent  for  the  levy  of  such  a  sum,  they  ought  not  to 
become  responsible  for  its  payment.  The  question  having  been 
submitted,  and  the  parties  heard,  the  Deputies  decide,*  on  the  20th, 
that  the  minority  are  not  bound  ;  but  the  next  day  the  greater  part 
of  them  give  a  different  opinion,  which  was  concurred  in  by  the 
Assistants.  Hence  the  conclusion  of  the  Legislature  is,  that  the 
Ipswich  vote  was  in  force  not  only  for  those  who  favored  it,  but 
also  for  those  of  its  opponents.  What  lent  to  this  discussion  no 
small  interest,  was  the  belief  of  many  Colonists,  that  the  salaries 
of  ministers  should  be  paid  only  by  voluntary  contributions.  Such 
persons  maintained,  that  it  was  inconsistent  with  true  liberty  for 
any  individual  to  have  his  property  taken  to  meet  public  taxes,  for 
which  he  did  not  give  his  vote.  But  experience  has  long  proved, 
that  the  compulsory  system,  for  many  public  interests,  has  less  evil 
connected  with  it  than  the  voluntary. 

23.  As  by  the  reports,  a  number  of  ministers  are  not  sufficiently 
supported  and  some  towns  are  destitute  of  them,  the  County  Courts 
are  instructed  to  rectify  these  things,  and  wherein  they  are  unable, 
to  inform  the  Legislature. 

As  Eobert  Pike  has  paid  his  fine  for  resisting  the  order  of  the 
General  Court,  as  to  the  settlement  of  ministers,  and  now  desires 
favor  of  them,  through  Mr.  Worcester,  pastor  of  the  Salisbury 
church,  who  appears  to  plead  his  cause,  they  "  release  him  from 
the  other  part  of  the  sentence." 

The  Legislature  considering  that  Mr.  Dunster,  while  President 
of  the  College,  was  very  useful,  for  which  he  had  no  adequate 
compensation,  discharge  him  from  a  debt  of  £40  or  £50  to  the 
Colony,  "  as  a  gratuity  for  his  good  service."  This  was  some 
alleviation  of  his  trials,  occasioned  by  his  profession  of  antipedo- 
baptism. 

On  representation  of  Mr.  Eliot  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  at  the 
location,  afterwards  named  Marlborough,  an  order  is  issued  that 
6,000  acres  there,  be  laid  out  for  them  before  winter.  On  De- 
cember 7,  the  inhabitants  of  Dorchester  appoint  a  committee  to  lay 
out  6,000  acres  of  land  at  Puncapoag,  as  a  settlement  for  the 
Christian  Indians,  as  Eliot  had  requested.  A  measure,  so  favora- 
ble to  the  mission,  was  carried  into  effect. 

November.  Thomas  May  hew,  jr.,  leaves  the  Vineyard  f  and  sails 
from  Boston  with  Capt.  James  Garrett,  his  wife's  own  brother,  for 
England.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  pupil  of  his,  a  son  of  Moxes, 
an  Indian  of  noted  piety.     His  object  in  taking  the  voyage  was  to 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  287,  309.  f  Gookin's  Coll.     Exp.  Mavhew,  Ind. 

Conv.  p.  76-80. 


LOSS  OF  MA\  iii:\\    and  0THBR8.  L6fi 

l(i.')7.] 

confer  with  the  Missionary  Corporation  and  so  promote  the  eran- 
gelization  of  the  Indians.  For  his  office  he  had  well  fitted  himself, 
being  acquainted  with  the  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew  langui 
Thus  bound  on  an  errand  o(  mercy,  with  pleasant  hopes  that  the 
sphere  of  his  usefulness  would  be  enlarged,  he  departed  to  be  do 
more  heard  of,  as  the  living  laborer  for  Christ  The  vessel  in 
which  he  embarked  was  lost,  with  all  on  hoard.  He  was  so  taken 
away  at  the  age  of  36  years,  leaving  a  wife  and  three  sons,  for  whom 
lie  most  eared,  that  they  might  he  dutiful,  useful  and  saved.  The 
natives  with  whom  he  labored,  and  in  whose  dialect  he  had  made 
great  proficiency,  and  the  English,  to  whom  he  preached,  greatly 
lamented  his  loss.  Experience  May  hew,  in  his  Indian  Converts, 
p.  292,  says:  "  I  have  seen  the  rock,  on  a  descending  ground, 
upon  which  he  sometimes  used  to  stand  and  preach  to  great  num- 
bers, crowding  to  hear  him  ;  and  the  place  on  the  wayside  where 
he  solemnly  and  affectionately  took  his  leave  of  that  poor  and 
beloved  people  of  his,  was  for  all  that  generation  remembered  with 
sorrow." 

Richard  Dowdney,*  from  England,  is  apprehended  as  a  Quaker, 
at  Dedham,  brought  to  Boston,  and  whipped  thirty  stripes.  He 
was  ordered  out  of  the  jurisdiction  the  latter  part  of  the  month. 

December  '29.  William  Baker  appears  f  before  the  Middlesex 
Court,  to  answer  the  charge  of  absenting  himself  from  the  ordinance 
of  baptism  and  having  Quaker  books  in  his  house.  He  asserts 
that  he  has  no  such  books,  and  that  he  disliked  those  he  had  seen, 
and  had  burnt  them  ;  that  he  had  recently  been  convinced  he 
ought  not  to  show  dislike  for  infant  baptism,  and  purposed  to  abide 
by  this  opinion.  The  Court  "  admonished  him  to  be  careful  of 
Satan's  wiles,"  and  allowed  him  to  depart.  George  Knower  is 
complained  of  for  a  profanation  of  the  Sabbath. 

This  year  a  vote  is  taken  at  Springfield,^:  that  four  brethren  of 
the  church  "  carry  on  the  public  worship "  there.  Of  them, 
Deacon  Wright  has  50/.  a  month,  and  after,  they  have  £40  a  year 
between  them.  They  are  restricted,  except  John  Pynchon,  to 
reading  from  some  author.  He  is  allowed  to  address  the  congre- 
gation "with  his  own  meditations." 

According  to  a  catalogue  of  books  in  the  British  Museum,  the 
"  Method  of  Divine  Grace,"  as  printed  in  London,  is  assigned  to 
Thomas  Parker  of  Newbury,  as  its  author. 

While  Edmund,  son  of  Eev.  John  Wilson,  was  in  Italy  ,§  about 
1657,  he  was  brought  before  the  Inquisition.  The  Chief,  at  first, 
appeared  stern  ;  but  suddenly  altered  his  conduct,  on  being  visited 
by  a  friend,  so  that-  he  invited  Mr.  Wilson  to  dine  with  him.  Then 
the  principal  Inquisitor,  much  to  his  surprise,  as  he  had  not  made 

*  Bishop's  N.  Eng.  Judged,  p.  53.  f  Middlesex  Ct.  MS.  Rec. 

%  Tcnvn  Rec.  of  Springfield.  §  Life  of  John  Wilson,  p.  33. 


166  AN  ABLE  MINISTRY   SLIGHTED. 

[Plym. 

known  who  he  was,  called  him  by  name,  and  mentioned  "  the 
character  of  his  father's  industry  in  serving  the  hereticks  of  New 
England." 


PLYMOUTH. 


1655.  March  6.  Peter  Gaunt,  Ralph  Allen,  sen.,  and  George 
Allen,  arraigned  for  neglect  of  public  worship,  are  desired*  to 
speak  on  the  subject.  "  Gaunt  alfirmed  that  he  knew  no  public 
visible  worship  now  in  the  world,  whereunto  the  said  Ralph  assent- 
ed, but  George  Allen  dissented." 

This  spring,  John  Reyner,f  who  left  his  ministry  at  Plymouth 
several  months  before  and  went  to  Boston,  returns  with  an  inclina- 
tion to  resume  his  labors.  But,  as  Morton  observes,  "  divers  of 
them  being  tainted  with  the  then  epidemical  disease  of  some  part 
of  the  country  about  that  time,  viz.,  a  slight  esteem  of  an  able  min- 
istry," he  left  the  following  summer,  and  settled  at  Dover. 

May  8.  Edward  Winslow,  one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed 
by  Cromwell  to  superintend  an  expedition  against  Spanish  ports 
in  the  West  Indies,  dies  there  on  his  passage  between  Hispaniola 
and  Jamaica,  in  his  sixty -first  year.J  In  all  the  relations  of  life,  as 
husband,  father  and  friend,  he  ever  showed  himself  affectionate  and 
faithful ;  as  a  member  of  society,  agent,  magistrate  and  Governor, 
he  was  able,  intelligent,  energetic  and  patriotic.  Amid  the  multi- 
plied and  responsible  trusts  which  he  sustained,  the  prosperity  of 
Puritanism  was  ever  uppermost  in  his  prayers,  plans  and  pursuits. 
For  this  cause  he  adventured  every  temporal  interest,  derived  his 
highest  joys  from  its  duties,  and  his  brightest  hopes  from  its  prin- 
ciples. One  who  was  with  him,  and  witnessed  the  solemnities  of 
his  burial  in  the  sea,  describes  him  as  pleasant  in  manners,  just  in 
deportment,  superior  in  talents  and  attainments,  worthy  of  great 
confidence,  and  an  honor  to  every  trust  committed  to  his  charge. 
In  his  family,  he  had  experienced  the  joys  and  sorrows  usual  with 
such  a  relation.  He  was  the  son  of  one  bearing  his  name,  and 
of  Draughtwich,  in  Worcestershire.  While  traveling  in  the  Low 
Countries,  he  united  with  the  people  of  Robinson,  at  Leyden,  and 
embarked  with  part  of  them  for  Plymouth.  His  first  wife,§  Eliza- 
beth, who  had  shared  with  him  in  the  hardships  of  a  new  planta- 

*  Plym.  Col.  MS.  Rec.  f  Plym.  MS.  Ch.  Rec. 

J  Morton,  gives  this  age,  but  the  Memorials  of  Marshfield  state  that  he  was 
59  years,  6  months,  and  18  days  old. 

§  Morton's  N.  E.  Memorial,  p.  181,  2.  Mem.  of  Marshfield,  by  Maria  A. 
Thomas,  p.  18. 


BRADFORD'S  OBJECTIONS.  [&] 

1696.] 

tion,  died  Manh  £4,  1621.  The  next  May  24th,  he  married 
Susannah,  the  widow  of  William  White.  Hi^  children,  Edward 
aiul  John,  deceased  at  an  early  age.  He  lefl  son  Joeiah,  afterwards 
Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony,  and  daughter  Elisabeth,  who  hon- 
ored their  lather  by  imitating  his  worthy  example. 

June  5.  Inhabitants  of  Etehoboth  petition*  the  Legislature  " to 
them  in  a  way  according  to  the  orders  of  other  Colonies  about 
them  for  raising  maintenance  for  the  ministry." 

Governor  Bradford  states  the  subsequent  reasons  why  he  is  un- 
willing to  continue  in  his  office,  except  they  are  seasonably  removed. 
The  support  for  ministers  was  insufficient,  and  therefore,  many  of 
them  had  moved  away ;  errors  had  not  been  properly  suppressed, 
and  disorders  are  likely  to  succeed,  "  and  the  peace  and  comfort  of 
the  churches  disturbed  ;  "  other  magistrates  are  alike  dissatisfied. 
The  Deputies  took  these  and  other  objections  into  consideration, 
and  "  propounded  sundry  things  in  way  of  satisfaction,  which  being 
rectified,  were  enacted  by  the  Court." 

The  Court  enactf  that  whoever  denies  the  Scriptures  as  the  rule 
of  life,  shall  receive  corporal  punishment ;  that,  as  much  com- 
plaint exists,  that  ministers  are  not  sufficiently  supported,  they 
are  not  to  remove  until  they  lay  their  case  before  a  Magistrate,  and 
he  has  heard  both  parties,  and  that,  if  congregations  refuse  to  do 
their  duty  in  this  respect,  they  shall  be  compelled. 

8.  Marshfield  having  presented,  last  year,  a  request  similar  to 
that  of  Rehoboth,  the  Legislature  appoint  +  Standish  and  Alden  to 
visit  them,  and,  at  a  public  town  meeting,  signify  to  them,  that  the 
Court  desire  that  they  freely  contribute,  according  to  their  means, 
for  the  support  of  their  minister,  so  that  there  be  no  just  cause  of 
future  complaint. 

1656.  June  6.  The  Legislature  order,§  "  that  no  Indian  shall 
discharge  any  gun  on  the  Lord's  day  at  any  thing,  to  the  breach  of 
the  Sabbath  and  disturbance  of  the  English." 

July.  They  consider  a  complaint,  that  cards  had  been  brought 
into  some  of  their  towns,  "  whereby  sundry  young  persons,  men's 
both  children  and  servants,  have  been  drawn  together  to  spend 
their  time  in  playing  at  such  unlawful  games,  to  the  corrupting  of 
youth,  with  sundry  other  sad  consequences  that  may  follow,"  and 
they  pass  an  order,  that  whoever  brings  into  the  Colony  or  keeps 
in  his  house,  cards,  and  allows  any  to  play  there  with  them  and 
dice,  shall  be  fined  40/.,  and  that  all  "  acters "  therein  shall  be 
subjected  to  the  same  fine.  They  also  appoint,  that  servants  and 
children,  who  engage  in  such  play  with  cards  and  dice,  shall  be 
corrected,  for  the  first  offence,  at  the  discretion  of  their  masters  and 
parents,  and,  for  the  second,  be  publicly  whipped. 

*  Plvm.  Col.  Rec.  t  Plvm.  Col.  Laws. 

X  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  §  Plvm.  Col.  Laws. 


168  INFLUENCE   OF   THE    SEEKERS. 

[Plym. 

September  %  Alarmed  at  the  increasing  prejudice,  which  appear- 
ed in  various  towns  in  this  Colony  to  the  proper  support  of  an  able 
ministry,  and  also  fearful  that  such  an  inclination  would  open  an 
entrance  for  the  doctrines  of  George  Fox  and  others,  Massachusetts, 
as  a  member  of  the  Confederation  to  which  Plymouth  belonged, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  of  this  Union,  address  the 
Commissioners  on  the  subject,  who,  at  their  session*  a  few  days 
after,  took  it  up  and  gave  their  advtce  for  a  reformation  wherever 
needed.  Such  prejudice  appears  to  have  been  advanced  by  the 
principles  of  the  Seekers,  among  whom  was  Roger  Williams. 

October  3.  Myles  Standish  closes  his  eventful  life.f  His  great 
grandfather  wras  a  "  younger  brother  from  the  House  of  Standish. 
He  was  heir  apparent  unto  a  great  estate,  surreptitiously  detained 
from  him."  He  did  military  service  in  the  "Low  Countries," 
where  he  commenced  a  permanent  acquaintance  with  the  Pilgrims 
in  Leyden,  and  joined  himself  faithfully,  for  weal  or  woe,  with 
those  of  them  who  adventured  the  perilous  settlement  at  Plymouth. 
His  will  names  four  sons,  Alexander,  Myles,  Josiah  and  Charles. 
Morton  states,  that  "  growing  very  ancient,  he  became  sick  "  of  the 
strangury,  and  after  severe  suffering,  "fell  asleep  in  the  Lord 
and  was  honourably  buried  at  Duxbury." 

1657.  February  3.  Jane,  wife  of  William  Lander,  of  Sandwich, 
and  Sarah,  daughter  of  Richard  Kerbey,  are  presented,*  "  for  dis- 
turbance by  them  made  in  the  public  worship  of  God  on  the  Lord's 
day  at  Sandwich,  by  opposing  and  abusing  the  speaker  amongst 
them."  A  summons  is  issued  for  William  Allen,  Richard  Kerbey, 
and  the  wife  of  John  Newland,  to  appear  and  answer  for  meeting 
with  others  at  the  house  of  said  Allen  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  at 
other  times,  where  "  they  used  to  inveigh  against  ministers  and 
magistrates,  to  the  dishonor  of  God  and  contempt  of  government." 
Nicholas  Upshall,  a  Quaker  from  Boston,  who  assembled  with  them, 
"  being  only  licensed  by  the  Court  formerly  to  stay  at  Sandwich 
until  the  extremity  of  winter  is  over,  is  now  warned  to  depart  the 
government  by  the  first  of  March  next."  Trustrum  Hull,  who 
brought  him  hither,  is  warned  to  carry  him  away  by  the  time 
specified.  On  the  5th  of  March,  Sarah  Kerbey,  "  for  disturbance 
of  the  public  worship  of  God  after  admonition  and  sentence  for- 
merly given  against  her,  which  was  to  be  publicly  whipped,  this  is 
now  ordered  to  be  performed,  and  so  accordingly  was  executed." 
Jane  Lander  is  ordered  to  be  whipped,  for  a  similar  offence,  unless 
she  engage  to  trespass  no  more  in  this  way. 

General  Court  send  an  order  to  John  Newland,  of  Sandwich,  that 
a  house  of  his,  which  had  been  used  for  meetings,  that  "  tended 
to  the  disturbance  of  the  public  worship  of  God,"  should  be  no 
longer  thus  used. 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  346,  7. 

f  N.  E.  Mem.,  ed.  of  1721,  p.  182,  3.  +  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


DECEASE  OF  GOVERNOR    BRADFORD.  L69 

1657.] 

May  \l  One  of  the  choicest  supporters4  of  Bocial,  civil  and 
religious  order  in  the  Colony,  is  summoned  to  rest  from  various, 
multiplied  and  anxious  responsibilities,  in  the  person  of  William 
Bradford,  "  a  gentleman  of  very  noble  and  generous  spirit,*'  aa 
Neal  observes,  "  approved  in  Town,  in  Church,  in  Court,  for  the 
full  space  ol*  thirty-seven  years."  As  one  of  the  founders,  protec- 
tors and  guides  of  the  Commonwealth,  his  departure  was  exten- 
sively and  deeply  deplored.  This  occurred  in  his  69th  year.  His 
first  wile,  Dorothy  May,  died  in  Cape  Cod  harbor,  before  the 
Pilgrims  had  provided  the  comforts  of  a  land  settlement.  His 
second  was  widow  Alice  Southward,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Carpenter,  and  who  died  March  2,  1(370,  aged  80.  By  her  he  left 
two  sons,  William  and  Joseph.  Her  helpfulness  to  him  flowed 
out  in  benefit  to  the  public,  who  are  thus  bound  to  honor  her 
memory.  Though  he  was  not  favored  with  an  education  at  the 
University,  yet  he  was  a  thorough  and  cultivated  scholar.  He  Mas 
familiar  with  the  French  and  Dutch  languages.  He  made  laudable 
progress  in  the  Latin  and  Greek.  Few  surpassed  him  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew.  His  chief  inducement  for  mastering 
this  was,  as  he  remarked,  that  "  he  would  see  with  his  own  eyes 
the  ancient  oracles  of  God  in  their  native  beauty."  In  him  was  a 
striking  demonstration  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  when  properly 
embraced  and  obeyed,  to  render  a  man  worthy  of  imitation  in  all 
the  walks  of  life,  whether  private  or  public,  whether  relative  to 
time  or  eternity. 

June  3.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Court. t  This  body  "  taking 
into  theire  seriouse  consideration  the  great  defect  that  either  is  or 
like  to  be  in  the  several  Townships  in  this  jurisdiction  for  want  of 
an  able,  Godly  Teaching  ministry,  and  the  great  prejudice  to  the 
souls  of  many  like  to  ensue.  And  in  consideration,  that  in  as  much 
as  the  several  Townships  granted  by  the  Government,  was  that 
such  a  Company  might  be  received  as  should  maintain  the  publick 
worship  and  service  of  God  there,  do  therefore  judge,  that  the 
whole  body,  Church  and  Town,  are  mutually  engaged  to  support 
the  same."  They  require  that  four  men,  in  each  town,  favored 
with  "  an  able,  Godly  Teaching  minister,"  shall  assess  rates  for  his 
comfortable  support,  on  the  inhabitants,  proportionally  to  their 
estates,  unless  other  means  are  used  efficiently  for  the  same  end. 

The  fourth  part  of  every  military  company  in  each  town,  are 
ordered  to  bring  their  "  arms  by  course  every  Lord's  day  to  the 
meeting,  with  powder  and  bullett  to  improve  if  occasion  require." 
Any  soldier,  who  omits  compliance,  "  shalbee  fined  twelve  pence 
for  every  default." — All  persons,  who  have  not  taken  the  oath  of 
fidelity,  and  still  neglect  it  for  six  months,  after  being  legally 
notified  to  do  it,  shall  either  depart  from  the  Colony  or  pay  five 
pounds. 

*  X.  E.  Mem.  ed.  of  1721,  p.  183-89.  t  Plym.  Col.  Laws 

22 


170  NOVELTIES   OF  ERROR  ATTRACTIVE. 

[Pltm. 

"  In  case  any  shall  bring  in  any  quaker,  ranter,  or  other  noto- 
rious heriticks,  either  by  land  or  water,  into  any  part  of  this  Gov- 
ernment, shall  forthwith,  upon  order  from  any  one  Magistrate, 
return  them  to  the  place  from  whence  they  came,  or  clear  the 
Government  of  them,  on  the  penaltie  of  20/.  for  every  week  that 
they  shall  stay  after  warning." 

August.  Copeland  and  Holder,*  having  been  ejected  from  the 
Vineyard  and  brought  to  the  main  land,  are  found  at  Plymouth. 
When  the  marshal  ordered  them  to  leave  the  Colony,  they  said, 
that  the  Lord  required  them  to  visit  Sandwich.  He  then  took  and 
carried  them  towards  Rhode  Island.  Still  they  returned  to  Sand- 
wich. On  September  2,  being  apprehended,  they  are  sent  back 
again  in  the  same  direction. 

September  12.  All  the  Commissioners  f  sign  the  letter  to  the 
authorities  of  Rhode  Island,  for  the  suppression  of  the  Quakers, 
except  James  Cudworth  of  this  Colony. 

The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  write  to  Samuel  Newman  of 
Rehoboth,  as  they  do,  at  the  same  date,  to  several  other  ministers. 
Being  informed  that  he  was  disposed  to  act  as  missionaiy  among 
the  Indians,  they  propose,  as  agents  of  the  Society  in  England,  to 
allow  him  an  interpreter,  who  may  be  with  him  constantly,  with 
the  promise  of  compensation  to  both  of  them  according  to  their 
service. 

October  6.  The  people  of  Taunton  complain,*  that  unworthy 
persons  have  come  among  them  without  legal  permission.  Order 
is  given  that  these  individuals  shall  not  be  entertained,  and  espe- 
cially that  William  Paule  and  his  wife  be  expelled.  Humphrey 
Norton,  a  Quaker,  "  is  found  guilty  of  divers  horrid  errors,"  and 
commanded  to  leave  the  Colony. 

Ralph  Allen,  of  Sandwich,  for  holding  meetings  §  on  the  Sabbath 
at  his  house,  is  required  to  give  bond  that  he  will  keep  the  law. 
But  he  and  Newland  of  the  same  town  refusing,  are  placed  in 
custody  of  the  chief  marshal.  Mr.  Burgis  apologizes  for  the  part  he 
took,  is  admonished  and  released.  Henry  Saunders,  for  refusing 
to  assist  in  the  apprehension  of  Newland,  is  committed  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  Court.  Edward  Dillingham,  for  speaking  on  this 
occasion,  opprobriously  of  the  officer,  is  admonished.  Ralph  Jones 
is  fined  10;'.  for  neglecting  public  worship. 

December  22.  At  a  Court  of  the  Assistants  in  Duxbury,  the 
case  of  Robert  Houchin,  a  Quaker,  comes  before  them.  He  is 
charged  with  going  to  and  fro  in  some  towns  of  the  Colony,  and 
procuring  people  to  meet  and  hear  his  discourse.  It  is  stated, 
"  sundry  alsoe  began  to  be  taken  with  his  novelties,  which  was 
likely  to  produce  great  disturbance."     On  the  19th,  a  warrant  was 

*  N.  E.  Ensign.  f  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  371,  2. 

\  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  §  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


DESCBIPTTOH   OP  THE  QUAKERS.  171 

1657.] 

granted  for  his  apprehension  and  thai  of  others,  and  thus  prevent 
their  meeting  the  nezl  day,  being  the  Sabbath,  at  the  house  of 
Arthur  Howland,  of  Marshfield,  who  was  near  10  years  old.  But 
most  of  the  persons,  who  purposed  to  assemble  here,  heard  of  the 

process  against  them,  and  kept  away,  so  that  John  Phillips,  the 
constable,  came  t hither  and  found  none  together  in  the  act  of 
religious  convocation.  On  the  21st,  he  endeavored  to  take 
Houchin,  at  1  lowland's  house,  with  John  and  Joseph,  sons  of 
John  Rogers,  hut  J  lowland  thrust  him  out  of  the  door,  and  threat- 
ened, it'  he  persisted,  to  oppose  him  with  a  sword  or  gun. 

Zoeth  llowland  is  accused  of  saying,  that  he  would  not  "go  to 
meeting  to  hear  lies,"  etc.  Arthur  and  Zoeth  llowland,  and  John 
llowland,  Jr.,  are  ordered  to  appear  at  different  dates  and  answer 
the  accusations  brought  against  them.  The  first,  refusing  to  come 
under  bonds,  is  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Chief  Marshal. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  opinion,  which  generally  prevailed  in  the 
Confederation  as  to  the  people  thus  prosecuted,  we  have  a  passage 
from  Morton's  MSS.*  "  There  arose  a  perverse  sect  called  Quakers, 
whose  tenets  and  principles  (if  I  may  so  call  them)  are  and  may  be 
demonstrated  to  be  heretical  and  abominable,  and  these  and  at 
several  other  times  did  strike  at  the  very  being,  or  at  least  the  well 
being  of  the  Church  so  as  it  was  much  endangered.  This  efficacy  of 
delusion  grew  very  prevalent  to  the  perverting  and  turning  aside 
of  divers  outside  professors  from  the  ways  of  God." 

Note. — 1655.  Dec.  22.  News  from  Plymouth.  "  Three  Dutch  vessels, 
pressed  by  bad  weather,  and  coming  from  New  Netherland,  have  run  in 
here.  They  are  said  to  have  conquered  again  the  Fort  Casamirus,  and  all 
the  fortifications  which  the  Swedes  there  had  taken  from  us,  and  to  have 
delivered  of  that  nation  the  whole  river,  from  the  head  to  its  mouth.  The 
said  vessels  bring  with  them  the  person  (Governor  Rising)  who  was  the 
commander  of  the  Swedes." — Haerlemsche  Courant  of  January  8,  1656. — 
Hist.  Magazine,  vol.  iii.  p.  144. 


MAINE. 


1655.  April  3.  Cromwell  writes  to  John  Leverettrf  "We 
have  received  an  account  from  Major  Sedgwick,  of  his  taking 
several  forts  from  the  French  in  America,  and  that  he  hath  left 
you  to  command  and  secure  for  us  and  this  Commonwealth.  We 
have  thought  it  necessary  to  let  you  know  of  how  great  conse- 
quence it  is,  that  .you  use  your  utmost  care  and  circumspection, 
as  well  to  defend  and  keep  the  forts  abovesaid,  as  also  to  improve 
the  regaining  of  them  into  our  hands,  to  the  advantage  of  us  and 

*  MS.  Hist,  of  Plym.  Ch.  f  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  vol.  iv.  p.  458. 


172  CONQUEST  OF  FRENCH  TERRITORY. 

[Me. 

this  State."  The  capture  of  such  fortifications  relieved  the  minds 
of  those,  who  wished  that  papacy  might  have  no  rule  in  their 
neighborhood. 

May  23.  Under  this  date,*  a  Committee  of  the  Bay  and  the 
Associates  of  the  County  Court  of  Yorkshire,  are  empowered  to 
receive  the  submission  of  individuals  Avho  had  not  yielded  to  the 
authority  of  Massachusetts. 

June  28.  Silvester  Stover  and  his  wife  are  complained  of  for 
using  very  improper  language  to  each  other  on  the  Sabbath.f  He 
is  fined  10/.  and  fees  5/.  for  breach  of  the  holy  day.  As  George 
Garland  had  published  an  intention  of  marriage  between  the 
widow  Hitchcock  of  Saco  and  himself,  though  he  lately  owned 
that  he  was  the  husband  of  another  woman,  the  Court  order  the 
constable  of  that  town  to  forbid  the  publication. 

October  24.  George  Cleaves  offers  a  remonstrance  J  to  the 
Massachusetts  authorities,  of  persons  who  "pretend  to  be  the 
Province  of  Lygonia  "  and  independent  of  them.  They  decide : 
"  If,  therefore,  the  said  inhabitants  shall  endeavour  to  prevent  us 
in  our  just  rights,  we  must  profess  against  their  proceedings  as 
unjust,  and  shall  advise  ourselves  to  take  such  course  as  shall 
evidence  our  desires  to  acquit  ourselves  honestly  before  God 
and  man." 

November  23.  In  the  orders  §  of  Massachusetts  to  Leverett,  their 
agent,  they  wish,  that  if  a  treaty  be  made  between  France  and  Eng- 
land, and  Acadie  be  confirmed  to  the  latter,  he  will  use  his  influ- 
ence for  them,  so  that  such  territory  may  come  under  their  juris- 
diction, should  Cromwell  favor  the  project.  They  further  wish, 
that  in  case  Rigby  should  complain,  that  they  had  received  Lygo- 
nia under  their  laws,  Leverett  would  answer  as  circumstances 
might  require.  The  treaty,||  just  referred  to,  was  made  at  West- 
minster the  third  of  November,  and  Nova  Scotia  was  allowed  to 
the  English,  and  thus  the  people  of  Maine  were  still  kept  from 
the  restoration  of  former  Catholic  influence  on  their  borders. 

1656.  August  9.  In  a  charter  of  Acadie  and  Nova  Scotia, 
from  Cromwell  to  Stephen  de  la  Tour,  Thomas  Temple,  and 
William  Crowne,  Maine  is  included  up  to  Penobscot,  the  River 
St.  George  and  the  Muscongus.U  A  condition  of  such  proprietor- 
ship is,  that  no  person  shall  be  allowed  to  dwell  within  its  bounds, 
except  those  of  the  Protestant  religion,  and  such  as  submit  to  the 
laws  of  the  English  Republic.  Palairet  informs  us,  that  La 
Tour  immediately  sold  his  right  to  the  other  two  Patentees,  and 
thus  increased  the  prospect  of  a  more  permanent  Puritan  influ- 

*  Mass.  MS.  Rec.  f  Maine  MS.  Rec.  J  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  274. 

§  Memoires  de  l'Amerique.     Holmes'  Ann.  vol.  i.  p.  305. 

||  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  190. 

IT  Chalmers,  p.  188,  remarks  :  "  Thus  was  introduced  that  confusion,  •with 
regard  to  Acadie  and  Nova  Scotia,  which  so  perplexed  statesmen  in  after  times, 
by  considering  those  as  different  countries,  that  were  in  truth  the  same." 


OPPOSITION  TO  OOYERNMBNT.  17< 

i..;.:.] 

emv.     On  the  17th  of  September,  Temple  receives  a  commission 

from  Cromwell  as  governor  of  such  territory. 

Though  the  church  difficulties  at  Wells  had  been  hushed,  they 
awake  this  year  to  exert  their  baneful  influence.  Sotli  Fletcher,  a 
minister,  is  here,  and  appears  to  have  been  pastor  of  the  congre- 
gation. 

1657.  May  (>.  Commissioners  are  instructed*  not  only  to  take 
in  such  as  are  within  our  limits,  under  Massachusetts,  but  "  also 
to  appoint  and  settle  them  in  such  a  way  of  government,  with 
commissioners,  constables,  and  other  officers,  as  they  may  be 
enabled  to  preserve  the  peace  and  defend  themselves  from  tumults 
and  settle  due  ministry  among  them,  that  so  they  may  live  accord- 
ing to  God,  under  such  ordinances  as  they  are  capable  of." 

15.  The  Bay  authorities  address  Josselyn  and  Jordan  in  ref- 
erence to  the  commencement  and  continuance  of  their  jurisdic- 
tion over  Maine.  They  observe,  that  their  exertions  to  have  a 
regular  administration  of  the  laws  here,  had  not  met  from  some 
the  ready  co-operation  which  they  had  reason  to  expect.  They 
remark  :  "  We  have  heard  diverse  complaints  for  want  of  govern- 
ment, and  have  been  informed  of  some  endeavors  to  disturb  the 
quiet  of  the  people  at  Saco  and  Wells,  which  we  have  winked 
at,  expecting  a  ready  compliance  of  all  persons  inhabiting  our 
limits,  especially  since  our  answer  to  the  expostulations  and  de- 
mands, made  to  us  by  the  inhabitants  there,  presented  to  us  by 
Mr.  Cleaves  ;  but  finding  ourselves  deceived  in  our  expectation,  we 
have  given  commission  to  some  gentlemen,  whom  we  desire  and 
expect  you  will  meet  at  the  next  County  Court  at  York,  and  con- 
tribute your  assistance  for  the  settling  of  those  parts  beyond  Saco  to 
the  utmost  bounds  of  our  Patent,  and  your  countenance  herein  will, 
we  doubt  not,  much  conduce  to  the  good  of  those  parts,  which  is 
a  principal  scope  and  desire  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts." The  same  authorities  order,  that  the  petition  of  Yorkshire 
be  forwarded  to  the  Lord  Protector,  according  to  their  request. 

October  23.  They  relate,f  that  their  Commissioners  went  to 
York,  in  the  summer,  supposing  that  the  principal  persons  of 
Black  and  Blue  Points,  and  Casco  Bay,  would  meet  them  there, 
as  previously  requested,  but  did  not,  and,  therefore,  the  Commis- 
sioners ordered  them  to  appear  before  the  Legislature  in  Boston 
the  14th  of  this  month,  but  they  also  failed  to  comply  with  this 
requisition.  They  add  that,  instead  of  such  conformity,  George 
Cleaves  sent  them  a  paper  denying  the  legality  of  their  acts,  and 
aaserting  that  the  people  of  those  places  denied  their  right  to 
govern  them.  The  Court  re-assert  their  authority  over  these  set- 
tlements, and  clear  themselves  from  blame  if  they  should  suffer 
from  the  lack  of  government. 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Sullivan's  Maine,  p.  369. 


174  WILL  OF  DANIEL  MAUD. 

[N.H. 

Henry  Josselyn  and  Robert  Jordan  are  called  by  the  Marshal 
General  to  appear  before  the  Court,  according  to  their  summons, 
either  personally  or  by  agents,  three  times,  but  none  of  them 
obeyed. 

Note.—"  1G5G.  March  5.  The  trade  of  Plymouth  Colony  at  Kennebeck, 
is  let  by  them  to  William  Bradford,  sen.,  Thomas  Prince  and  Thomas  Wil- 
let,  for  seven  years,  at  £35  per  annum,  payable  in  money,  or  beaver,  or 
moose,  at  price  current." — Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

1655.  April  11.  The  people  of  Portsmouth*  " generally  ac- 
knowledge themselves  willing  that  Mr.  Browne  should  continue 
their  minister,  as  he  had  done,  if  he  were  so  pleased."  On  the 
10th  of  July,  he  was  desired  to  give  an  account  of  what  his  parish 
owe  him  to  the  present  time. 

June  26.  Daniel  Maud,f  minister  of  Dover,  had  died  recently. 
He  had  lost  a  wife  while  here.  She  was  Mary  Bonner,  dismissed 
from  the  First  Church  of  Boston,  August  8,  16-44,  to  be  united  with 
his  church.  He  desired  that  he  might  be  buried  near  her  remains. 
He  left  a  wife,  Mary,  with  four  children.  His  will,  dated  17th 
of  January  preceding  his  death,  offers  several  things  to  our  notice. 
Desiring  that  the  ministry  might  be  intelligently  continued  by 
his  successor,  he  leaves  his  books,  which  include  some  Hebrew 
ones,  for  his  use.  He  adds  the  condition,  that  if  his  people  should 
employ  a  preacher  of  no  fit  taste  for  such  volumes,  they  might  be 
for  the  benefit  of  another  who  was,  in  York  or  Hampton.  He 
gives  his  "  little  Hebrew  Bible  to  Mr.  Brock.''  He  wishes  that 
a  manuscript,  which  he  had  carefully  preserved,  might  be  com- 
mitted to  Mr.  Davenport,  who,  as  he  was  informed,  intended  to 
sail  for  England,  so  that  he  might  have  it  published  there,  if  he 
thought  best.  He  leaves  his  testamentary  petition,  that  the  Lord 
would  bless  the  Gospel  work  among  his  congregation  more  than 
he  ever  had.  He  thus  bids  them  adieu,  highly  esteemed  as  a 
learned  and  efficient  servant  of  his  divine  Master. 

This  summer,  John  Keyner,  +  from  Plymouth,  settles  in  the 
ministry  at  Dover.  Morton  calls  him  "  an  able,  faithful  and 
laborious  preacher  of  the  Gospel." 

1656.  Mr.  Browne  was  preaching  §  at  Portsmouth  in  the  spring. 
On  the  27th  of  October,  he  seems  to  have  discontinued  his  minis- 

*  Annals  of  Portsmouth.  f  This  and  other  items  are  from  Historical 

Memoranda  of  Rev.  Alonzo  Quint. 

%  Thacher's  Plym.  p.  271.     Baylies'  Plym.  vol.  ii.  p.  257. 
§  Annals  of  Portsmouth,  p.  37,  8. 


PROSECUTION    FOB   w TTCHCB  \i  l.  LTfi 

it;;,.-).] 

trv  here,  for  then  Samuel  Dudley,  son  of  Deputy  Governor,  Thomas 

Dudley,  was    invited    to   succeed    him    at   a    salary   of   £80  a  year. 

Mr.  Dudley  accepted  their  proposal,  November  10,  and  agreed  to 
commence  his  labors  with  them  the  next  Bpring,  but  some  cause 
appears  to  have  intervened  and  prevented  his  purpose,  He  was 
afterwards  located  at  Exeter. 

This  year,  Jane,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Walford,  of  Portsmouth,  is 
prosecuted  for  witchcraft. 

Wheelwright  embarks,  about  this  year,  for  England.  On  the 
ssion  of  Charles  II.  he  came  back  and  was  settled  in  Salisbury. 

1657.  May  6.  The  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth  *  petition  the 
Bay  authorities  relative  to  the  settlement  of  a  minister  and  about  a 
meeting-house.  On  the  27th  of  August,  the  town  empower  a 
committee  to  erect  a  new  house  of  worship.  They  call  Mr.  Wor- 
cester to  become  their  minister,  if  they  can  mutually  agree  on  the 
terms,  after  he  has  come  and  preached  for  them.  It  is  not  known 
that  he  complied,  so  far  as  to  visit  the  people. 

October  14.  William  Marston  petitions  the  Court  at  Hampton, 
that  his  fine  of  £15  may  be  remitted,  which  had  been  imposed  on 
him  for  keeping  a  paper  and  two  books,  that  inculcated  the  Quaker 
doctrines.  He  confesses  such  a  transgression  of  the  law.  He  had 
a  reduction  of  one  third  of  the  sum  required  of  him. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

1655.  January.  This  winter,  f  there  is  much  division  in 
Providence.  A  paper  is  sent  to  the  town,  "  that  it  is  blood- 
guiltiness,  and  against  the  rule  of  the  Gospel,  to  execute  judgment 
upon  transgressors  against  the  private  or  public  weal."  On  this 
occasion,  R.  Williams  writes  an  able  letter,  showing  the  necessity 
of  enforcing  laws,  by  the  punishment  of  all  who  transgress  them. 
He  contends,  that  in  all  his  pleas  and  efforts  for  liberty  of  con- 
science, he  never  meant  to  contradict  such  a  proposition. 

March  29.  Oliver  Cromwell  writes  {  to  the  authorities  :  "  You 
are  to  proceed  in  your  government  according  to  the  tenor  of  your 
Charter  formerly  granted  on  that  behalf,  taking  care  of  the  peace 
and  safety  of  those  plantations;  that  neither  through  any  intestine 
commotions  or  foreign  invasions,  there  do  arise  any  detriment  or 
dishonour  to  this  Commonwealth,  or  yourselves,  as  far  as  you  by 
your  care  and  diligence  can  prevent." 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Arnold's  Hist,  of  R.  I.  p.  254. 

J  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  vol.  iv.  app.  p.  457. 


176  PREVALENCE  OF  IMMORALITY. 

[R.I. 

May  22.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  four  towns  meet  at 
Providence.  They  require.*  on  the  25th,  all  the  inhabitants  to 
sign  a  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Protector,  and  that  who- 
ever of  them  refuse,  shall  have  "  no  benefit  or  privilege  of  any  law 
of  the  Colony."  In  opposition  to  this  order  was  a  protest  f  of 
William  Harris.  He  "  sent  his  writings  to  the  Main  and  to  the 
Island,  against  all  earthly  powers,  parliaments,  laws,  charters, 
magistrates,  prisons,  punishments,  rates,  yea,  against  all  kings  and 
princes,  under  the  notion  that  the  people  should  shortly  cry  out, 
No  lords,  no  masters ;  and  in  open  Court  protested,  before  the 
whole  Colony  assembly,  that  he  would  maintain  his  writings  with 
his  blood !  "  A  Committee  of  the  Legislature  are  appointed  to  deal 
with  him  for  such  opinions. 

25.  "  For  the  preventing  of  the  great  mischief  of  Indian  drunk- 
enness,^: it  is  thought  meet  that  there  be  two  ordinary  keepers  ap- 
pointed in  each  town,  and  that  none  but  these  shall  sell  any  sort 
of  strong  drink,  either  to  English  or  Indian  by  retail,  that  is  to  say, 
under  a  gallon ; "  if  transgressing,  they  shall  be  fined  five  pounds 
for  each  offence. 

Profane  swearers  shall  be  admonished  for  the  first  offence ;  and, 
for  the  second,  sit  in  the  stocks  two  hours,  or  pay  5/. 

June  28.  The  Court  of  Commissioners  order  a  letter  of  thanks 
to  John  Clark  in  England ;  and,  as  he  had  advised  them,  another 
"  to  the  Lord  President  of  the  Council,"  with  their  "  humble  sub- 
mission and  acknowledgment  to  his  Highness,  the  Lord  Protector." 
They  observe,  "  that  since  we  have  certain  information,  that  his 
Highness  hath  lately  received  complaints  against  us,  that  we  abound 
with  whoredom,"  persons  thus  guilty  shall  be  bound  over  for  their 
good  behavior,  or  for  their  trial,  or  receive  some  moderate  corporal 
punishment,  as  the  magistrates  may  determine.  If  the  defendant 
be  proved  innocent,  then  the  punishment,  due  for  his  alledged 
offence,  shall  be  inflicted  on  the  complainant,  if  the  magistrates 
see  fit. 

"  Whereas,  we  have  been  rent  and  torn  with  divisions,  and  his 
Highness  hath  sent  us  an  express  command  under  his  hand  and 
seal,  to  provide  against  intestine  commotions,  by  which  his  High- 
ness noteth,  that  not  only  ourselves  are  dishonoured  and  endanger- 
ed, but  also  that  dishonour  and  detriment  redound  to  the  Common- 
wealth of  England,  It  is  ordered,  that  if  any  person  or  persons 
be  found  by  the  examination  and  judgment  of  the  General  Court 
of  the  Commissioners  to  be  a  ringleader  or  ringleaders  of  factions, 
or  divisions  amongst  us,  he  or  they  shall  be  sent  over  at  his  or 
their  own  charges  as  prisoners,  to  receive  his  or  their  trial  and 
sentence,  at  the  pleasure  of  his  Highness  and  the  Lords  of  the 
Council." 

*  Staples' Prov.  p.  110,  1.         f  Backus,  vol.  i,  p,  302.         +  R.  I.  Col.  Rec. 


\iim.imi\i    TO   KA88ACHTJ8E1  P8,  177 

November  13.  On  the  petition  of  .lane  Hawkins  and  her  sons, 

the  Bay  Legislature  permit  her  to  go  thither,  so  that  she  may  take 

ige  for  England,  with  the  encouragement,  that  it'  while  there, 

she  satisfy  the  County  Court  for  her  offence  to  the  General  Court, 

she  may  remain  there.* 

15.  Williams,  as  the  President  of  Providence  Plantations,  ad- 
dresses t  the  Massachusetts  Legislature.  He  proposes,  that  as  the 
town  of  Warwick  had  laid  a  demand  for  £2,000  damages  against 
the  Hay  before  Cromwell,  a  committee  from  that  place  and  another 
from  them  might  settle  the  matter.  Jle  complains,  that  the  Indians 
who  reside  about  "Warwick  and  at  Pawtuxet,  and  held  themselves 
as  under  Massachusetts,  needed  to  be  called  to  an  account  for  their 
deportment.  He  mentions  the  same  as  to  four  English  families  at 
Pawtuxet.  He  remarks:  "  I  cordially  profess  it  before  the  Most 
High,  that  I  believe  it,  if  not  only  they  but  ourselves  and  all  the 
whole  country,  by  joint  consent,  were  subject  to  your  government, 
it  might  be  a  rich  mercy ;  but  as  things  yet  are,  be  pleased  to  con- 
sider how  unsuitable  it  is  for  yourselves,  (if  these  families  plead 
truth,)  to  be  obstructers  of  all  orderly  proceedings  amongst  us." 
He  says,  that  of  these  families  who  plead  non-conformity  with  the 
laws  of  the  Colony,  lest  otherwise  they  should  offend  the  Bay 
Authorities,  under  whose  jurisdiction  they  had  put  themselves, 
Stephen  Arnold  desires  to  be  released  from  such  an  engagement ; 
that  another,  Zacharie  Rhodes,  is  a  Baptist,  and  thus  "  potentially 
banished  by  you  ;  "  that  William  Arnold  and  William  Carpenter, 
"  far  in  religion  from  you,  if  you  knew  all,"  have  expressed  a  wish 
like  that  of  the  first  among  these  four  individuals. 

The  President  is  solicitous  to  have  the  regulation,  which  pre- 
vents the  people  of  his  Colony  from  obtaining  military  supplies  at 
the  Bay,  repealed,  and  that  they,  so  allowed,  may  put  themselves 
in  a  necessary  condition  of  defence  against  the  Indians,  who  insult 
and  threaten  to  make  them  slaves.  He  also  requests,  that  the 
order  which  he  brought  from  the  Lords  of  the  Council  in  London 
for  his  free  passage  to  and  from  the  ports  of  Massachusetts,  may  be 
put  on  record,  lest  he  should  be  subject  to  the  trials,  which  he 
experienced  on  his  last  embarkation  for  England. 

This  year  Gorton's  "  Saltmarsh  Returned  from  the  Dead  "  is 
published  in  London.  He  describes  it  as  an  exercise  of  his,  June 
4,  1654,  and  an  exposition  of  the  5th  chapter  of  James.  He  re- 
marks in  it  to  his  friends  of  Lynn,  England:  "Your  carriage 
towards  me,  or  rather  towards  the  truth  of  God,  was  such,  when  I 
was  for  a  short  time  among  you,  that  it  is  a  sufficient  engagement 
to  bind  me  over  for  ever  as  yours."  Though  the  production  con- 
tains many  good  remarks,  yet  it  gives  evidence  of  his  erratic  incli- 
nation.    It  rejects,  among  other  orderly  institutions  of  the  Gospel, 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Rec.  t  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  275-8. 

23 


178  PAPAL   SPECULATIONS. 

[R.I. 

every  particular  church,  with  pastor,  teacher,  elder,  deacons  and 
members. 

1656.  February  21.  Williams  writes*  to  John  Winthrop,  of 
Pequod.  Of  the  English  war  against  the  Spaniards,  he  observes : 
"  This  diversion  hath  turned  the  face  and  thoughts  of  many  Eng- 
lish, so  that  the  saying  of  thousands  now  is,  crowne  the  Protector 
with  gould.  Sir  Henry  Vane  being  retired  to  his  owne  private 
in  Lincolnshire,  hath  now  published  his  observations  as  to  religion. 
He  hath  sent  me  one  of  his  books  (though  yet  at  Boston.)  His 
father  is  dead  and  the  inheritance  falls  to  him,  and  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  more  then  should,  if  his  father  had  lived  but  a  month 
longer.  Though  his  father  cast  him  off,  yet  he  hath  not  lost  in 
temporalis  by  being  cast  off  for  God.  The  Pope  endeavours  the 
uniting  of  all  his  slaves  for  his  guard,  fearing  the  hereticks.  The 
Lord  knowes  whether  Archer  (on  the  reigne  of  Christ)  said  true, 
That  yet  the  Pope  before  his  downefall  must  recover  England  and 
the  Protestant  countries  revolted  from  him.  You  once  kindly  in- 
tended to  quench  a  fire  betweene  Mr.  Coddington  and  others,  but 
nowe  it  is  come  to  publick  triaLL" 

March.  A  marshal,  having  been  commissioned  by  Massachusetts  to 
arrest  Richard  Chasmore  at  Pawtucket,f  and,  on  his  return,  stopped 
over  night  at  Providence,  is  brought  before  the  "  Townsmen." 
When  he  perceived  that  they  would  rescue  the  prisoner  from  him, 
he  desired  them  to  give  him  the  reasons  for  such  an  interference. 
They,  in  turn,  wished  to  read  his  warrant.  He  told  them,  that  he 
had  shown  it  to  the  President,  Mr.  Williams.  "  What,  saith  Wil- 
liam Harris,  Roger  Williams,  what  is  he  ?  he  is  but  our  fellow 
creture  and  one  of  vs  and  hath  noe  more  power  then  any  one  of  vs 
has,  neither  shall  he,  although  he  hath  written  to  the  Governor  in 
the  Bay ;  but  wee  will  call  him  to  account  for  his  soe  doeing,  and 
this  he  spoke  in  a  slighty  and  jeringe  manner." 

March  11.  William  Coddington,J  who  had  been  much  faulted 
by  freemen  of  the  towns  on  the  Island  and  the  Main,  especially  by 
those  of  Providence  and  Warwick,  for  the  obtainment  of  his 
charter  from  England,  and  exercising  its  authority  over  Portsmouth 
and  Newport,  appears  as  a  representative  from  the  last  place,  at 
the  Commissioners'  Court  in  Warwick,  and  makes  the  following 
engagement  before  them  :  "  I,  William  Coddington,  do  freely  sub- 
mit to  the  authority  of  his  Highness  in  this  Colony,  as  it  is  now 
united,  and  that  with  all  my  heart." 

17.  The  Court  are  tried  with  his  appearance  among  them,  as  a 
member  of  their  body,  because  they  had  not  yet  removed  objections 
on  account  of  his  late  government  by  a  charter  from  the  English 
authorities.     Still,   as   he   gives   evidence   of  desiring  the  public 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  278-82.  f  Mass.  MS.  Records  and  Papers. 

%  R.  I.  Col.  Rec. 


CHARGES   A.GAIN81    I  ODDING  TON.  179 

It;;*;.] 

good,  anil  acknow]  the  union  established  between  tlie  ton  08, 

ami  tlu'  present  way  of  transacting  the  government  in  the  Colony," 
they  conclude  it  best  for  him  to  continue  bis  political  relation  with 
thrm.  They  agree  to  write  Mr.  Clark  in  England,  so  that  be  may 
obtain  from  Parliament  leave  for  "the  Colony  and  Mr,  Coddinj 
to  act  together,  and  to  free  him  from  the  danger  of  the  penalty, 
that  possibly  may  seem  to  impend  on  the  former  troubles  and 
complaints." 

They  require  that  certain  charges  on  their  records  against  Mr. 
Coddington,  seeming  prejudicial  to  him  and  others,  shall  be  cut 
out  and  put  into  his  hands.  They  order,  with  regard  to  present- 
ments against  him  and  his  supporters,  on  a  similar  account,  that 
fchey  shall  not  be  prosecuted,  unless  by  direction  of  Cromwell. 

The  ( Jourt  order  that  no  house  of  entertainment  shall  be  open 
after  nine   o'clock  at   night,  for   tippling,  except  for   satisfactory 
►n,  on  penalty  of  5/.  for  the  keeper,  and  2/6.  for  each  of  the 
company,  on  every  occasion  of  trespa.-s. 

They  make  it  a  rule  that  no  son  or  servant  u  shall  claim  absolute 
freedom  until  the  age  of  twenty-one  years." 

They  forbid  any  to  tolerate,  countenance,  or  retain  sons  or 
servants  in  "  licentious  and  lascivious  courses,"  on  the  forfeiture  of 
£5  for  every  offence. 

They  enact,  that  if  any  young  man  or  men  live  alone  in  a  dis- 
orderly manner,  the  "  town  council  "  shall  be  empowered  to  scat- 
ter them. 

They  require  that  publishments  of  intended  marriage  shall  be 
made  in  town  meeting,  or  at  the  head  of  a  military  company,  on 
training  day,  or  by  the  certificate  of  a  magistrate,  posted  up  in  some 
public  place. 

They  order  "  that  incestuous  marriages  be  null,  and  the  par- 
ties offending  suffer  the  punishment  of  adultery ;  and  that  the 
prohibitions  "  of  them  "  extend  to  the  degrees  prohibited  by  the 
laws  of  England,  until  the  Colonv  further  order." 

May  12.  Roger  Williams,  as  President  of  the  Colony,  addresses* 
the  Bay  authorities,  on  the  necessity  for  Pumham's  people  at  War- 
wick and  the  English  families  at  Pawtuxet  to  come  under  the 
authority  of  Providence  Plantations.  He  assigns  as  a  reason,  that, 
while  they  refuse  submission  to  these,  and-  profess  that  they  owe  it 
to  Massachusetts,  they  obey  the  needful  regulations  of  none. 

23.  The  Court  of  Commissioners,  at  Portsmouth,  consider  this 
request,  and  they  offer  to  the  Pawtuxet  people  the  privileges  of 
their  Colony.  They  grant  to  Mr.  Blackstone  leave  for  having  a 
description  of  his  land  entered  upon  their  Records. 

24.  A  communication  of  Williams  to  the  Massachusetts  Rulers, 
remarks :  "  I  rejoice  in  your  healths  and  to  see  your  hands  and  to 

*  R.  I.  Col.  Hec. 


180  HARRIS  A   UNIVERSALIS!*. 

[R.I. 

be  put  vpon  any  occasion  of  serving  you  and  the  peace  of  this  poore 
wildernes,  to  which  you  haue  so  long  bene  happie  instruments." 
It  continues,  "  while  devising  ways  to  comply  with  your  wishes 
about  the  case  of  Chasmore,  it  pleased  ye  most  wise  Lord  to  exer- 
cise your  patience  and  mine  by  a  sudden  gust  and  fire  from  most 
of  ye  inhabitants  of  this  Towne,  who  (insolently  and  contemptu- 
ously against  yourselues  and  me)  commanded  away  the  prisoner 
from  the  marshall  and  assistants,  and  this  vnder  pretence  of  losse 
of  libertie  and  priviledges."  It  contains  two  papers  ;  one  is  a 
request  from  Chasmore  for  an  immediate  trial  "  against  my  hould- 
ing  him  (according  to  his  bond)  while  May  ;  the  other  is  my  Pro- 
testation against  such  tumultuous  course,  which  I  sent  amongst 
them,  if  it  were  possible  to  reduce  them,  if  not  to  render  them 
inexcusable  and  for  my  just  expression  of  my  griefe  and  shame  and 
indignation.  And  indeede  what  shall  I  say,  but  yl  dolefull 
apothegme,  true  with  vs  and  in  a  measure  with  you,  true  in  all 
N.  Engl,  and  Old  Engl,  ouer  at  this  day.  Profecto  omnes  licentia 
deteriores  sumus."  It  describes  the  two  principal  promoters, 
"  of  this  present  madnes."  One  is  "  Zacharie  Rhodes  of  Pawtuxet, 
who  stirs  vp  all  of  his  way  of  dipping  in  our  Towne  and  they  all 
came  (which  they  haue  scarce  done  in  2  yeares)  and  being  able  to 
speake  kindled  ye  fire  extreamely.  The  other  is  William  Harris, 
who  liues  as  your  Marshall  knowes  (by  your  long  indulgence)  a 
little  from  Pawtuxet,  is  growne  as  ye  rest  are  very  rich  and  now 
by  a  jeering  scornfull  wit  and  wealth,  he  is  so  swolne  y*  as  he  hath 
long  scornd  to  be  vnder  you  or  vs,  so  now  to  be  vnder  any  and 
(being  in  religion  a  Vniversalist)  he  vniversally  censures  and  scorns 
in  writing  all  Gouernments,  Parliament  and  Protector  by  riame. 
He  wrote  lately  a  defiance  of  all  Gouernment.  I  haue  answered 
his  booke  in  a  justification  of  civill  order  (which  I  hope  to  present 
you  with)  and  I  haue  ordered  a  summons  which  hath  bene  served 
for  his  appearance  now  at  our  Court  of  Trialls  at  Newport.  He, 
though  long  since  disfranchised  from  Towne  vote,  and  allso  abhors 
extreamly  and  jeeres  at  all  Towne  Courts,  and  damns  all  Governours 
as  Dragons,  Beasts  and  Devills,  yet,  he  and  all  his  partie  came  and 
hurried  on  to  meeting  and  spake  and  provoked  ye  rest,  as  being 
jealous  yl  if  your  selves  question  Pawtuxet  men,  then  he  may  giue 
account  for  something  allso  after  all  his  lawdes,  fowle  practices. 
2  weekes  since  Rhodes  and  Carpenter  complained  of  him  to  me 
how  by  polocie  he  had  got  3  shares  of  ye  13  and  was  inclosing  a 
great  quantitie,  but  now  they  all  soder  againe  and  all  concur  to  cry 
for  Prouidence  against  Boston.  God  is  my  holy  witnes,  I  would 
not  be  partiall,  but  just  and  so  is  this  relation.  I  hope  this  Spring 
at  Newport  to  prevaile  for  ye  punishment  of  some  and  your  just 
reperation.  I  shall  humbly  promise  my  vtmost  and  so  I  hope  will 
Mr.  Coddington.  Although  while  I  live  I  hope  to  mourne  for 
differences,  to  applaud  your  many  excellences,  to  be  serviceable  to 


iiakkis   CHABOSD   will!    rBKASON.  181 

rourseluea  and  people,  to  promote  Christianitie  and  Civilitie  fas  I 
am  ablo  and  rejoice  to  Bee  it  promoted  by  others  in  this  wilder- 

S  ptember  lt>.  Gorton  writes*  to  Holden  and  other  Quakers 
imprisoned  at  Boston,  in  a  strain  of  sarcasm  on  the  Bay  authorities. 

■'•  L  marvel  what  manner  of  God  your  adversaries  trust  in,  who  arc 
bo  fearful  of  being  infected  with  error,  or  how  they  shall  escape  the 

wiles  and  power  of  the1  devil,  when  the  arm  of  flesh  fails  them, 
whereby  they  seek  to  defend  themselves  for  the  present."  They 
reply  to  him  on  the  28th,  and  remark  that  life  in  ( 'hrist  "  is  the 
light  of  men,  which  light  we  have  obeyed  in  coming  into  these 
parts." 

October  6.  He  replies  to  the  letter  of  Holden  and  others,  and 
approves  of  the  humility,  of  which  they  and  he  believed  themselves 
to  be  prominent  examples,  under  the  restraints  of  civil  power.  On 
the  20th  he  dedicates  his  "  Antidote  against  the  common  plague  of 
the  World  "  in  defence  of  his  exposition  of  the  5th  chapter  of  James, 
to  Oliver  Cromwell.     It  was  printed  16-37. 

December  10.  In  discussion  with  a  member  of  the  State  Council 
under  Cromwell,  and  in  presence  of  the  latter,  John  Leverett 
rebutsf  the  implicit  charge,  that  Massachusetts  was  unjustly  severe 
to  those  who  were'  banished  to  Rhode  Island  and  adjacent  parts, 
where,  as  he  observes,  "  looseness  and  profaneness "  so  much 
prevail,  "  that  they  had  not  only  declined  Christian  religion,  but 
moral  observations." 

Wickendon  and  Dexter,  with  several  others,:}:  formed  another 
Baptist  Church,  this  year,  at  Newport,  "  holding  general  redemp- 
tion, and  admitting  to  communion  only  those  who  had  submitted 
to  imposition  of  hands."  Dr.  Stiles  related,  that  John  Angel, 
aged  S3,  told  him  in  1774,  that  his  mother  was  daughter  of  Greg- 
ory Dexter,  who  was  the  first  elder  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Prov- 
idence, who  held  to  imposition  of  hands  in  baptism  or  maintained 
six  principles. 

1657.  May  19.  The  General  Court  of  Commissioners  receive  § 
impeachment  of  treason  from  Roger  Williams  against  William 
Harris.  They  order  that  the  case  come  before  them  the  next  fourth 
of  July.  They  accordingly  have  it  revived.  They  order  that 
Harris  read  over  the  copy  of  his  book  to  them,  and  Williams 
peruse  its  original,  and  recite  his  answer  to  it,  his  charge  against 
the  accused,  and  his  letter  to  the  Legislature.  They  appoint  John 
Weeks  and  John  Easton  to  consider  the  subject  till  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  and  then  report  on  it  in  order  for  trial.  This  com- 
mittee make  return,  as  to  the  book  and  the  speeches  of  Harris  upon 
it,  as  follows :   "  We  find  therein  delivered,  as  for  doctrine,  having 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  307.  t  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  170. 

;  Early  Hist,  of  R.  Island,  118.  $  R.  I.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


182  CAUTION   AGAINST   QUAKERS. 

[R.  I. 

much  bowed  the  Scriptures  to  maintain,  that  he  that  can  say  it  is 
his  conscience,  ought  not  to  yield  subjection  to  any  human  order 
amongst  men.  Whereas,  the  said  Harris  hath  been  charged  for  the 
said  book  and  words  with  high  treason  ;  and  inasmuch  as  we  being 
so  remote  from  England,  cannot  be  so  well  acquainted  in  the  laws 
thereof  in  that  behalf  provided,  as  the  state  now  stands  ;  though 
we  cannot  but  conclude  his  behaviour  therein  to  be  both  contemp- 
tuous and  seditious.  We  thought  best,  therefore,  to  send  over  his 
writing,  with  the  charge  and  his  reply,  to  Mr.  John  Clark,  desiring 
him  to  commend  the  matter  in  our  and  the  Commonwealth's 
behalf,  for  further  judgment,  as  he  shall  see  the  cause  to  require, 
and  in  the  mean  time  to  bind  the  said  Harris  in  good  bonds  to  the 
good  behaviour  until  their  sentence  be  known."  A  committee  of 
four — the  President  of  the  Court,  Benedict  Arnold,  the  General 
Recorder,  John  Sanford,  John  Easton,  and  Joseph  Clark — are 
appointed  to  write  Mr.  Clark,  in  London,  with  regard  to  this 
whole  matter,  and  desire  him  to  procure  a  result  from  the  authority 
there  in  the  premises,  with  such  convenient  speed  as  he  can."  In 
the  mean  while,  Harris  and  his  son  Andrew  give  bonds  for  £500 
sterling,  to  conform  with  the  requisitions  of  the  Court.* 

June  29.  From  a  letter  f  by  Endicott  to  Leverett,  in  London, 
Clark  was  engaged  in  a  discussion  in  that  metropolis  with  regard 
to  the  prosecution  of  himself  and  Holmes  at  the  Bay. 

September  12.  "  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  being  in- 
formed X  that  divers  Quakers  had  arrived  this  summer  at  Rhode 
Island,  and  been  entertained  there,  which  may  prove  dangerous  to 
the  Colonies,  thought  meet  to  manifest  their  minds  to  the  Governor 
there  as  followeth  :  "  "  We  suppose  you  have  understood  that,  the 
last  year,  a  company  of  Quakers  arrived  at  Boston  upon  no  other 
account  than  to  disperse  their  pernicious  opinions,  had  they  not 
been  prevented  by  the  prudent  care  of  that  Government,  who,  by 
that  experience  they  had  of  them,  being  sensible  of  the  danger 
that  might  befall  the  Christian  Eeligion  here  professed  by  suffering 
such  to  be  received  or  continued  in  the  country,  presented  the  same 
unto  the  Commissioners  at  their  meeting  at  Plymouth,  who,  upon 
that  occasion,  commended  it  to  the  General  Courts  of  the  United 
Colonies,  that  all  Quakers,  Ranters,  and  such  notorious  heretics, 
might  be  prohibited  coming  among  us,  and  that,  if  such  should 
arise  from  amongst  ourselves,  speedy  care  might  be  taken  to  remove 
them  (and  as  we  are  informed)  the  several  jurisdictions  have  made 
provision  accordingly  ;  but  it  is  by  experience  found  that  means 
will  fall  short  without  further  care,  by  reason  of  your  admonition 
and  receiving  of  such  from  whence  they  may  have  opportunity  to 
creep  in  amongst  us,  or  means  to  infuse  and  spread  their  accursed 

*  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  f  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  309,  10. 

J  Com'rs.  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  370,  1. 


REPL1    TO    PROPOSAL   A.BOI  I   Ql  AM  183 

1/857.] 

tenets,  to  the  great  trouble  of  the  Colonies,  if  Dot  to  the  subver- 

boh  of  the    Religion)  professed  In  them,  aotwithstanding  any  care 

that  hath  been  hitherto  taken  to  prevent  the  Bame,  whereof  we 

cannot  but  be  very  sensible,  and  think  no  rare  too  great  to  pre» 

om  such  a  pest,  the  contagion  whereof  (if  received!)  within 

Colony  were  dangerous,  etc.,  to  be  diffused  to  the  other  by 

means  of  the  intercourse,  especially  to  the  places  of  trade  amongst 

us,  which  we  desire  may  he  with  safety  continued  between  us.     We 

therefore  make  it  our  request,  that  you,  as  the  rest  of  the  Colonies, 

Mieh  order  herein,  that  your  neighbors  may  be  freed  from  that 

danger  ;  that  you  remove  those  Quakers  that  have   been  received, 

and  for  the  future  prohibit  their  coming  amongst  you;  whereunto 

the   rule  of  charity  to  yourselves  and  us  (we  conceive)  doth  oblige 

you,  wherein,  if  you  should,  we  hope  you  will  not  be  wanting." 

October  13.  The  authorities  here  address*  those  of  the  Bay  in 
reference  to  the  letter  just  mentioned.  "  Concerning  these  Quakers 
which  are  now  among  us,  we  have  no  law  among  us  whereby  to 
punish  any  for  only  declaring  by  words,  etc.,  their  minds  and 
understandings  concerning  the  things  and  ways  of  God  as  to  salva- 
tion and  eternal  condition.  And  we  moreover  find,  that  in  those 
places  where  these  people  aforesaid  in  this  Colony  are  most  of  all 
suffered  to  declare  themselves  freely,  and  are  only  opposed  by 
arguments  in  discourse,  there  they  least  of  all  desire  to  come,  and 
we  are  informed  that  they  begin  to  loath  this  place,  for  that  they 
are  not  opposed  by  the  civil  authority,  but  with  all  patience  and 
meekness  are  suffered  to  say  over  their  pretended  revelations  and 
admonitions,  nor  are  they  like  or  able  to  gain  many  here  to  their 
way.  And  surely  we  find  they  delight  to  be  prosecuted  by  civil 
powers,  and  where  they  are  so,  they  are  like  to  gain  more  adherers 
by  the  conceit  of  their  patient  sufferings,  than  by  consent  to  their 
pernicious  sayings.  And  yet  we  conceive  that  their  doctrines  tend 
to  very  absolute  cutting  down,  and  overturning  relations,  and  civil 
government  among  men,  if  generally  received."  We  think  their 
coming  among  us  will  not  be  so  dangerous  to  the  Colonies  as  sup- 
posed. But  we  intend  "  to  commend  the  consideration  of  their 
extravagant  outgoings  unto  the  General  Assembly  of  our  Colony 
in  March  next,  wThere  we  hope  there  will  be  such  order  taken,  as 
may  in  all  honest  and  concientious  manner  prevent  the  bad  effects 
of  their  doctrines  and  endeavours." 

*  Hutchinson's  MS.  Coll. 


184  EFFORTS  FOR  THE   COLLEGE. 

[Conn. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1655.  January  30.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven,  "  con- 
sidering the  sad  state  of  things  in  Old  England,  our  native  country, 
as  appears  by  what  intelligence  they  have  received  from  thence 
since  they  came  together,  thought  it  their  duty  to  set  a  day  apart  in 
the  whole  jurisdiction,  for  humiliation  and  solemn  seeking  of  God, 
which  will  be  on  the  last  day  of  February  next."  * 

A  petition  from  a  Company  of  the  same  Legislature,  reads  as 
follows :  "  Intending  to  remove  to  Delaware  Bay,  wherein  they 
propound,  that  for  the  enlargement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  the 
spreading  of  the  Gospel  and  the  good  of  posterity  therein,"  they 
desire  some  aid  to  forward  the  undertaking.  On  April  9th,  the  town 
of  New  Haven  encourage  this  project,  and,  on  July  4,  they  vote  £60 
a  year  for  the  support  of  the  seminary. 

May  IT.  The  Connecticut  authoritiesf  order,  that  in  the  intervals 
of  their  sessions,  the  magistrates  have  power  to  appoint  public  days 
of  Thanksgiving  and  Humiliation. 

21.  The  subject  J  of  encouraging  the  College  at  the  town  of 
New  Haven,  seeing  there  is  "  disturbance  at  the  College  in  the 
Bay,"  is  revived  by  the  Governor.  Messrs.  Davenport  and  Hooker, 
being  present,  spoke  decidedly  in  its  favor.  A  committee  is  raised 
to  ascertain  what  can  be  obtained  for  the  object.  On  the  30th,  the 
Court  forward  the  enterprise.  At  the  same  session,  having  ap- 
pointed Governor  Eaton  to  prepare  laws  for  the  Colony,  they 
desire  him  to  consult  Cotton's  Discourse  on  Civil  Government 
and  the  Code  of  Massachusetts,  and  to  add  what  he  may  deem 
best.  They  request  that  "  the  Elders  of  the  jurisdiction  may  have 
the  sight  of  them  for  their  approbation  also." 

September  14.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  §  appoint  rulers 
over  Pequods  at  Wequapauge  and  Neweacke.  Among  the  orders 
for  their  regulation,  are,  that  they  shall  not  blaspheme  the  name  of 
God,  nor  profane  the  Sabbath,  nor  practice  witchcraft  on  pain  of 
death.  On  the  15th  the  same  authorities ||  appropriate  £15  to  Mr. 
Pierson,  for  his  missionary  labors  among  the  natives,  and  £5  to 
deserving  Indians  in  New  Haven  jurisdiction. 

October  7.  Seaborn  Cotton,  who  united  with  the  First  ChurchU 
of  Boston  in  1653,  takes  his  dismission  to  preach  for  the  Weath- 
ersfield  congregation. 

19.  The  Laws  for  New  Haven,  prepared  by  Governor  Eaton 
and  approved  by  the  Elders,  are  adopted  by  the  General  Court, 

*  N.  Haven  MS.  Rec.  f  Conn.  MS.  Rec.         J  N.  H.  MS.  Rec. 

§  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  334,  5.      ||  Ibid.  p.  326.  H  First  Boston  Ch.  Rec. 


EDUCATION       hi  Ki:  OF  BAVOI .  Is"' 

1  <;;><;.] 

who  order  them  to  be  sent  to  England  and  there  printed.  They 
were  published  next  year  in  London.  Of  the  capital  Crimea  desig- 
nated by  them,  are  Idolatry,  Witchcraft,  Blasphemy, and  Rebellion 
of  children  against  parents. 

Education. — All  children  and  apprentices  shall  be  Learned  "to 

read  the  Scriptures  and  other  good  and  profitable  printed  hooks  in 
the  English  tongue,  and  to  understand  the  main  grounds  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  Religion  necessary  to  salvation."  If  parents 
or  masters  neglect  to  have  the  children  under  them  so  instructed, 
they  shall  be  fined  ;  if  obstinate,  such  children  and  apprentices 
shall  be  taken  away  from  them  and  put  where  they  may  be  so 
taught. 

Ecclesiastical. — Whoever  treats  the  preaching  of  a  minister,  or 
him  in  person,  contemptuously,  shall  be  punished.  Whoever  omits 
to  attend  worship  needlessly,  on  Sabbath,  Fast  and  Thanksgiving 
davs,  shall  pay  5/.  for  each  offence.  It  is  "  ordered,  that  all  the 
people  of  God  within  this  jurisdiction,  who  are  not  in  a  church 
way,  being  orthodox  in  judgment,  and  not  scandalous  in  life,  shall 
have  full  liberty  to  gather  themselves  into  a  Church  estate,  pro- 
vided they  do  it  in  a  Christian  way,  with  due  observation  of  the 
rules  of  Christ,  revealed  in  his  Word  ;  provided,  also,  that  this 
Court  doth  not,  nor  hereafter  will* approve  of  any  such  company  of 
persons,  as  shall  join  in  any  pretended  way  of  Church  fellowship, 
unless  they  shall  first  in  due  season,  acquaint  both  the  Magistrates, 
and  the  Elders  of  the  Churches  within  this  Colony,  where  and 
when  they  intend  to  join,  and  have  their  approbation  therein.  Nor 
shall  any  person,  being  a  member  of  any  Church,  which  shall  be 
gathered  without  such  due  notice  given  and  approbation  had ;  or 
who  is  not  a  member  of  some  Church  in  New  England,  approved 
by  the  Magistrates  and  Churches  of  this  Colony,  be  admitted  to  the 
freedom  of  this  Jurisdiction."  Heresy  shall  be  punished  by  fine, 
banishment  or  otherwise  severely,  as  the  Court  of  Magistrates  shall 
decide.  Marriage  is  regulated  as  in  Massachusetts.  Every  inn- 
keeper is  forbidden  to  allow  the  play  of  shuffleboard  or  any  other 
gaming.  At  the  same  session,  the  Legislature  order,  that  Novem- 
ber 14  be  kept  in  fasting  and  prayer,  "  for  ourselves,  our  native 
country,  and  for  the  poor,  distressed,  afflicted  Protestants,  who  are 
sorely  persecuted  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy." 

Hull  relates :  *  "  Great  breach  of  love  and  union  in  the  Church 
at  Hartford  last  summer,  which  continued  to  the  end  of  the 
winter  now  past,  notwithstanding  all  endeavours  there,  and  also 
by  letters  from  hence  (Boston)  to  have  gained  a  reconciliation." 

1656.  May  15.  The  Court  of  Connecticut  request  f  the  Gov- 
ernor and  others,  as  a  committee,  to  advise  with  the  Elders  about 
certain  complaints,  and,  if  judging   it  needful,  to  ask  their  assist- 

*  l^S.  Diary.  f  Conn.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

24 


186  EMIGRATION  TO  JAMAICA. 

[Conn. 

ance  in  drawing  up  an  abstract  of  them,  to  be  laid  before  the  Leg- 
islatures of  the  Confederation. 

28.  The  like  body,*  of  New  Haven  Colony,  take  into  considera- 
tion the  proposals  of  Cromwell,  for  their  people  to  emigrate  and 
settle  in  Jamaica,  as  a  means  of  spreading  true  Religion.  After  a 
protracted  and  serious  debate,  they  conclude  that,  notwithstanding 
the  kindness  of  the  Protector  to  New  England,  and  particularly  to 
them,  "  they  cannot  conclude  that  God  calls  them  to  a  present 
remove  thither."  They  order  that,  as  some  who  were  not  freemen 
had  voted  on  important  occasions,  "  none  but  freemen  shall  be 
allowed  so  to  do,  unless  in  some  particular  cases  wherein  the  pro- 
prieties of  the  planters  in  general  are  concerned,  and  ought  not  to 
be  disposed  of  without  their  consent." 

As  complaints  had  been  made  against  the  indulgence  of  disorder 
and  immorality  at  Greenwich,  and  the  people  there  refused  obedi- 
ence to  the  Legislature,  these  now  order,  that  unless  they  submit 
by  June  25,  the  most  rebellious  among  them  shall  be  arrested. 
Such  decision  produced  its  intended  effect. 

July.  Peter  Prudden,  the  first  minister  of  Milford,  dies  there  in 
his  56th  year.  He  was  born  at  Edgton,  Yorkshire,  and  arrived  at 
Boston  July  26,  1637.  He  married  Joanna  Boys,  and  was  brother- 
in-law  to  Rev.  John  Reyner.  He  leaves  six  daughters  and  two 
sons,  of  whom  John  became  minister  at  Newark,  N .  J.  His  course 
had  been  dutiful,  and  its  termination  is  blessed. 

John,  son  to  John  Haynes,  Governor  of  Connecticut,  takes  his 
first  degree  this  year  at  Harvard  College.  He  soon  goes  to  Eng- 
land, the  land  of  his  nativity,  and  receives  his  second  degree  at 
Cambridge  University.  He  was  settled  in  the  ministry,  near  Col- 
chester, of  Essex  County,  where  he  left  descendants.  It  makes  no 
diminution  of  his  reward  as  a  faithful  steward  of  Christ,  that  far 
less  is  known  of  him  than  of  many  an  equal. 

September  2.  The  Massachusetts  Court  suggest  f  to  the  Com- 
missioners, that  it  would  be  well  for  Connecticut  to  look  after 
Richard  Smith,  who  came  with  the  two  women  from  Barbadoes  to 
Boston,  and  whom  they  had  imprisoned  as  a  Quaker,  but  sent 
home  to  Southampton  on  Long  Island. 

15.  The  Commissioners  still  report  J  Mr.  Pierson  as  engaged  in 
the  Indian  mission.  On  the  17th,  they  address  the  Hartford 
Church :  "  We  have  with  much  sorrow  of  heart  heard  your  differ- 
ences, and  that  the  means  attended  hitherto  for  the  composing  of 
them  have  not  been  effectual.  We  cannot  but  be  deeply  sensible 
of  the  sad  and  dreadful  consequences  of  dissension,  heightened  and 
increased,  especially  in  a  church  of  such  eminence  for  light  and 
love."     They  then  earnestly  entreat  them  to  leave  off  contention, 

*  N.  Haven  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  283,  4. 

\  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.   358,  366. 


INDIAN    CA'II'.CII ISM.  187 

i.  ;:>.;.] 

and  walk  together  in  Christian  harmony.  Trumbull  states  that  the 
chief  cause  of  such  disturbance  was  the  halt- way  covenant,  and 
that  the  like  trouble  spread  into  other  churches. 

A  letter*  from  Mr.  Pierson  at  u  Bramford,"  of  25th  ult.,  is  laid 
before  the  Commissioners.  It  relates  to  them,  that  he  had  pre- 
pared a  catechism  to  "  convince  the  Indians  by  the  light  of  nature 
ami  reason,  that  there  is  only  one  God  who  hath  made  and  governs 
all  things."  They  propose  that  it  be  finished  and  translated  into 
the  Narraganset  or  Pequod  "  language,  that  it  may  be  better  under- 
stood by  the  Indians  in  all  parts  of  the  country."  They  request 
Thomas  Stanton  to  assist  Mr.  Pierson  in  this  work. 

October  2.  Connecticut  Legislature  ordcrsf  that  no  town  of  their 
jurisdiction  "shall  entertain  any  Quakers,  Ranters,  Adamites,  or 
such  like  notorious  hereticks,  or  suffer  to  continue  with  them  above 
the  space  of  14  days  upon  the  penalty  of  £5  per  week." 

The  townsmen  are  required  to  notify  the  two  next  Assistants, 
who  are  empowered  to  imprison  such  strangers  till  an  opportunity 
presents  for  sending  them  out  of  the  jurisdiction.  They  also  forbid 
masters  of  vessels  to  bring  persons  of  the  like  offensive  denomina- 
tions into  the  Colony,  and,  if  they  do,  to  give  security  for  them 
while  here,  and  carry  them  away  as  soon  as  they  leave  the  ports 
into  which  they  have  entered. 

The  Court  appoint  a  Committee  to  carry  out  the  suggestion  of 
the  Commissioners,  for  collecting  "  memorable  passages  of  God's 
Providence." 

They  require  "  yfc  next  Wednesday  come  3  weekes  shall  be  kept 
a  publique  day  of  Thanksgiving  to  the  Lord,  for  the  generall  con- 
currencee  of  many  mercyes  the  yeare  past,  by  all  the  Plantations  in 
this  Jurisdiction." 

21.  A  letter  from  them  is  communicated  to  the  Bay  Legislature, 
proposing  a  Synod  of  Elders  from  the  Confederate  Colonies,  for 
the  consideration  of  several  questions  which  concern  the  churches. 
An  appointment  is  accordingly  made. 

In  the  course  of  this,  year,  William  Hooke  leaves  New  Haven, 
his  wife  having  departed  two  years  before,  and  goes  back  to  Eng- 
land. After  his  return,  he  "  was  sometime  minister  of  Axmouth 
in  Devonshire,"  and  then  appointed  "  master  of  the  Savoy  "  in 
London,  and  chaplain  to  Oliver  Cromwell,  who,  by  marriage,  was 
his  cousin.  The  publications  of  Hooke  follow  :  Tears  for  Old 
England's  fears  ;  Sermon  from  Job  2  :  12,  1641  ;  Sermon  enti- 
tled New  England's  sense  of  Old  England  and  Ireland's  sorrow, 
1645  ;  A  Discourse  of  the  Gospel  Day.  He  took  part  in  a  cate- 
chism, printed  in  the  name  of  John  Davenport.  The  privileges  of 
the  saints  on  earth  above  those  of  heaven,  1673.  The  slaughter  of 
the  witnesses.     A  sermon  and  "  some  other  things."     The  Non- 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  t  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


188  DECEASE   OF  EDWARD   HOPKINS. 

[Conn. 

conformist's  Memorial  dates  his  decease  March  21,  1677,  when  his 
age  was  about  77.  But  if  the  month  here  given  be  right,  the  year 
of  his  death  could  not  have  been  less  than  1678,  new  style  ;  for  a 
letter  of  his  dated  August  7,  1677,  was  written  when  he  was  very 
sick. 

The  subsequent  language,  applied  to  him  by  Johnson  during 
his  life,  was  increasingly  deserved  until  his  death  :  "  A  man  who 
hath  received  of  Christ  many  gracious  gifts,  fit  for  so  high  a  call- 
ing, with  very  amiable  and  gracious  speech  labouring  in  the  Lord." 
Mather  says  of  him,  he  "  went  from  the  privileges  of  labors  among 
the  saints  on  earth  to  those  of  rewards  among  saints  in  heaven."  * 

1657.  March.  Edward  Hopkins,  an  able  and  efficient  supporter 
of  the  Puritan  cause,f  dies  in  London,  in  his  58th  year.  He  was 
"  born  about  Shrewsbury,  was  a  Turkey  merchant  in  the  metropolis, 
came  from  England  with  Davenport,  1637,  and  took  up  his  abode 
in  Hartford,  1638.  The  next  year  he  was  on  the  Committee  of 
the  General  Court,  and  sustained  the  higher  offices  of  this  body 
annually,  until  he  went  abroad,  which  appears  to  have  been  in  the 
former  part  of  165,2.  A  chief  occasion  of  his  leaving  this  country 
was  the  decease  of  his  brother,  who  was  warden  of  the  English 
fleet.  After  a  passage  of  imminent  perils  from  fire  and  tempests, 
he  reached  the  port  of  his  destination.  He  left  his  wife,  who  was 
Ann  Yale,  a  daughter-in-law  of  Theophilus  Eaton,  and  grand- 
daughter to  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  and  the  rest  of  his  family  here, 
with  the  purpose  of  coming  back  to  them.  But  the  reverse  took 
place,  and  they  went  to  him.  He  soon  received  the  distinguished 
attention  which  his  merit  deserved.  He  was  appointed  to  the  place 
of  his  deceased  brother,  then  commissioner  of  the  Admiralty  and 
Navy,  and  lastly  a  member  of  Parliament.  His  consent  to  receive 
these  offices  was  indication  of  his  decision  to  spend  the  remainder 
of  his  days  in  the  land  of  his  birth  and  education.  He  accordingly 
sent  for  his  family  to  join  him  there.  But  his  earthly  honors  were 
soon  to  cease.  He  held  them  with  more  than  usual  admonition, 
that  they  were  transitory  and  unworthy  of  supreme  devotion.  He 
had  been  of  a  consumptive  habit,  accompanied  with  a  cough  and 
expectoration  of  blood,  for  over  thirty  years.  In  all  the  relations 
of  life,  he  adorned  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel.  His  last  will  was 
in  harmony  with  his  conscientious  profession  as  a  Christian.  He 
left  his  whole  property  in  New  England  to  charitable  purposes. 
Out  of  regard  for  his  friend  Mr.  Hooker,  he  remitted  to  the  widow 
of  the  latter  "  all  the  debts  due  from  the  family  to  him  ;  "  he  be- 
queathed to  Mrs.  Wilson  of  Boston,  the  oldest  daughter  of  Hooker, 
a  farm  of  his  at  Farmington,  and  ordered  legacies  to  several  other 

*  This  agrees  with  the  statements  of  the  Magnalia,  Wood's  Oxford  Writers, 
Palmer's  Nonconformist's  Memorial,  and  Trumbull's  Connecticut, 
f  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  143-8.     Neal's  Hist,  of  N.  E.  vol.  i.  p.  319,  20. 


ATTENDANCE  ON   BYNOD    DBCUNBD.  L89 

1657.] 

descendants  of  that  deceased  clergyman.     He  left  the  rest  of  his 

property,  about  CI, 000  Bterling,  in  trust,  to  GoTernor  Eaton  and 
others,  for  the  raising  up  of  "  hopeful  youths  in  a  way  of  Learning, 
both  at  the  grammar  school  and  college,  for  the  public  service 
the  country  in  future  times."  Such  a  sum  was  apportioned  to  the 
grammar  schools  of  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  and  then  of  Hadley, 
because  many  of  the  settlers  here  moved  from  Hart  lord.  Mr. 
Hopkins  also  gave  £500  out  of  his  estate  in  England  to  Trustees 
u  for  the  upholding  and  promoting  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  "  among  the  Colonists.  This  money,  by  a  decree  in  Chan- 
cery of  1713,*  was  assigned  to  Harvard  College.  It  was  expended 
for  a  township,  known  as  Hopkinton,  in  honor  of  the  generous 
donor.  It  has  proved  a  valuable  investment.  The  Magnalia  Bay8 
of  him  :  "Most  exemplary  was  his  piety  and  his  charity."  Jie 
left  a  widow,  who  became  sadly  afflicted  with  insanity  about  1642, 
and  died  1(398.  Of  course  her  condition  must  have  been  a  con- 
tinual source  of  anxiety  to  her  devoted  husband.  Winthrop  sup- 
posed that  her  loss  of  reason  resulted  from  "  giving  herself  wholly 
to  reading  and  writing,"  without  sufficient  exercise  in  other  duties 
of  the  domestic  circle.  But  to  whatever  cause  the  calamity  may 
be  traced,  or  however  it  bore  heavily  on  the  heart  of  her  husband, 
still  he  possessed  a  spiritual  power,  which  sustained  his  soul,  and 
tilled  it  with  the  consolations  and  peace  of  a  life  in  God. 

February  24.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  answer  f  an 
invitation  of  Massachusetts  for  a  Synod,  their  Elders  being  request- 
ed to  take  part  in  the  transactions  of  such  a  body.  The  reply 
states  :  "  We  hear  the  petitioners  or  others  closing  with  them,  are 
very  confident  they  shall  obtain  great  alterations,  both  in  civil  gov- 
ernment and  in  church  discipline,  and  that  some  of  them  have  pro- 
cured or  hired  one,  as  their  agent,  to  maintain  in  writing  (as  is 
conceived),  that  parishes  in  England  consenting  to  and  continuing 
their  meetings  to  worship  God,  are  true  churches.  And  such 
persons  coming  over  hither  (without  holding  forth  any  work  of 
faith,  etc.)  have  a  right  to  all  our  church  privileges,  and  probably 
they  expect  their  Deputy  should  employ  himself  and  improve  his 
interest  to  spread  and  press  such  paradoxes  in  the  Massachusetts, 
yea  at  the  Synod  meeting."  It  observes,  that  they  have  forwarded 
an  answer  to  all  the  questions  laid  before  the  Court  of  Connecticut, 
and  that,  in  their  opinion,  the  Rulers  and  Elders  of  the  latter 
Colony  are  able  to  settle  such  points  without  foreign  aid.  It 
remarks,  that  on  account  of  the  departure  of  Whitfield  and  Hooke, 
and  the  late  death  of  Prudden,  New  Haven  can  spare  none  of  their 
ministers  for  the  proposed  session.     It  says  that,  considering  the 

*  Quincy's  Hist,  of  Harvard  College,  vol.  i.  p.  205,  gives  the  date  here  men- 
tioned ;  but  Trumbull's  Connecticut,  vol.  i.  p.  242,  says  that  the  money,  by  a 
chancery  decree,  -was  paid  in  1710.  f  New  Haven  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


190  QUESTIONS  FOR  THE   SYNOD. 

[Conn. 

posture  of  affairs  in  Connecticut,  unless  Massachusetts  adheres 
firmly  to  their  Constitution  and  the  members  of  the  Council  are 
favored  with  divine  presence,  disastrous  effects  will  come  upon 
their  spiritual  concerns.  It  refers  to  the  defection  of  the  church 
at  Ephesus  from  the  Saviour,  as  an  admonitory  example  for  the 
churches  of  New  England.  According  to  the  former  part  of  these 
remarks,  Trumbull*  informs  us  that,  as  early  as  1657,  some  of  Con- 
necticut took  the  position,  that  "  parishes  in  England,  consenting  to 
and  continuing  meetings  to  worship  God,  were  true  churches ;  and 
that  members  of  those  parishes,  coming  into  New  England,  had  a 
right  to  all  church  privileges,  though  they  made  no  profession  of  a 
work  of  faith  and  holiness  upon  their  hearts." 

In  connection  with  the  Synod,  the  same  author  f  presents  the 
following  questions,  as  taken  from  the  Records  of  New  Haven 
Colony,  for  discussion  in  the  proposed  General  Council.  As  such 
questions  do  not  exactly  agree  with  those  of  the  same  numerical 
numbers,  in  the  collection  presented  under  Massachusetts,  it  is 
thought  proper  for  them  to  have  a  place  here. 

Question  1.  Whether  federal  holiness,  or  covenant  interest,  be 
not  the  proper  ground  of  baptism  ? 

2.  Whether  communion  of  churches,  as  such,  be  not  warrantable 
by  the  word  of  God  ? 

3.  Whether  the  adult  seed  of  visible  believers,  not  cast  out,  be 
not  true  members,  and  subjects  of  church  watch  ? 

4.  Whether  ministerial  officers  are  not  as  truly  bound  to  baptize 
the  visible  disciples  of  Christ,  providentially  settled  amongst  them, 
as  officially  to  preach  the  word  ? 

5.  Whether  the  settled  inhabitants  of  the  country,  being  mem- 
bers of  other  churches,  should  have  their  children  baptized  amongst 
us,  without  themselves  first  orderly  joining  in  churches  here  ? 

6.  Whether  membership,  in  a  particular  instituted  church,  be 
not  essentially  requisite,  under  the  gospel,  to  entitle  to  baptism  ? 

7.  Whether  adopted  children  and  such  as  are  bought  with 
money  are  covenant  seed  ? 

8.  Whether  things  new  and  weighty  may  be  managed,  in  a 
church,  without  concurrence  of  officers,  and  consent  of  the  frater- 
nity of  the  same  church  ?  And  if  things  of  common  concernment, 
then  how  far  the  consent  of  neighboring  churches  is  to  be  sought  ? 

9.  Whether  it  doth  not  belong  to  the  body  of  a  town,  collec- 
tively taken,  jointly  to  call  him  to  be  their  minister,  whom  the 
church  shall  choose  to  be  their  officer  ? 

10.  Whether  the  political  and  external  administration  of  Abra- 
ham's covenant  be  not  obligatory  to  gospel  churches  ? 

11.  Unto  whom  shall  such  persons  repair,  that  are  grieved  at 
any  church  process  or  censure  ;  or  whether  they  must  acquiesce  in 
the  church's  censure  to  which  they  belong  ? 

*  Hist.  Conn.  vol.  i.  p.  315.  f  Ibid.  p.  316,  7. 


PREPARATION    FOB  THB  BYNOD,  191 

lti.")7.] 

18.  Whether  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  ordination  belong  to 
nfesbyters  or  brethren  I 

18.  Whether  the  church,  her  invitation  and  (lection  of  an 
officer,  or  preaching  elder,  oecessitatea  the  whole  congregation  to 
bit  down  satisfied, as  bound  thereby  to  accept  him  as  their  minister, 
though  invited  and  settled  without  the  town's  consent  ( 

14.   What  is  the  gospel  way  to  gather  and  settle  churches? 

L5.    From  whom  do  ministers  receive  their  commission  to  baptize  ( 

ll).    Whether  a  Synod  hath  a  decisive  power? 

17.  Whether  it  be  not  justifiable,  by  the  word  of  God,  that  civil 
authority  indulge  congregational  and.  presbyterian  churches,  and 
their  discipline  in  the  churches  ( 

Feb.  ~6.  Legislative  proceedings*  of  Connecticut.  The  Court  re- 
quest Messrs.  Warham,  Stone,  Blinman  and  Russell  to  meet  the  5th 
of  June  in  Boston,  to  consider  the  questions  forwarded  to  the  Court 
there,  or  others  of  like  nature,  which  may  be  presented  by  that 
body  or  their  own,  with  such  Divines  as  may  be  sent  by  the  four 
Colonies.  They  also  desire  them  to  report  the  doings  of  the 
Synod.  They  consider  the  ensuing  proposition,  but  do  not  have 
it  adopted  :  "  That  a  copy  of  the  former  order  be  sent  to  the  four 
Elders  chosen  for  the  Synod,  with  a  copy  of  twelve  questions  more, 
which  the  Court  hath  agreed  should  be  sent  by  the  first  opportu- 
nity to  the  Governor  in  the  Bay  for  the  Synod  to  consider  with  the 
former  questions."  The  Deputies  and  Deacons  of  the  church  in 
each  town  are  to  "  take  care  that  their  said  Elders  be  comely  and 
honorably  attended  and  suited  with  necessaries  in  their  journey  to 
the  Bay  and  home  again ;  and  that  the  same,  with  their  proportion 
of  charge  in  the  Bay,  during  their  abode  there  upon  this  service, 
be  discharged  by  the  Treasurer  ;  and  also  the  Deputies  are  impow- 
ered  to  press  horses  (if  need  be)  for  the  end  aforesaid." 

Though  former  provision  was  made  against  unlawful  games,  yet 
it  is  found  necessary  to  particularize  those  of  "Cards,  Dice  and 
Tables,  or  any  other  wherein  that  great  and  solemn  ordinance  of  a 
Lot  is  profaned,"  and  to  order,  that  whoever  plays  at  them  shall 
pay  20/.  for  each  offence.  It  is  further  required,  that  if  either  of 
such  games  shall  be  allowed  by  the  head  of  a  family  in  his  house, 
he  shall  forfeit  the  like  amount,  or,  if  played  there  without  his 
knowledge,  each  of  the  players  shall  be  assessed  such  a  sum  in 
addition  to  the  former  penalty. 

An  act  is  passed,  that  the  persons  hereafter  made  free,  "  shall 
have  an  affirmative  certificate  under  the  hands  of  all  or  the  major 
part  of  the  deputies  in  their  several  towns,  of  their  peaceable  and 
honest  conversation,  and  those  and  only  those  of  them  which  the 
General  Court  shall  approve,  shall  be  made  freemen."  Though 
their  neighbors  of  Connecticut  thus  omit  the  condition  of  being  a 

*  Conn.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


192  COUNCIL   FOR  HARTFORD   CHURCH. 

[Conn. 

church  member  as  essential  to  freemanship,  New  Haven  still  retain 
it  as  an  important  feature  of  their  Company. 

The  Elders  of  the  Council  "  who  formerly  transacted  the  differ- 
ences of  Hartford  church  "  are  desired  "  to  give  a  meeting  to  the 
reverend  Elders  of  the  Bay,  that  have  tendered  themselves  volun- 
tarily to  come  up  hither  to  consider  and  consult  which  may  be  most 
agreeable  to  the  rule,  to  put  an  end  to  the  difference."  On  April 
9,  it  is  left  with  "  Pequett  and  Paucatuck  "  to  maintain  their  two 
ministers,  either  separately  or  together,  as  they  can  best  agree. 
The  29th  is  set  apart  as  "a  day  of  publick  humiliation,  to  seek  the 
direction  of  the  Lord  in  reference  to  the  Synnod  and  other  weighty 
concernments  and  difficulties  of  this  Jurisdiction  ;  and  the  Deputies 
in  each  town  are  desired  to  acquaint  their  respective  Elders  with 
the  same." 

April  6.  Hull  observes  :  *  We  have  the  subsequent  facts  relative 
to  divisions  in  Hartford  church.  John  Norton,  and  other  elders 
and  messengers,  went  thither  to  heal  the  differences.  On  the  16th, 
Boston  church  kept  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  the  Hartford 
church.  On  the  23d,  letters  from  some  there  said  that  the  signs  of 
reconciliation  appeared  gradually.  On  May  6,  Mr.  Norton  returned, 
and  said  that  the  troubles  there  had  been  settled.  But  the  lull  was 
of  temporary  continuance. 

When  the  Council  of  Ministers  met  at  Hartford  in  1657,  Mr. 
Eliot  desired  f  that  the  Pondunk  Indians  might  be  assembled,  so 
that  he  might  preach  the  Gospel  to  them.  This  tribe  were  accord- 
ingly collected,  by  the  exertions  of  some  chief  gentlemen,  and  he 
delivered  a  sermon  to  them  concerning  their  Creator  and  Redeemer. 
Having  finished  his  discourse,  he  explained  the  subject  more  fully 
to  them,  and  requested  an  answer,  whether  they  would  accept  of 
Christ  as  their  Saviour.  But  their  principal  men  replied  with 
"  great  scorn  and  resentment,"  that  they  would  adhere  to  their  own 
religion.  They  remarked  that  the  English  had  taken  away  their 
lands,  and  were  now  endeavoring  to  make  them  servants. 

27.  George  Fenwick,  who  was  proprietor  with  Lords  Say  and 
Brook,  and  others  of  the  Patent,  which  he  finally  owned  himself, 
and  sold  to  Connecticut,  dies  lately  in  England.  Having  united 
himself  to  this  Colony,  he  was  last  chosen  one  of  its  magistrates, 
1648.  As  a  colonel  under  Cromwell,  he  was  distinguished  and 
highly  esteemed.  To  the  end  of  his  life,  he  was  a  true  friend  to 
the  best  welfare  of  New  England.  His  first  wife,  who  endured 
with  him  the  trials  of  a  new  settlement,  died  as  previously  stated. 
His  last  wife,  Katharine,  who  appears  to  have  been  daughter  of 
Sir  Arthur  Haslerig,  survived  him,  with  two  daughters,  Dorothy 
and  Elizabeth.  With  the  consideration,  agreeable  to  his  professed 
principles,   he  wrote  his  will,  and,   repeating  the  words  of  the 

*  MS.  Diary.  f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  494. 


RESULT  OP  COUNCIL,  L93 

M97.] 

prophet  to  king  Hezekiah,  that  he  should  die  and  Dot  live,  he 
observed,  "  whereof  by  mercy  being  sensible,  1  make  this  my  last 
testament" 

May  21.  At  the  General  Court  *  of  elections  in  Connecticut, 
John  Winthrop,  who  was  formerly  chosen  by  Massachusetts  to 

preside  over  the  affairs  of  Pequod,  which  the  latter  Colony  held  as 
their  share  of  conquered  territory,  is  chosen  governor  of  the  former 
Colony.  The  inhabitants  of  Mystick  and  Pawkatuck  are  required 
to  pay  Mr.  Blinman  for  his  year's  service  among  them  to  March 
last. 

August  18.  The  result  of  the  Council,  composed  of  members 
from  the  Confederate  Colonies,  is  ordered  to  be  laid  before  the 
churches  for  their  opinion  on  its  proposals. 

Robert  Wade,  of  Saybrook,  is  divorced  from  his  wife,  Joane, 
residing  in  England,  because  she  had  refused  to  live  with  him  for 
nearly  fifteen  years. 

"  The  Court  being  duly  sensible  of  the  danger  this  Common- 
wealth is  in  of  being  poisoned  in  their  judgment  and  principles  by 
some  loathsome  heretic,  whether  Quakers,  Ranters,  Adamites,  or 
some  others  like  them,"  it  is  decreed,  "  that  no  person  shall  give 
any  unnecessary  entertainment  to  any  of  the  aforesaid  known 
heretics,  upon  penalty  of  five  pounds  for  each  heretic  entertained," 
and  no  towTn  shall  allow  such  entertainment,  on  penalty  of  £5  for 
every  week  of  its  continuance,  and  "  also  £5  a  person  that  shall  at 
any  time  unnecessarily  speak  more  or  less  with  any  of  the  aforesaid 
heretics,  except  the  Magistrates,  Assistants,  Elders,  or  Constable." 
It  is  further  ordered,  that  the  civil  officers  here  named,  shall,  with 
the  aid  of  an  Elder  or  Elders,  examine  individuals  suspected  of 
being  such  heretics,  and,  if  finding  them  to  be  so,  shall  have  them 
imprisoned  or  sent  out  of  the  jurisdiction. 

September  12.  The  Commissioners  address  f  Mr.  Blinman  on 
the  subject  of  missionary  labor  among  the  Indians.  They  offer 
him  £20  a  year  for  an  interpreter  to  be  in  his  family,  and  assist 
him,  and  promise  to  pay  for  his  own  services.  They  state  that  if, 
for  such  aid,  he  would  receive  one  or  two  of  the  Indian  boys  now 
at  Rocksbury,  who  can  read  and  write,  he  can  have  them,  and  be 
duly  compensated  for  advancing  them  in  their  education.  They 
also  write  to  Mr.  Leveridge,  and  desire  him  "to  be  helpful  to  the 
Mantackett  and  Carchauge  Sachems  and  their  people,  or  any  other 
Indians  within  the  English  limits,  in  teaching  them  the  true  knowl- 
edge of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  They  offer  him  an  interpreter,  as 
they  did  to  Mr.  Blinman. 

The  same  year,  William  Thomson,  graduate  from  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 1653,  and  son  of  the  minister  at  Braintree,  was  employed  by 
the  Commissioners   as  a  missionary  to   Pequods  at  Mystick  and 

*  Conn.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.         f  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.   Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  371-3,  9. 
25 


194  QUAKERS'  BOOKS   AND   MANUSCRIPTS. 

[COHV. 

Pawkatuck.  He  was  so  engaged  about  four  years.  He  was  invited 
to  settle  in  the  ministry  at  Springfield.  He  married,  November 
19,  1655,  Catharine,  daughter  to  Richard  Treat,  of  Weathers- 
field. 

19.  John  Winthrop  and  others,*  at  Pequod,  are  requested  by  the 
Commissioners  to  encourage  Messrs.  Blinman  and  Thomson  "in 
their  endeavours  to  instruct  the  Indians  thereabouts  residing,  espe- 
cially Robin  and  his  company."  In  their  report  to  the  Missionary 
Board  in  London,  the  Commissioners  state  that  they  send  the  Indian 
catechism,  prepared  by  Mr.  Pierson. 

October  1.  The  Connecticut  Legislature!  order  "  that  noe  person 
within  this  Jurisdiction  shall  kepe  any  Quakers'  bookes  or  manu- 
scripts containing  their  errours,  except  teaching  Elders,  vpon  the 
penalty  of  10/.  a  time  for  euery  person  that  shall  kepe  any  such 
booke  after  the  publication  thereof,  and  that  shall  not  deliuer  such 
bookes  vnto  their  Elders." 

This  year,  Hooker's  work,  entitled  "  Christ's  Prayer  for  Be- 
lievers, a  Series  of  Discourses  founded  on  John  17 :  20—26,"  is 
published  in  London.  Of  this  production,  William  Whiting,  of 
Hartford,  in  his  will,  dated  March  23,  1644,  has  this  passage  :  "  I 
bequeath  £20  vnto  Mr.  Hooker,  towards  the  furtherance  of  setting 
forth  for  the  benefitt  of  the  Church,  his  worke  vppon  the  17th  of 
John,  with  any  thing  else  hee  doth  intend." 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.    Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  379.        f  Conn.  MS.  and  Printed  Rec. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Massachusetts.    Quakers.  —  Union  of  Congregationalistfl  and  Presbyterians. 

—  Mission.  —  Freemen.  —  Ministry.  —  Indian  College.  —  Superstition.  — 
Banishment  of  Quakers  on  pain  of  death. — Faubord. — Perrot.  —  Publica- 
tions.—  Man's  Redemption.  —  Observance  of  Christmas  forbidden.  —  Trus- 
ties in  England.  —  Printing  of  the  Bible  in  the  Indian  tongue.  —  Catechism. 

—  Justification.  —  Eliot's  Commonwealth.  —  Council.  — Execution  of  Qua- 
kers.—  The  General  Court's  reasons. — Tractate  of  Norton.  —  Ecclesiastical. 

—  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  —  Heresies. — Proceedings  against  Quakers 
continued.  —  Contract.  —  Buckingham's  verses.  — Execution  of  Mary  Dyer. 

—  Jews  in  America.  —  X  ayes' s  Moses  and  Aaron.  —  Indian  Language.  — 
General  Governor.  —  Self  murderer.  —  Letter  to  Dury. — Foreign  affairs. 
Plymouth.  Law  against  Quakers.  —  Removal  of  Cudworth.  —  Death  of  Mr. 
Partridge.  —  Jewish  Laws.  —  Freemen.  —  Domestic  affairs.  —  Dunster.  — 
Prosecutions.  —  Exposxire.  Maine.  Outlawry. — Petition  to  Cromwell. — 
Missionary.  —  Ministry.  —  Episcopacy.  New  Hampshire.  Letter  from 
Wheelwright.  — Fifth  monarchy  men.  —  Quakers.  —  Ordination.  —  Mason's 
claim.  Rhode  Island.  Quakers.  —  Sale  of  convicted  Indians.  —  Univer- 
salism. — Letters  of  Mrs.  Coddington,  Messrs.  Clark  and  Williams.  Con- 
necticut. Theophilus  Eaton.  —  Formation  of  churches.  —  Laws  against 
Quakers.  — Ecclesiastical  troubles.  —  Councils.  —  Blinman  sails  for  England. 

—  David,  the  Jew.  —  Donation  of  Hopkins  for  Education.  —  Churches. 

.      MASSACHUSETTS. 

1658.  February  3.  Having  been  apprehended  as  professors  of 
Quaker  principles,  Lawrence  Southwick,  his  wife  Cassandra  and 
son  Josiah,  all  of  Salem,  are  sent  to  the .  Boston  house  of  correc- 
tion.* They  were  whipped,  and  kept  at  work  for  the  eleven  days 
of  their  imprisonment.  The  father  and  son  were  fined  £4  13/.  for 
the  absence  of  themselves  and  the  wife  of  the  former  from  public 
worship.  Edward  Harriet,  aged  69,  and  his  wife,  aged  73,  both  of 
the  same  town,  are  assessed  87/.  on  a  similar  charge. 

March.  William  Shattuck,  of  Boston,  a  shoemaker,  belonging  to 
the  same  denomination,  is  committed  to  the  house  of  correction 
and  whipped  for  staying  at  home  on  the  Sabbath.  At  his  request, 
he  is  soon  allowed  to  depart  from  the  Colony,  and  make  provision 
somewhere  else-  for  his  wife  and  four  children.  John  Small, 
Josiah  Southwick  and  John  Burton,  on  their  way  from  Salem,  are 
apprehended    at  Dedham  and  carried  back  to   the  Governor   in 

*  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  52,  6,  7.     SewaU's  History,  p.  168,  88. 


196  CONFESSIONS   OF  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

Boston,  because  they  refused  to  inform  Capt.  Lusher,  of  what 
religion  they  were.  They  were  going  to  prepare  a  home  for  them- 
selves and  families  in  Rhode  Island,  where  persons  of  their  belief 
had  permission  to  dwell.  The  Chief  Magistrate  granted  them  leave 
to  pursue  their  journey,  after  the  payment  of  costs  for  the  constable 
and  men  who  arrested  them. 

April  2.  Giles  Firmin,  of  Shalford,  England,  prefaces  his  work, 
in  answer  to  Dr.  Owen  on  Schism  and  Arguments  of  Noyes  at 
Newbury,  "  against  imposition  of  hands  in  ordination."  He  refers 
to  the  subsequent  passage  from  John  Norton.  "  The  Association 
you  mention  amongst  the  Ministers,  we  much  rejoice  in.  I  never 
thought  it  better  than  human,  but  oftentimes  worse,  that  the  Pres- 
byterian and  Congregational  men  cannot  close  together  in  brotherly 
communion.  The  power  of  godliness  interests  us  in  the  affections 
of  the  godly,  above  the  notions  of  either  of  them  considered  apart 
therefrom.  I  believe  the  Congregational  way  to  be  the  truth  ;  yet 
I  think  better  of  many  Presbyterians  than  of  many  Congregational 
men.  'Tis  no  wonder  if  Independents  are  unruly,  for  I  distinguish 
between  Independents  and  Congregational  men;  or  rather  such 
(call  themselves  as  they  please)  that  will  not  acknowledge  the  rule 
of  the  Presbytery,  and  the  order  of  Councils." 

13.  Sarah  Gibbens  and  Dorothy  Waugh,  having  come  to  Salem 
and  then  to  Boston,  and  given  an  exhortation  in  the  meeting- 
house of  the  latter  place,  after  Lecture,  are  *  put  in  the  house  of 
correction.  They  were  whipped  as  the  law  directed.  Refusing  to 
work,  they  had  a  scanty  allowance  of  food.  They  were  kept  pris- 
oners till  the  next  month,  and  then  sent  away. 

30.  The  Missionary  Corporation  address  f  their  Directors  here, 
and  state  that  they  have  a  clear,  annual  income  of  £600,  and  desire 
them  not  to  draw  for  more  than  £500  a  year  for  the  present. 
They  proceed :  "  We  have  received  the  Confessions  of  some 
Indians,  mentioned  in  your  letter,  and  hoped  if  the  Lord  had 
pleased,  to  have  brought  Mr.  Mayhew  amongst  us,  to  have  put 
them  into  some  method  for  the  presses,  and  to  have  had  further 
satisfaction  from  him  concerning  the  progress  of  this  work.  But 
we  fear  that  the  ship  wherein  he  was  is  miscarried,  which  is  no 
small  grief  unto  us,  and,  therefore,  we  desire,  if  so  bad  a  Provi- 
dence have  befallen  us,  that  a  fit  and  able  person  might  succeed 
him  in  carrying  on  the  Indian  work,  which  we  leave  unto  your- 
selves." 

May  10.  Lawrence  Southwick,  his  wrife  Cassandra,  and  sons 
Josiah  and  John,  Samuel  Shattuck,  Anthony  Needham  and  wife, 
and  John  Small,  are  fined  J  £10  5/.  for  absence  from  public  wor- 
ship. 

*  Bishop,  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  58.     Sewall,  p.  188. 

f  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  389.  +  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 


Ml   AK1.K     II  >l  IMiiM!  9,  1<J7 

6S&] 

11.  Horred  Gardner,  the  mother  of  a  large  family,  came  from 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  with  .1  babe,  to  deliver  ber  testimony  at 
RTeymouth.  For  this  .she  was  brought  to  Boston,  and,  with  a  girl, 
iiary  Staunton,  who  helped  bring  her  child,  she  waa  imprisoned. 

Uie  and  the  girl  were  whipped  ten  lashes  each.  They  were 
eleised  in  a  fortnight  Thomas  Harris,  of  Barbadoes,*  reaching 
Boston  from  Rhode  Island,  entered  a  house  of  worship,  and  charged 
he  people  with  pride  and  oppression,  warned  them  that  the  terrible 

lav  of  the  Lord  was  coming  on  the  town  and  country,  lie  was 
brcibly  ejected,  committed  to  prison,  and  whipped  the  next  day. 
le  was  so  corrected  several  times,  because  he  refused  to  labor  as 
he  jailor  required.  He  was  kept  confined  till  after  the  middle  of 
luly. 

17.  A  petition  of  thirty-three  men,  belonging  to  Ipswich,  who 
lad  taken  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Government,  but  not  the  oath 
)f  freemen,  is  directed  to  the  General  Court.f  They  desire  to  be 
nformed  whether  they  are  authorized  by  law  to  vote  in  affairs  of 
he  town,  and  to  be  chosen  among  its  officers,  though  not  to  be  a 
mvjority  of  them.  The  magistrates  reply  to  these  petitioners,  that 
hey  may  be  elected  jurymen,  and  vote  for  selectmen,  and  where 
hese  do  not  exist,  may  vote  for  the  regulation  of  schools,  herding 
attle,  laying  out  highways,  distributing  lands,  etc.,  and  that  the 
reemen  have  power  to  restrain  some  from  voting  for  just  cause. 

The  deputies  state,  that  they  concur  with  this,  but  that  it  is  not 
.  full  answer  to  the  petition.  Under  the  26th,  an  explanation  of 
he  Court  is  recorded,  granting  the  privileges  just  named  to  such  as 
he  petitioners,  with  the  addition  of  being  chosen  constables  as  well 
is  jurymen.  These  proceedings  indicate  a  decrease  of  estimation  for 
equisites  of  being  freemen,  as  they  had  been  in  Massachusetts  and 
Sew  Haven,  and  a  purpose  to  enlarge  the  privileges  of  its  opposite 
elation.  Such  a  sign  of  the  times  was,  very  probably,  made  more 
)rominent  by  the  allowances  granted  by  the  Bay  authorities  to  the 
ion-freemen  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine. 

19.  The  Legislature  convene.  Some  of  their  transactions  under 
his  date  follow. 

Perceiving  that  the  laws  already  enacted  did  not  avail  to  keep 
way  Quakers,  nor  people  from  assembling  to  hear  them,  the 
jeneral  Court  order  that  a  penalty  of  10/.  be  laid  on  every  per- 
on  who  attends  such  meetings,  and  of  £5  on  every  one  who  speaks 
here.  They  also  require,  that  if  an  inhabitant  has  been  punished 
>nce  for  such  offences,  and  repeats  them,  he  shall  be  confined  in  a 
rouse  of  correction  until  he  give  bonds  not  to  declare  the  Quaker 
loctrines,  or  to  depart  from  Massachusetts  at  his  own  charges,  and, 
f  returning  again  without  leave,  shall  be  dealt  with  as  though  he 
fere  a  stranger. 

*  Bishop,  p.  60,  1.     Sewall,  p.  188.    Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  184,  5. 
t  Ipswich  MS.  Papers.     MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


198  INDIAN  COLLEGE. 

[Mass. 

Their  caption  for  a  law,  that  every  constant  preacher  shall  be 
without  offence,  runs  as  follows  :  "  Whereas,  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  Magistrate  to  take  care  the  People  be  fed  with  whole- 
some and  sound  doctrine,  and  in  this  hour  of  temptation  wherein 
the  enemy  designeth  to  sow  corrupt  seed,  every  company  cannot 
be  thought  able  or  fit  to  judge  of  those  Gospel  qualifications 
required  in  the  public  dispensers  of  the  Word,  and  all  societies  of 
Christians  are  bound  to  attend  order  and  communion  of  churches ; 
considering,  also,  the  rich  blessing  of  God,  flowing  from  the  good 
agreement  of  the  Civil  and  Church-estate,  and  the  horrible  mis- 
chiefs and  confusions  that  follow  on  the  contrary."  They  then  give 
the  particulars  of  the  act,  that  no  person  shall  preach  constantly  to 
any  society,  or  be  ordained  over  them  as  a  Teaching  Elder,  when- 
ever two  churches,  the  Council  of  State,  or  General  Court,  shall 
declare  their  dissatisfaction  with  him,  either  for  doctrine  or  conduct ; 
and  that  no  man  shall  be  ordained  for  such  an  Elder,  unless  timely 
notice  thereof  is  given  to  three  or  four  neighboring  churches,  so 
that  they  may  ascertain  whether  they  can  approve  of  him.* 

26.  Humphrey  Atherton  is  empowered  to  regulate  the  Indians, 
subject  to  the  Colonial  jurisdiction,  "  especially  those  of  Naticke 
and  Punquapog,  according  to  our  laws,  as  far  as  they  are  capable." 

The  petition  of  Samuel  Greene,  printer,  of  Cambridge,  is  ap- 
proved and  recommended  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union,  so 
that  they  may  request  the  missionary  corporation  in  England  to 
allow  £20  to  buy  "  letters  for  the  use  of  the  Indian  College." 

Dorothy  Upshall,  having  desired  that  the  rest  of  her  husband's 
fine  may  be  left  for  her  use,  has  it  remitted  to  be  entirely  at  her 
disposal,  so  "  that  the  innocent  may  not  suffer  with  the  nocent." 

On  the  petition  of  Northampton,  as  to  a  minister,  their  case  is 
referred,  for  advice,  to  the  Elders.  Before  the  close  of  their  ses- 
sion, the  Court  approve  of  Eleazer  Mather's  being  called  to  preach 
with  the  people  there,  as  they  wished. 

June  6.  Thomas  Gould  is  again  called  before  the  Charlestown 
church,  for  his  denial  of  infant  baptism,  and  absence  from  their 
worship.  The  record  says :  "  Hence,  after  much  time  spent,  the 
brethren  consenting,  he  was  admonished  for.  breaking  away  from 
the  church  in  way  of  schism."  Such  discipline  was  continued 
several  years,  until  he  was  finally  excommunicated. 

29.  Persons  who  had  attended  a  meeting  on  the  preceding  Sab- 
bath, at  the  residence  of  Nicholas  Phelps,  in  Salem,  are  brought  f 
before  the  County  Court.  Among  them  are  William  Brend  and 
William  Leddra,  who  belonged  to  the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  but  had 
come  from  England.  Asked  why  they  came  hither,  they  replied, 
that  the  Lord  required  them  to  do  it,  with  the  encouragement  that 
their  mission  should  be  prospered.     They  escaped  to  Newbury,  but 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 


DISTURBANCE  OF   WORSHIP.  190 

85&] 

brought  back  and  sent  to  the  house  of  correction.     Phelpi 
ml  others  of  the  assembly,  as  Lawrence  Southwick  and  his  wiie, 

Hth  their  sons,  John,  Josiah,  Daniel  and  Provided,  Joshua 
luffum,  Samuel  Shattuck,  Joseph  Pope,  Anthony  Needham  and 
rife,  Edward  Wharton,  Samuel  Gaskin,  wife  of  Henry  Trask, 
tobert  BufTum's  wife  and  his  son  Joseph,  Thomas  Brackett, 
Sdward  Harnett,  Sen'r,  and  John  Hill, — are  sentenced.*  Some  of 
hem  are  fined  and  the  rest  sent  to  the  house  of  correction.  Of 
hese,  as  Besse  relates,  Phelps  was  whipped  for  keeping  his  hat  on. 
V.  JB,  p.  INS.)  More,  under  a  similar  indictment,  who  did  not 
ppear,  were  .Robert  Adams,  Henry  Trask,  wives  of  Phelps,  Pope 
ml  George  Gardner.  These  were  ordered  to  appear.  Sewall 
tates,  that  Adams  belonged  to  Newbury.  Bishop  relates  that,  on 
he  ~d  of  July,  Brend,  Leddra,  Lawrence  Southwick,  his  wife  and 
on  Josiah,  Shattuck,  Joshua  Buffum  and  Gaskin  were  imprisoned 
a  Boston.  The  second  wreek  after  being  so  confined,  they  were 
shipped  and  ordered  to  pay  charges  and  leave  the  Colony.  They 
efused  to  comply,  and  were  consequently  kept  imprisoned. 
lhattuck  and  Bufi'um  petitioned  for  release  on  the  16th,  and  were 
leard.  The  three  Southwicks  were  retained,  under  severe  treat- 
oent,  for  about  twenty  weeks. 

July.  Humphrey  Norton  appeared  f  at  a  Lecture  in  Boston, 
ielivered  by  John  Norton,  and  after  the  latter  had  closed,  stood 
ip  and  said :  "  Verily  this  is  the  sacrifice  which  the  Lord  God 
ccepts  not."  While  proceeding  in  this  strain,  he  and  John  Rouse 
rho  accompanied  him,  were  taken  and  ejected.  They  were  tried 
nd  committed,  though  they  appealed  to  England.  Rouse  was 
on  of  Lieut.  Col.  Rouse,  of  Barbadoes,  who  had  resided  in  this 
Colony.  Both  of  them  were  whipped  several  times,  while  held 
irisoners,  for  refusing  to  conform  with  the  law. 

20.  Most  of  the  individuals,  prosecuted  for  attendance  on  a 
iuaker  meeting  at  Phelps's  house,  last  month,  are  again  arraigned. J 
Vovided  Southwick,  besides  a  fine  of  20/.  is  ordered  to  pay  5/. 
nd  be  set  in  the  stocks  by  the  feet  one  hour,  for  charging  the 
)ourt  as  persecutors.  Besides  the  persons  of  Salem,  previously 
rraigned,  are  the  wives  of  Richard  Gardner,  Isaac  Page  and  John 
Imith,  who  are  called  to  answer  for  a  like  accusation. 
30.  The  Woodhouse,§  a  small  vessel  owned  and  navigated  by 

Quaker,  Robert  Fowler  of  Burlington,  Yorkshire,  England,  with 

wo  men  and  three  boys  to  sail  her,  arrives  from  the  Downs,  in 

ight  of  Long  Island.     Then,  as  he  notes  in  his  journal,  <(  A  word 

ame  to  us,  that  seed  in  America  shall  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea." 

• 

*  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.     Bishop,  p.  64,  9.     Sewall,  p.  189. 

t  Bishop,  p.  62,  4,  8-70.     Sewall,  p.  92.  %  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 

$  British  Museum.  Though  the  time  between  some  of  these  passengers 
eing  sent  out  of  the  country  and  their  reappearance  here,  is  not  long,  yet  it  is 
mg  enough  not  to  be  inconsistent. 


200  ANTICIPATED  REVOLUTION. 

[Mass. 

The  names  of  Quaker  passengers  with  him,  were  Robert  Hoggen, 
Richard  Dowdney,  Sarah  Gib  bens,  Mary  Witherhead  and  Dorothy 
Waugh.  Part  of  these  had  already  suffered  for  their  conduct  in 
this  Colony,  and  did  afterwards.  The  Journal  reads  further : 
"  Landed  at  New  Amsterdam,  several  came  on  board  and  we  began 
our  work." 

August  4.  Christopher  Holder  and  John  Copeland,*  on  their 
return  to  Boston,  are  apprehended  and  carried  thither  from  Ded- 
ham.  They  are  imprisoned.  On  the  25th,  John  Rouse  came 
back  to  Boston.  The  next  day  he  was  alike  confined.  The  16th 
of  September  each  of  these  three  had  a  right  ear  cut  off,  as  the  law 
required  of  all  Quakers  who  entered  the  jurisdiction  a  second 
time,  without  permission. 

As  an  indication  of  the  opinion  which  prevailed  here,  that  a 
political  revolution  was  soon  to  take  place  in  the  Cromwell  admin- 
istration, General  Dennison  of  Ipswich,  one  of  the  Court  to  try 
some  Quakers  this  summer,  said  to  them  when  talking  of  an  appeal 
to  England :  "  This  year,  you'll  go  and  complain  to  the  Parlia- 
ment ;  the  next  year,  they'll  send  some  to  see  how  things  go ;  and 
in  the  third  year,  the  Government  will  be  changed." 

September  3.  After  an  anxious,  f  perilous  and  eventful  Protec- 
torate of  nearly  five  years,  Cromwell  expires,  in  the  60th  year  of 
his  age.  His  eminent  talents  and  honors  could  purchase  him  no 
exemption  from  the  common  lot  of  human  nature.  He  appointed 
his  eldest  son  Richard  as  his  successor,  who,  the  next  day,  is 
accordingly  proclaimed.  The  new  Protector  soon  perceives,  that 
his  position  is  far  from  being  sure,  safe  and  comfortable.  His 
authority  is  disputed  and  diminished  in  every  direction. 

16.  The  Commissioners  write  J  to  the  missionary  corporation  in 
London  :  "  We  find  it  very  difficult  to  procure  fit  persons  to  engage 
here,  as  the  work  calls  for.  The  loss  of  Mr.  Mayhew  is  very 
great.  Our  endeavors  shall  be  improved  to  the  uttermost  to  supply 
that  place,  which  is  the  most  considerable  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  His  father,  though  ancient,  is  helpful  with  another 
Englishman  and  two  Indians,  that  instruct  the  rest  upon  the  Lord's 
day  and  at  other  times.  Mistress  Mayhew,  the  widow  of  the 
deceased,  whom  he  left  poor,  with  six  or  seven  children,  desires 
that  three  boys  may  be  brought  up  in  learning,  to  fit  them  for  after 
service  amongst  the  Indians,  which  we  are  slow  to  assent  unto,  in 
regard  they  are  very  young,  and  the  charges  will  be  great  before 
they  be  fit  for  employment,  and  then  uncertain  how  their  minds 
may  be  addicted,  or  their  hearts  inclined  to  this  work  ;  yet,  for  her 
support  and  the  encouragement  of  others,  we  have  allowed  her 
twenty  pounds,  taken  upon  us  to  defray  the  charge  of  her  eldest 

*  Bishop,  p.  89-91.     Sewall,  p.  192,  3.  f  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  166. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  391,  2. 


L088  01   m  wiii:\v.  M)l 

on  of  about  ten  years  old,  now  at  school,  for  this  year,  and  shall 
ic  willing  to  do  farther  for  him  or  her,  as  you  shall  please  to 
jflyiBe." 

A  letter  of  AuguM  £5,  having  been  received  from  Thomas  May- 
ieu-  by  the  Commissioners,  Endicott  replies4  in  their  behalf.  The 
i- liter  deeply  sympathizes  with  May  hew  for  the  loss  of  his  son  ; 
Doomages  the  continuance  of  his  labors  among  the  Indians;  and 
emarks  that  they  shall,  as  he  advised,  endeavor  to  procure  llig- 
(inson  and  Pierson  for  the  mission  at  the  Vineyard,  though  he  had 
tot  much  hope  of  success.  He  states  that  they  would  have  Peter 
rolger,  schoolmaster,  Thomas  and  James,  Indians,  interpreters  and 
choolmasters,  continued  in  the  work  there.  "  Concerning  the 
sdian  boys,  you  speak  of  sending,  we  desire  they  shall  be  well 
ntered,  that  is,  fit  for  their  accidence  before  they  come  hither. 
»VTe  advise  they  may  not  be  sent  until  the  spring." 

Sept.  22.  The  Commissioners  address  f  the  Corporation  and 
jive  notice,  that  they  have  drawn  for  the  present  year's  allowance 
if  £500.  They  add :  "  It  is  our  unfeigned  desire  with  you,  that 
hese  contributions  may  be  improved  according  to  the  purpose  of 
he  donors,  for  the  promoting  of  the  knowledge  of  God  in  Jesus 
Christ  amongst  these  poor  natives  ;  we  hope  and  believe,  there  is  a 
eal  good  effect  in  several  places." 

An  instance  of  the  impression  on  many  seamen's  minds,  that 
t  is  an  ill  omen  for  "  black  coats  "  to  be  shipped  with  them, 
s  here  presented.  Hull  tells  us  in  his  diary,  that  Mr.  Newton, 
rho  had  left  his  people  at  Farmington,  Conn.,  the  year  before, 
:ame  to  Boston  and  took  passage ;  and,  after  remaining  in  the  ves- 
el  six  or  eight  days,  he  received  polite  notice  from  the  captain 
nd  others,  that  they  wished  him  to  disembark,  "thinking  his 
>resence  some  cause  of  the  cross  winds."  As  the  worthy  subject 
if  this  occurrence,  whose  sensibility  must  have  been  wounded  by 
he  implication  that  he  was  a  sort  of  Jonah,  preached  for  Mr. 
Norton,  on  the  18th  of  next  October,  he  must  have  given  up  his 
ntended  voyage  to  comply  with  the  notions  of  others. 

23.  Wearied  with  continual  annoyance  from  Quakers,  who  in- 
ruded  themselves  into  different  parts  of  the  Confederation,  though 
esisted  with  much  severity,  the  Commissioners  supposed  that,  if 
hey  should  make  death  the  extreme  penalty  of  their  refusal  to 
)bey  the  laws,  it  would  keep  them  from  the  several  Colonies. 
Chey  therefore  propose  +  the  following  to  their  respective  Legis- 
atures.  "Whereas  there  is  an  accursed  and  pernicious  sect  of 
leretics,  lately  risen  up  in  the  world,  who  are  commonly  called 
Quakers,  who  take  -upon  them  to  be  immediately  sent  of  God  and 
nfallibly  assisted ;  who  do  speak  and  write  blasphemous  things, 

*  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  397,  8.  f  Ibid.  p.  392,  3.  +  Ibid. 
).  399,  400. 

26 


%02  PENALTY  OF  DEATH. 

[Mass. 

despising  Government  and  the  order  of  God  in  Church  and  Com- 
monwealth, speaking  evil  of  dignities,  reproaching  and  reviling- 
magistrates  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  seeking  to  turn  the  people 
from  the  faith  and  to  gain  proselytes  to  their  pernicious  ways ;  and 
whereas  the  several  Jurisdictions  have  made  diverse  laws  to  pro- 
hibit and  restrain  the  aforesaid  cursed  heretics  from  coming  amongst 
them,  yet  notwithstanding  they  are  not  deterred  thereby,  but  arro- 
gantly and  presumptuously  do  press  into  several  of  the  Jurisdictions, 
and  there  vent  their  pernicious  and  devilish  opinions,  which  being 
permitted,  tend  manifestly  to  the  disturbance  of  our  peace ;  the 
withdrawing  of  the  hearts  of  the  people  from  their  subjection  to 
Government,  and  so,  in  issue,  to  cause  division  and  ruin,  if  not 
timely  prevented ;  it  is  therefore  propounded  and  seriously  com- 
mended to  the  several  General  Courts,  upon  considerations  afore- 
said, to  make  a  Law  that  all,  who  have  been  punished  in  the  Colo- 
nies as  Quakers,  and  return,  shall  be  imprisoned  and  banished  on 
pain  of  death,  and  if  they  come  back  shall  suffer  such  punishment, 
unless  they  renounce  their  opinions ;  that  foreign  Quakers,  who 
appear  for  the  first  time  in  either  of  the  Colonies,  or  those  who 
become  so  of  the  inhabitants,  shall  t  be  banished  under  pain  of 
severe  corporal  punishment/  and  then  if  returning,  shall  be  so 
punished  and  banished  on  pain  of  death,  and  if  coming  back,  shall 
have  this  sentence  executed  on  them,  unless  they  make  a  similar 
renunciation." 

28.  Samuel  Shattuck,  Nicholas  Phelps  and  Joshua  Buffum  are 
fined*  for  non-attendance  on  public  worship.  They  are  also  sen- 
tenced to  be  kept  in  the  House  of  Correction,  till  they  shall  give 
security  either  to  renounce  their  opinions  or  remove  out  of  the 
Colony. 

Of  the  missionaries  f  among  the  Indians,  is  Richard  Bourne  in 
Plymouth  Colony.  Nine  Indian  boys  had  been  supported  and 
instructed,  the  year  past,  at  the  charge  of  the  Corporation,  besides 
the  son  of  Mr.  Mayhew  and  John  Stanton,  who  had  entered  col- 
lege. Joseph,  the  second  son  of  John  Eliot,  is  accepted  as  a  mis- 
sionary. Thus  the  Apostle  has  another  son,  besides  his  eldest,  to 
co-operate  with  him  in  so  useful  a  work. 

October  £.  Catharine  Scott,J  an  aged  woman  and  the  mother  of 
many  children,  had  come  from  Providence  to  see  Holder  and  the 
two  others  have  their  ears  cut  off,  is  imprisoned  in  Boston  and 
whipped  ten  stripes. 

19.  A  session  of  the  General  Court  commences.  A  petition  for 
severer  laws  against  the  Quakers,  is  laid  before  them.  Such  a  sub- 
ject, as  recommended  to  them  by  the  Commissioners,  is  introduced. 
They  pass  an  Act,§  which  accords  mainly  with  the  one  so  proposed. 

*  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.  f  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  393-5. 

X  Bishop,  p.  95.  §  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


FORFEITURE  OF   LIFB,  203 

ma] 

*  Whereas  there  is  a  pernicious  sect,  commonly  culled  Quakers, 
lately  arisen,  who  by  word  and  writing,  have  published  and  main- 
tained dangerous  and  horrid  tenets,  and  do  take  upon  them  to 
change  and  alter  the  received  laudable  customs  of  our  nation, 
in  giving  civil  respect  to  equals  or  reverence  to  superiors,  whose 
actions  tend  to  undermine  the  authority  of  civil  government,  as 
also  to  destroy  the  order  of  the  Churches  by  denying  all  established 
forms  of  worship,  and  by  withdrawing  from  the  orderly  Church 
assemblies,  allowed  and  approved  by  all  orthodox  professors  of  the 
truth  ;  and  instead  thereof,  and  opposition  thereunto,  frequenting 
private  meetings  of  their  own,  insinuating  themselves  into  the 
minds  of  the  simpler  or  such  as  are  less  affected  to  the  order  and 
government  in  Church  and  Commonwealth,  whereby  divers  of  our 
inhabitants  have  been  infected  and  seduced ;  notwithstanding  all 
former  laws  made  (upon  experience  of  their  arrogant,  bold  obtru- 
sions, to  disseminate  their  principles  amongst  us)  prohibiting  their 
coming  into  this  Jurisdiction,  they  have  not  been  deterred  from  their 
impetuous  attempts  to  undermine  our  peace  and  hasten  our  ruin." 
The  Act  then  proceeds  to  require,  that  the  foreign  Q.uakers,  who 
come  into  the  Colony,  shall  be  tried  by  a  jury  before  the  Assistants, 
and,  if  proved  to  be  such,  be  banished  on  pain  of  death.  In  refer- 
ence to  people  here,  who  become  Quakers,  it  allows  them  after 
being  convicted  and  committed  to  prison  for  one  month,  before 
their  final  trial,  to  leave  the  Jurisdiction ;  but  if  they  refuse,  then 
to  give  bond  for  appearance  before  the  next  Court  of  Assistants, 
and  there,  unless  they  renounce  their  doctrines  and  practices,  be 
banished  on  the  like  penalty.  It  also  provides,  that  should  any 
of  them  leave  the  Colony  prior  to  their  last  trial,  and^  come  back 
without  the  consent  of  the  major  part  of  the  Council,  they  shall 
receive  the  like  sentence.  There  was  much  debate  among  the 
Deputies,  whether  the  trial  by  jury  for  Quakers  should  be  allowed. 
But  it  was  so  tried,  as  implied  by  the  law.  Edward  Hutchinson 
and  Thomas  Clark  entered  their  dissent. 

Ordered,  that  if  young  people  and  others  walk  and  sport  in  the 
streets  and  fields,  and  drink  at  public  houses  after  sundown  on 
Saturday  and  Sunday  evenings,  they  shall  be  fined  5/.  for  every 
such  offence. 

On  account  of  divisions  in  several  churches,  "  the  boldness  of 
open  oppose rs  of  the  truth  and  ways  of  the  Lord ;  unseasonable 
rains  and  mortality  in  divers  places,"  a  Fast  is  appointed  for  the 
10th  of  next  month,  "  to  intreat  the  Lord,  that  his  pleasure  may 
be  continued  to  his  poor  people  and  churches  in  these  ends  of  the 
earth." 

As  Quakers  dispersed  "their  papers,"  the  Court  "judge  meet, 
that  there  be  a  writing  drawn  up  and  forthwith  printed  to  manifest 
the  evil  of  their  tenets  and  danger  of  their  practices,  as  tending  to 
the  subversion  of  religion,  of  church  order  and  civil  government." 


204  SACRIFICE   OF  A  SON. 

[Mass. 

The  Court  commend  such  a  work  to  the  "  care  and  pains  of  the 
Rev.  John  Norton,"  and  desire  that  he  would  do  it  speedily. 

The  Court  arraign  Quakers,  brought  from  the  Ipswich  prison. 
Their  record  *  is,  "  after  much  endeavour  to  convince  and  reform 
them,  ordered,  that  Samuel  Shattuck,  Lawrence  Southwick  and  his 
wife  Cassandra,  Nicholas  Phelps,  Joshua  Buffum,  and  Josiah 
Southwick,"  all  of  Salem,  "  shall  be  enjoined  at  their  peril  to  depart 
out  of  this  jurisdiction  before  the  first  day  of  the  Court  of  Election 
next,  which,  if  they  neglect  or  refuse  to  do,  they  shall  then  be 
banished  under  pain  of  death  ;  and  if,  in  the  meantime,  they  shall 
transgress  against  the  new  law,  made  this  Court  against  the 
Quakers,  they  shall  be  proceeded  with  as  the  said  law  requires. 
And  it  is  referred  to  the  County  Court  of  Suffolk  to  declare  this 
sentence  to  them,  and  thereupon  to  release'  them  out  of  prison." 
On  November  30,  thirteen  of  the  same  denomination,  belonging  to 
Salem,  are  fined  for  absence  from  public  worship. 

The  ensuing  question  is  answered  affirmatively  by  the  Legisla- 
ture. Whether  the  majority  of  a  town  may  buy  or  hire  a  house 
for  their  ministers,  as  they  please.  This  originated  from  litigation 
about  the  vote  of  Ipswich,  February*  25,  1656. 

During  this  year,  Graham  f  relates  that  a  Quaker,  named 
Faubord,  undertaking  to  imitate  Abraham,  was  about  to  offer  his 
son  as  a  sacrifice,  when  his  neighbors,  hearing  the  cries  of  the  lad, 
broke  into  his  house  and  prevented  the  blasphemous  atrocity. 

The  same  author  mentions  one  Perrot,  who,  unable  to  overcome 
the  superior  influence  of  Fox  in  England,  so  as  to  propagate  the 
refrainment  from  shaving  the  beard,  and  from  uncovering  the  head 
in  time  of  prayer,  came  over  to  our  country,  and  succeeded  to  have 
such  changes  introduced  among  a  large  number  of  the  Quakers 
here.  He  states  that  Fox,  and  other  English  persons  of  his  denom- 
ination, made  it  a  prominent  part  of  their  mission  hither  to  reclaim 
their  brethren  from  errors  which  they  received  from  Perrot,  who 
subsequently  renounced  their  profession. 

December  25.  John  Leverett  writes  J  to  Sec'y  Rawson.  He  says 
that  he  had  applied  to  Richard  Cromwell,  lately  proclaimed  Pro- 
tector, as  the  successor  to  his  father.  He  proceeds :  "  I  pre- 
sented your  sayd  letter  the  27th  day  of  October.  He  was  pleased 
to  open  and  read  ye  letter  in  my  hearing,  and  then  gave  me  assur- 
ance as  formerlye,  that  he  had  a  deepe  sense  how  deare  ye  people 
of  New  England  weare  to  his  deare  Father,  and  yl  he  should  be 
ready  in  all  things  to  lay  forth  himself  for  ye  good  of  y*  people." 

This  year,  the  life  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  from  the  pen  of  John 
Norton,  is  printed  in  London.  Such  a  production,  on  account  of 
the  eminence  of  Cotton's  talents,  learning,  and  reputation,  as  well 
as  the  great  influence  which  his  writings  had  on  the  ecclesiastical 
polity  of  England,  was  a  rich  treat  to  many  readers. 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.        f  Vol.  i.  p.  299,  301.        +  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  317. 


mans   REDEMPTION.  906 

1659.] 

A  learned  and  able  work,  from  the  pen  of  Edward  Holyoke,  of 
Springfield,  and  previously  of  Lynn,  is  issued  in  London.     It  is 

addressed   to   his   brother,  .John    Bridges,  of   Hackney,  and  w  to  hifl 

wife,  his  sister,"  and  other  relatives  in  England.     He  says  ■  "  This 

1  now  present  unto  you  and  them  was  done  many  years  ago  for  the 
most  part."  It  treated  on  "  Man's  Redemption,"  with  various  col- 
lateral subjects.  His  first  chapter  was  on  "  the  Unity  of  the  God- 
head and  the  Trinity  of  Persons."  He  did  not  believe  in  a  literal 
return  of  the  Jews  to  Canaan,  but  in  the  calling  of  a  remnant  of 
them  to  the  faith  in  the  countries  where  they  dwelt.  Some  of  his 
opinions  resembled  those  of  his  brother-in-law,  William  Pynchon. 
It  is  very  probable  that  they  had  much  consultation  together  on 
the  subject. 

A  Commentary  on  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  by  John  Cotton,  is 
published  in  the  same  capital.  It  has  the  testimony  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Oresby,  of  Hackwell  in  Essex,  England,  that  he  heard  its  author 
deliver  the  most  of  it ;  and  Christopher  Scott,  of  Much  Wakering, 
in  the  same  county,  declared,  October  15,  1655,  that  it  was  from 
the  pen  of  Cotton. 

1659.  January.  As  the  source  of  anxiety  in  the  Puritan  con- 
cerns of  New  England,  the  Virginians,*  not  long  after  hearing  of 
Cromwell's  decease,  proclaim  Charles  II.  King  of  England,  Scot- 
land, Ireland,  and  Virginia.  Being  among  the  last  Colonists 
to  loose  their  hold  on  this  position,  they  were  of  the  first  for  its 
resumption.  In  token  of  approbation  for  their  adherence  to  him, 
the  King,  at  his  coronation,  wore,  as  a  part  of  his  attire,  silk  which 
they  sent  to  him  from  the  Colony. 

February.  Edward  Hutchinson  proposes  to  pay  the  charges  of 
his  aunt,  Catharine  Scott,  a  Quaker,  whom  Bishop,  p.  76,  calls 
daughter  of  Mr.  Marbery.  She  was  in  the  Boston  house  of  cor- 
rection. On  29th  of  March,  Samuel  Gascoyne  and  Edward  Whar- 
ton, of  Salem,  are  fined  for  many  days'  absence  from  public  worship. 

16.  Francis  Howgill  issues  a  publication  with  the  following  title : 
"  The  Popish  Inquisition  newly  erected  in  New  England,  whereby 
their  church  is  manifested  to  be  a  daughter  of  Mystery — Babylon, 
which  did  drink  the  blood  of  the  Saints."  After  noticing  some 
remarks  of  John  Endicott  and  Richard  Bellingham,  who  differed 
widely  from  his  belief,  he  says :  "  They  are  registered  among  the 
uncircumcised,  with  Mesech  and  Tubal,  the  great  Princes  of  Gog, 
which  make  war  against  the  Lamb  and  his  followers." 

25.  "  We  received  the  sad  news  f  of  the  Lord  Protector,  Oliver 
Cromwell,  a  man  of  excellent  worth,  who  died  September  3,  1658. 
The  Lord  give  suitable  affections  to  bewail  the  loss  of  such  choice 
ones.  He  was  one  that  sought  the  good  of  New  England,  though 
he  seemed  to  be  much  wanting  in  a  thorough  testimony  against  the 
Blasphemers  of  our  days." 

*  Univ.  Hist.  vol.  xii.  p.  352.  f  Hull's  MS.  Diary. 


206  PETER  BULKLEY'S  DECEASE. 

[Mass. 

March  9.  Rev.  Peter  Bulkley,  of  Concord,  dies  in  his  77th  year. 
His  widow  was  called  Grace,  in  1667.  Besides  his  printed  work 
on  the  Covenant  of  Grace  opened,  he  left  two  MSS.,  deposited  in 
the  Library  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  one  addressed  to 
Mr.  Phillips  of  Watertown.  The  other,  on  the  character  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  Church.  He  was  a  talented  and  successful  scholar, 
was  eminently  pious  and  devoted  to  his  profession.  By  his  liberal 
benefactions  of  property  and  constant  efforts  for  the  cause  of  godli- 
ness, he  laid  up  incorruptible  riches  in  heaven.  His  son  Edward, 
who  had  been  ordained  at  Marshfield,  removed  thence,  this  year, 
and  became  his  successor.  "  He  was  had  much  in  reverence  *  by 
his  own  people,"  and  throughout  the  country,  and  especially  by 
"  the  ministers,  who  would  address  him  as  father,  a  prophet  and 
counsellor  on  all  occasions."  His  motive  and  purpose  were  signi- 
fied by  words,  addressed  to  God,  which  he  wrote  when  expecting 
a  speedy  exchange  of  worlds  : 

"  Living  or  dying-,  Thine  I  still  would  be, 
My  life  and  death  alike  are  due  to  Thee ! " 

May  11.  Under  this  date  of  a  Legislative  session,  the  subsequent 
transactions  f  are  recorded.  n  Whereas  Daniel  and  Provided,  son 
and  daughter  to  Laurence  Southwick,  have  been  fined  by  the 
County  Courts  of  Salem  and  Ipswich,  pretending  they  have  no 
estate,  resolving  not  to  work,  and  others  like  them  have  been 
fined,  and  more  like  to  be  fined,  for  siding  with  the  Quakers,  and 
absenting  themselves  from  the  public  ordinances  ;  in  answer  to 
the  question,  what  course  should  be  taken  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
fines — the  Court,  on  perusal  of  the  Law,J  entitled  Arrests — resolve, 
that  the  Treasurer  of  the  several  Counties  are  and  shall  hereby  be 
impowered  to  sell  the  said  persons  to  any  of  the  English  nation  at 
Virginia  and  Barbadoes."  The  Act  for  arrest  of  persons  suspected 
of  secreting  their  property  so  as  not  to  pay  fines  laid  upon  them, 
and  for  the  sale  of  their  service  until  the  demand  was  satisfied,  was 
passed  years  before  any  Quakers  appeared  in  the  Colony. 

"  It  is  ordered,  that  Laurence  Southwick,  Cassandra  his  wife, 
Samuel  Shattuck,  Nicholas  Phelps,  Joshua  BufTum  and  Josiah 
Southwick,  be  sentenced,  according  to  the  order  of  October  last,  to 
depart  out  of  this  Jurisdiction  by  8th  of  June  next,  on  pain  of 
death ;  and  if  any  of  them,  after  the  said  8th  of  June,  shall  be 
found  within  this  Jurisdiction,  they  shall  be  apprehended,  be  com- 
mitted to  close  prison,  till  the  next  Court  of  Assistants,  where  they 
shall  be  tried,  and  being  found  guilty  of  the  breach  of  this  law, 
shall  be  put  to  death." 

The  first  two  of  these  persons  §  went  to  Shelter  Island,  where 
they  soon  died  within  three  days  of  each  other.     Their  son  Josiah, 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  400-3,  ed.  1855.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

t  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Bishop,  p.  105. 


TEU8THB8  in   liNGLAND.  207 

I6sa] 

Shattuck  and  Phelps  embarked  for  England,  and  Buffum  went  to 
Rhode  Island. 
On  the  17th,  Mary  Ham,  lister  to  Shattuck,  petitioned,*  that 

she  might  accompany  him  at  his  examination  before  Mr.  Norton. 

'•For  the  preventing  of  disorders  arising  in  several  places  within 
this  Jurisdiction,  by  reason  of  some's  still  observing  such  Festivals 
as  were  Buperstitiously  kept  in  other  countries,  to  the  great  dishonor 
of  God  and  offence  to  others,"  ordered,  that  whoever  observes 
"  any  such  day  as  Christmas  by  forbearing  of  labor,  by  feasting," 
shall  pay  5/.  for  each  trespass.  Such  games,  as  those  of  cards  and 
dice,  are  forbidden  on  the  like  penalty. 

The  Court  pass  a  Proposal  f  for  the  Enlargement  of  University 
Learning  in  New  England,  by  Trustees  in  Old  England.  Some 
extracts  follow :  "  And  because,  as  sometimes  David  said  upon  the 
like  occasion,  They  will  not  serve  the  Lord  with  that  which  cost 
them  nothing ;  they  have,  according  to  .their  ability,  if  not  above 
and  beyond  it,  (considering  their  late  great  losses  and  other  yearly 
burdens  in  reference  to  public  affairs,)  laid  some  foundation  for  a 
Seminary  of  Learning,  the  ordinary  means  whereby  the  Lord  is 
pleased  to  make  way  for  the  free  passage  of  his  everlasting  Gospel, 
which  they  look  at  and  rejoice  in,  as  the  standing  portion  and 
entailed  inheritance  of  them  and  theirs  forever.  We  cannot  but  be 
very  sensible  in  their  behalf  how  much  the  Lord  hath  smiled  upon 
their  small  beginnings,  by  succeeding  the  studious  endeavors  of 
those  who  have  been  trained  up  in  their  Cambridge,  of  whom, 
some  are  eminently  useful  among  themselves  at  this  present,  and  of 
the  rest,  many  who  have  been  called  forth  into  other  parts,  both 
of  America  and  Europe,  have  given  large  and  full  proof  of  their 
faithfulness  and  fitness  in  the  work  of  the  service  of  the  House  of 
God,  which  we  take  as  a  token  for  good,  superadded  to  all  other 
obligations  under  God's  kind  dealings  with  his  people  of  New 
England.  According  to  our  present  instructions,  we  shall  only 
address  ourselves  to  such  persons  of  worth  and  reputation  among 
the  people  of  God,  who  are  fin  spiritual  respects)  near  of  kin  to 
the  special  objects  of  their  deserved  bounty.  And  we  do  beseech 
and  intreat  them  humbly,  unto  whom  we  shall  repair  upon  this 
occasion,  that  they  will  do  the  kinsman's  part  in  raising  up,  if  we 
may  so  say,  the  name  of  Christ  on  his  inheritance."  "  We  con- 
stitute you,  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Esq.,  Herbert  Pelham,  Richard  Sal- 
tonstall  and  Henry  Ashhurst,  Esqs.,  Mr.  William  Hook,  Master 
of  the  Savoy,  Mr.  John  Knowles  of  Bristol,  Mr.  Thomas  Allen  of 
Norwich,  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  as  Trustees  J  for  raising  and 


*  Mass.  MS.  Papers.  f  Mass.  Archives,  Literary,  No.  58,  p.  38. 

J  By  a  letter  from  these  Trustees,  Judge  Hill,  member  of  Parliament,  gave 
them  £1,000,  the  income  of  which  was  to  be  for  poor  students  intended  for  the 
ministry. 


208  BOOK  AGAINST  QUAKERS. 

[Mass. 

managing  of  a  revenue  in  England,  towards  the  education  of  the 
youth  and  children  of  New  England  in  University  Learning." 

Because  of  the  unsettled  state  "  of  our  brethren  in  our  native 
country  by  commotions  and  great  thoughts  of  heart,  both  in  Coun- 
try and  Parliament  now  assembled,  and  a  good  issue  thereof  doth 
wholly  depend  upon  the  Lord's  favor  towards  them ;  "  of  divisions 
in  several  churches  of  New  England,  and  the  sad  face  of  the  rising 
generation,  with  "  threats  of  further  evil,"  a  Fast  is  to  be  observed 
on  the  15th  of  June.* 

Capt.  John  Cullick  and  Mr.  William  Goodwin  and  their  friends, 
who  had  desired  to  move  into  Massachusetts  and  been  granted 
leave  to  occupy  Norwottuck,f  have  commenced  the  enterprise. 
"  There  are  many  desirable  persons  having  a  Pastor  with  his 
church,  engaged  to  go  along  with  them  with  another,  who  may,  in 
time,  be  joined  to  that  church,  for  their  further  help  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry."  These  passages  refer  to  disaffected  church  mem- 
bers of  Weathersfield  and  Hartford. 

May  28.  On  the  petition  of  Thomas  Brackett  of  Salem,  which 
apologizes  for  his  being  influenced  by  Quakers  to  withdraw  from 
public  worship  and  meet  with  them,  he  is  abated  one  half  of  his 
fine,  and  the  rest  is  left  to  the  consideration  of  the  next  County 
Court  at  Salem. 

"  Whereas  William  Brend,  a  known  Quaker,  that  hath  formerly 
suffered  the  law,  hath  come  into  this  Jurisdiction,  being  sent  to 
prison  and  confessed  himself  a  Quaker  before  the  Court,  he  is 
ordered  to  be  imprisoned  till  May  16th,  and  then  be  banished,  on 
pain  of  death,  from  Massachusetts." 

While  Mr.  Mather,  of  Northampton,  was  gone,  some  mem- 
bers of  his  church  differed  as  to  the  mode  of  conducting  public 
worship.  Part  of  them  had  exhorted.  The  Court  advise  them, 
during  his  absence,  to  spend  the  Sabbath,  "  besides  praying  and 
singing,  in  reading  and  repeating  of  known  godly  orthodox  books 
and  sermons." 

The  Treasurer  is  to  dispose  of  Mr.  Norton's  book  on  Quakerism, 
now  at  the  press,  delivering  one  to  each  minister,  member  of  the 
Legislature,  and  others,  to  every  town  according  to  its  rates.  The 
author  is  allowed  twenty  or  thirty  copies,  and  the  Court  present  to 
him  their  thankful  acknowledgment  for  his  pains. 

Hutchinson  quotes  an  old  manuscript,  which  says  that  the  Mas- 
sachusetts received  orders  from  Secretary  Thurloe,  to  proclaim 
Richard,  but  that  they  did  not  conform. 

June.  William  Robinson,  merchant,  of  London,  and  Marmaduke 
Stevenson,  from  the  east  part  of  Yorkshire,  supposing  themselves 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

f  While  this  place  was  thus  allowed  to  be  settled,  Boston,  for  the  sake  of 
more  efficient  government,  desire  to  become  a  city.  Their  petition  for  an  act  of 
incorporation  was  put  over  to  the  next  session. 


BARTFORD   DIFFERENCB8. 

MOB.] 

moved  by  the  divine  Spirit  to  proceed  from   Rhode   Island  to  the 

Bay,  do  accordingly,  though  fully  aware  that  death   is  the    penalty. 

Nicholas  Davis,  from  the  Plymouth  Patent,  and  Patience  Scott, 
about  eleven  years  old,  of  Providence,  appear  at  Boston.  They 
are  all  lour  committed  to  prison.  The  last,  though  so  young,  came 
to  hear  testimony  against  the  treatment  which  the  Quakers  received. 
Before  the  tried  of  these  individuals,  Mary  Dyer  came  from  Rhode 
Island  to  visit  them.      She  was  imprisoned. 

August.  A  general  insurrection  was  intended  by  the  Presbyte- 
rians and  Royalists,  almost  throughout  England.  But  it  was  pre- 
maturely developed,  and  most  of  the  leaders  taken  and  imprisoned. 
On  September  1,  in  such  a  state  of  things,  the  Government  vote 
that  an  engagement  should  be  taken  by  every  man,  renouncing  the 
title  of  Charles  Stuart  and  his  whole  line,  and  declaring  faithful- 
ness to  the  Commonwealth  without  a  King  and  House  of  Peers. 
On  October  13,  John  Lambert,  backed  by  the  army,  deposes  the 
Parliament,  and,  with  his  officers,  assumes  the  supreme  power.  On 
the  26th,  the  officers  constitute  a  Council  of  twenty-three  men, 
who  take  on  themselves  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  and  call 
themselves  a  Committee  of  Safety.  On  November  2,  letters  reach 
London  from  Edinburgh,  that  Monk  and  many  of  his  officers  had 
declared  against  this  Committee.  On  December  24,  the  authority 
of  the  last  body  expires,  and  the  Rump  Parliament  take  on  them- 
selves the  direction  of  public  affairs. 

August  15.  Messrs.  Wilson,  Norton,  and  Edward  Tyng  are 
chosen  by  the  first  Boston  church  "  to  be  members  of  a  Council,  in 
the  behalf  of  Hartford  differences,  to  hear  them  in  the  Bay." 

Near  this  time,  Nicholas  Upshall,  who  had  been  banished  three 
years,  returned  to  his  wife  in  Boston,  and  is  put  in  prison. 

September  3.  A  letter  of  the  Missionary  Corporation  f  to  the 
Commissioners,  dated  May  7,  is  read  :  "  We  are  glad  to  hear  that 
notwithstanding  the  opposition  this  work  hath  met  with,  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  prosper  it,  and  to  bless  the  endeavors  of  those  that 
labor  in  it.  We  have  thought  good  to  print  your  last  letter,  with 
two  other  letters,  received  from  Mr.  Endicott  and  Mr.  Eliot,  as 
also  the  Indians'  exhortations  and  the  sheet  of  catechism  composed 
by  Mr.  Pierson,  all  which  are  printed  for  public  satisfaction.  As 
to  the  printing  of  the  Bible  in  the  Indian  tongue,  we  conceive  will 
not  only  be  acceptable  unto  God,  but  very  profitable  to  the  poor 
heathen,  and  will  much  tend  to  the  promotion  of  the  spiritual  part 
of  this  work  amongst  them  ;  and,  therefore,  we  offer  it  not  only  as 
our  own,  but  as  the  judgment  of  others,  that  the  New  Testament 
be  first  printed  in  the  Indian  language."  For  this  work  the  Cor- 
poration offer  all  needed  facilities,  so  that  it  may  be  correct.  They 
say  :  "  We  have  sent  you  fifty  books,  to  be   disposed  of  as  you 

*  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  168,  9.         f  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.    Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  403,  4. 
27 


210  CHRISTIAN   COMMONWEALTH. 

[Mass. 

think  good,  desiring  that  some  of  them  might  be  given  to  Mr. 
Eliot." 

On  the  7th,  the  Commissioners  address  the  Corporation.  They 
state  that,  being  encouraged  by  the  latter,  they  intend  to  have  one 
thousand  copies  of  the  New  Testament  in  Indian,  by  Mr.  Eliot, 
printed.  "  There  are  five  Indian  youths  at  Cambridge,  in  the 
Latin  school,  whose  diligence  and  proficiency  in  their  studies  do 
much  encourage  us  to  hope  that  God  is  fitting  them  for  good  in- 
struments in  this  great  and  desirable  work.  We  have  good  testi- 
mony from  those  that  are  prudent  and  pious,  that  they  are  diligent 
in  their  studies,  and  civil  in  their  carriage."  The  expenses  this 
year  for  the  missions  were  about  £550,  and  for  the  proposed  print- 
ing of  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  for  printing  Mr.  Pierson's 
Catechism  and  the  Psalms,  £250  more.  Forty  copies  of  the  last 
work  had  been  ordered  to  be  shipped  for  the  Society  in  England. 

Their  account  gives  the  persons  employed,  Thomas  Mayhew, 
the  widow  of  his  son,  Peter  Folger,  schoolmaster,  and  four  Indian 
teachers  for  the  mission  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  Mr.  Eliot,  his  eldest 
son,  five  Indian  interpreters,  Messrs.  Pierson,  William  Tompson, 
Richard  Bourne,  the  last  of  Plymouth.  They  also  state  that  Major 
Atherton  kept  Courts  among  the  Indians,  and  instructed  them ; 
that  Thomas  Danforth  boarded  and  clothed  five  Indian  scholars  at 
Cambridge ;  Mr.  Corlett  taught  these  and  Mr.  Mayhew's  son ; 
that  Daniel  Weld  of  Rocksbury  instructed  and  dieted  four  Indians  ; 
that  he  taught  others,  and  some  that  were  put  to  learn  trades. 

This  year,  as  Gookin  relates,*  "  it  pleased  God  to  bring  things 
to  such  maturity  among  the  praying  Indians  at  the  Vineyard,  that 
one  Indian  church  was  gathered  among  them." 

This  year  a  volume  of  twenty-six  sermons,  by  Charles  Chauncy, 
President  of  Harvard  College,  is  issued  from  a  London  press.  It  is 
dedicated  to  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  and  Lord  Nathaniel  Fiennes. 
The  leading  doctrine  taught  by  it  is  "  the  Justification  of  a  sinner 
in  the  sight  of  God,"  which,  the  writer  observed,  was  little  under- 
stood by  many  professors  of  religion.  In  his  preface,  he  remarked  : 
"  My  particular  employment  hath  moved  me  to  represent  this  doc- 
trine of  Justification,  as  a  standard  of  truth  and  salvation  to  them, 
(college  students,)  which  they  should  hold  fast." 

The  Christian  Commonwealth,  by  John  Eliot,  is  printed  in  Lon- 
don. According  to  his  statement,  he  had  sent  a  copy  of  it  over  to 
England  seven  or  eight  years  before.  In  his  preface,  he  remarks : 
"  I  am  bold  to  present  this  Scripture  Platform  of  Government  to 
public  view  (if  advice  so  carry  it)  at  this  season,  because  I  do  be- 
lieve it  to  be  a  Divine  Institution  of  a  Civil  Government,  and 
seemeth  to  me  to  be  such,  as  will  well  suit  the  present  condition  of 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  or  any  other  religious   people  in 

*  Mass:  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  203. 


\  IT.M1T   OF    A I  CHOBITT.  £11 

the  World,  who  fear  the  command  of  God,  and  tremble  al  his 
word  ;  and  being  persuaded  in  my  beart  thai  it  ii  the  mind  of  the 
Lord  that  nations  should  be  governed  by  Scripture  Institutions, the 
time  being  come  that  the  Lord  is  about  to  shake  all  the  Earth,  and 
throw  down  the  great  idol  of  Human  Wisdom  in  Governments, 
and  set  up  Scripture  Government  in  the  room  thereof." 

Sept.  7.  The  Assistants  receive  a  letter  from  Thomas  Howgill, 
dated  in  London,  10th  of  January.  It  is  very  long,  and  filled  with 
harsh  recriminations.  Addressed  to  Endieott  and  Bellingham,  it 
calls  them  "  ye  serpent's  seed." 

12.  Mary  Dyer,  and  Davis,  Robinson  and  Stevenson,  having 
been  tried  by  the  Court  of  Assistants,  and  sentenced  to  be  banished 
on  pain  of  death,  are  released.*  The  two  first  go  to  their  homes. 
The  other  two,  as  Bishop  observes,  "  were  constrained  in  their  love 
and  power  of  the  Lord  not  to  depart,  but  to  stay  in  your  Jurisdic- 
tion, and  to  try  your  bloody  law  unto  death."  Their  time  of 
departure  was  limited  to  the  1-ith.  They  passed  to  Salem  on  the 
loth,  and  held  a  meeting  in  the  woods,  where  many  assembled 
to  hear  them.  Then  they  went  to  Piscataqua,  and  labored  to  spread 
their  doctrines. 

26.  Hartford  church  and  their  dissenting  brethren  appear  by 
their  delegates,  in  a  Council  of  nine  churches  at  Boston.  Their 
difficulties  were  settled.  The  Council  reserved  the  liberty  to  meet 
again  on  the  subject,  if  it  should  seem  not  so  clear  as  at  present. 

October  8.  Mary  Dyer  and  Hope  Clifton  come  f  from  Rhode 
Island  to  visit  Christopher  Holden,  wTho  returned  to  Boston,  13th 
ult.,  and  was  imprisoned.  The  next  morning  they  are  apprehended 
and  confined  to  the  house  of  correetion.  The  day  after,  Clifton 
was  arraigned  and  recommitted,  with  Mary,  daughter  of  R.  and  K. 
Scott,  of  Providence,  who  had  come  on  the  same  errand.  Robert 
Harper,  of  Sandwich,  is  taken  up  in  Boston  and  sent  to  prison. 

13.  Robinson  and  Stevenson,  Alice  Cowland,  Daniel  Gold,* 
AVilliam  King,  Hannah,  wife  of  Nicholas  Phelps,  Mary  Trask  and 
Margaret  Smith,  all  but  the  first  three  being  of  Salem,  visit  Boston. 
Bishop  remarks  :  "  These  all  came  together  to  look  your  bloody 
laws  in  the  face."  He  states,  that  Cowland  brought  "Linnen 
wherein  to  wrap  the  dead  bodies  of  them  who  were  to  suffer." 
Hull,  in  his  diary,  observes  :  "  The  Quakers  came  boldly  into  the 
town  and  presumptuously  resolving  to  outvie  the  authority  of  the 
country,  though  they  had  been  punished  and  sent  away,  yet  they 
would  obtrude,  themselves  upon  vs.  Three  of  them  had  also 
been,  a  few  weeks  before,  banished  vpon  pain  of  death.  William 
Robinson  and    Marmaduke  Stevenson,  two  young  fellows,  little 

*  Bishop,  p.  117.     Sewall,  p.  220.         f  Sewall,  p.  119,  20.     Bishop,  p.  118. 

X  Bishop  says,  Gold  was  from  Salem,  though  the  latter  person  speaks  as  if 
he  were  not.  This  Gold  wrote  a  narrative  of  his  journeys  with  Robinson  and 
Stevenson,  which  was  printed  in  Rhode  Island  in  1700. 


212  QUAKERS  TO  BE  EXECUTED. 

[Mass. 

above  twenty  yeares  of  age,  and  one  Mary  Dyer,  of  Rhode  Island, 
who  about  twenty  yeares  since  was  of  Boston." 

15.  George  Fox*  writes  to  his  friends  in  New  England  and 
Virginia,  Robert  Hodson,  William  Robinson,  Marmaduke  Steven- 
son, Peter  Pearson,  William  Brend,  William  Ledra  and  others. 
He  advises  them  to  "  keep  in  the  power  of  the  Lord  God  and 
dwell  in  love  one  with  another." 

19.  These  three  persons  are  brought  before  the  General  Court. 
When  asked  why,  after  being  banished,  they  were  in  the  Colony, 
they  answered,  that  it  was  in  obedience  to  the  Lord.  Robinson 
and  Stevenson  addressed  a  paper  to  them,  declaring  that  they  were 
divinely  called  to  revisit  Boston  and  lay  down  their  lives. 

20.  The  Governor  remarks  to  them  :  "  We  have  made  many 
laws,  and  endeavored  by  several  ways  to  keep  you  from  us.  I 
desire  not  your  death."  They  are  sentenced  to  be  hung  on  the  27th. 
Stevenson  then  said :  "  Give  ear  ye  magistrates  and  all  who  are 
guilty,  for  this  the  Lord  hath  said  concerning  you,  that  the  same 
day  ye  put  his  servants  to  death,  shall  the  day  of  your  visitation 
pass  over  your  heads,  and  ye  shall  be  curst  forevermore."  The 
Court  require  a  force  of  one  hundred  men,  f  from  the  Bos- 
ton companies,  under  James  Oliver,  with  pikes,  muskets,  powder 
and  bullets,  to  keep  order  on  the  occasion.  Thirty-six  of  these 
soldiers  are  to  guard  the  town,  and  "  preserve  the  peace  while  the 
rest  go  to  the  execution." 

The  selectmen  are  instructed  to  press  ten  or  twelve  able  and, 
faithful  men  for  service  every  night,  during  the  session  of  the 
Court,  to  watch  the  town  and  especially  the  prison,  and  allow  them 
2/.  apiece  from  the  country  rate. 

Zechariah  Symmes  and  John  Norton  are  desired  to  wait  on  the 
prisoners  with  religious  conversation  fitted  for  their  condition. 

On  the  petition  of  William  Dyer,  that  his  mother  may  be  par- 
doned, it  is  allowed  on  condition  that  she  stand  upon  the  gallows 
with  a  rope  round  her  neck  till  the  other  two  are  hung,  and,  if 
found  in  the  Colony  forty-eight  hours  after  that  time,  to  be  imme- 
diately executed. 

27.  After  the  common  preparations  of  so  sad  a  scene,  the  indi- 
viduals under  sentence  are  carried  *  to  the  gallows.  Having  taken 
leave  of  each  other,  Robinson  and  Stevenson  are  executed.  The 
former  of  these  two  desired  the  spectators  "  to  mind  the  light  that 
was  in  them,  of  Christ,  of  which  he  testified  and  was  now  going  to 
seal  it  with  his  blood."  Mrs.  Dyer,  not  informed  that  she  was 
to  be  released,  expected  to  die  with  them.  When  the  officers  took 
the  handkerchief  from  her  face  and  the  halter  from  her  neck,  she 
was  loth  to  leave  the  place.  But  they  carried  her  to  prison.  The 
next  morning,  she  expressed  her  readiness  to  suffer  the  sentence. 

*  His  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  146.     f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     +  Bishop,  p.  1 19-35. 


TREATMENT  OP  QUAKERS  APPROVED.  U4 

1689.] 

Instead  of  this,  Bhe  was  put  on  ■  hone  and  harried  off  towards 
Newport. 

The  Court  thank  the  writers,  who  had  drawn  up  declarations  to 
justify  their  course  towards  the  Quakers.     They  require,  that  one 

be  printed  and  another  transcribed  by  the  Secretary,  and  forwarded 
to  the  towns.  They  both  follow.*  The  first  is  given  literally  : 
"  Altho'  the  justice  of  our  proceedings  against  William  Robinson, 
Marmaduke  Stevenson  and  Mary  Dyer,  supported  by  the  authority 
of  this  Court  and  the  laws  of  the  country  and  the  laws  of  God, 
may  rather  persuade  us  to  expect  encouragement  and  commenda- 
tion from  all  prudent  and  pious  men,  than  convince  us  of  any 
necessity  to  apologize  for  the  same,  yet,  forasmuch  as  men  of 
weaker  parts,  out  of  pity  and  commiseration  (a  commendable  and 
Christian  virtue,  yet  easily  abused  and  susceptible  of  sinister  and 
dangerous  impressions)  for  want  of  full  information  may  be  less 
satisfied ;  and  men  of  perverse  principles  may  take  occasion  hereby 
to  calumniate  us  and  render  us  bloody  persecutors.  To  satisfy  the 
one  and  stop  the  mouth  of  the  other,  we  thought  it  requisite  to 
declare,  that  about  three  years  since,  divers  persons,  professing 
themselves  Quakers  (of  whose  pernicious  opinions  and  practices  we 
had  received  intelligence  from  good  hands)  from  Barbadoes  and 
England,  arrived  at  Boston,  whose  persons  were  only  secured  to 
be  sent  away  by  the  first  opportunity,  without  censure  or  punish- 
ment ;  altho'  their  professed  tenets,  turbulent  and  contemptuous 
behaviour  to  authority,  would  have  justified  a  severe  animadversion, 
yet  the  prudence  of  this  Court  was  exercised  only  in  making  pro- 
vision to  secure  the  peace  and  order  here  established  against  their 
attempts,  whose  design  (we  wrere  well  assured  by  our  own  experi- 
ence, as  well  as  by  the  example  of  their  predecessors  in  Munster) 
was  to  undermine  and  ruin  the  same,  and  accordingly  a  law  was 
made  and  published,  prohibiting  all  masters  of  ships  to  bring  any 
Quakers  into  this  jurisdiction,  and  themselves  from  coming,  on 
penalty  of  the  house  of  correction,  till  they  be  sent  away.  Not- 
withstanding which,  by  a  back  door,  they  found  entrance ;  and  the 
penalty  inflicted  on  themselves  proving  insufficient  to  restrain  their 
impudent  and  insolent  obtrusions,  wras  increased  by  the  loss  of  the 
ears  of  those,  that  offended  the  second  time ;  which  also  being  too 
weak  a  defence  against  their  impetuous  and  fanatic  fury,  necessi- 
tated us  to  endeavor  our  security  ;  and  upon  serious  consideration, 
after  the  former  experiments  of  their  incessant  assaults,  a  law  was 
made,  that  such  persons  should  be   banished  on  pain  of  death, 

*  They  were  dated  November  2,  and,  with  Reasons  for  the  Law  of  Banish- 
ment, as  to  Quakers,  on  pain  of  death;  with  the  Appendix  to  Norton's  Tractate, 
and  also  a  pamphlet  giving  the  Transactions  of  Massachusetts  Legislature,  at 
their  session  of  October,  1659,  relative  to  those  of  the  same  denomination,  and 
printed  in  England,  are  replied  to  by  a  work  published  in  the  same  kingdom. 
This  production  is  in  a  volume  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  marked  Sh.  81,  No.  4. 

MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


214  REASONS  FOR  EXECUTION   OF  QUAKERS. 

[Mass. 

according  to  the  example  of  England  in  their  provision  against 
Jesuits ;  which  sentence  being  regularly  pronounced  at  the  last 
Court  of  Assistants  against  the  parties  above-named,  and  they  either 
returning,  or  continuing  presumptuously  in  this  Jurisdiction,  after 
the  time  limited,  were  apprehended,  and,  owning  themselves  to  be 
the  persons  banished,  were  sentenced  by  this  Court  to  death,  accord- 
ing to  the  law  aforesaid,  which  hath  been  executed  upon  two  of  them. 
Mary  Dyer,  upon  the  petition  of  her  son  and  the  mercy  and  clemency 
of  this  Court,  had  liberty  to  depart  within  two  days,  which  she  hath 
accepted  of.  The  consideration  of  our  gradual  proceedings  will 
vindicate  us  from  the  clamorous  accusation  of  severity  ;  our  own 
just  and  necessary  defence  calling  upon  us  (other  measures  failing) 
to  offer  the  points,  which  these  persons  have  violently  and  wilfully 
rushed  upon,  and  thereby  are  become  felons  de  se,  which  might 
have  been  prevented  and  the  sovereign  law,  salus  populi,  been 
preserved.  Our  former  proceedings,  as  well  as  the  sparing  of 
Mary  Dyer  upon  an  inconsiderable  intercession,  will  manifestly 
evince,  that  we  desire  their  life  absent  rather  than  their  death 
present." 

The  second  document  goes  over  the  short  history  of  the  efforts  to 
suppress  the  influence  of  Quakerism,  and  then  offers  reasons  for 
inflicting  the  extreme  penalty  of  law  on  two  of  its  confessors. 
Some  extracts  follow  : 

1.  "  The  doctrine  of  this  sect  is  destructive  to  fundamental 
truths  of  religion,  as  the  Sacred  Trinity,  the  person  of  Christ 
and  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  a  perfect  rule  of  faith  and  life.  Yea, 
that  one  opinion  of  theirs,  of  being  perfectly  pure  and  without  sin, 
tends  to  overthrow  the  whole  Gospel  and  the  very  vitals  of  Chris- 
tianity." 

2.  "  It  is  the  commandment  of  the  blessed  God,  that  Christians 
should  obey  magistrates,  Titus  iii.  1,  and  that  every  soul  should 
be  subject  to  the  higher  powers,  Rom.  xiii.  1,  etc.  It  is  well 
known  that  Quakers  are  far  from  giving  that  honour  and  reverence 
to  magistrates,  which  the  Lord  requireth  and  good  men  have  given 
to  them,  but  on  the  contrary,  show  contempt  against  them  in  their 
very  outward  gestures  and  behaviour,  and  some  of  them,  at  least, 
spare  not  to  belch  out  railing  and  cursing  speeches." 

3.  If,  as  in  the  case  of  Shimei,  "  execution  of  death  be  lawful 
for  breach  of  confinement,  may  not  the  same  be  said  for  breach  of 
banishment  ?  " 

4.  "  There  is  no  man,  that  is  possessed  of  house  or  land,  wherein 
he  hath  just  title  and  propriety  as  his  own,  but  he  would  count  it 
unreasonably  injurious  that  another,  who  had  no  authority  thereto, 
should  intrude  and  enter  into  his  house  without  his,  the  owner's, 
consent ;  yea,  and  when  the  owner  doth  expressly  prohibit  and 
forbid  the  same.  If  such  a  one  should  presume  to  enter,  he  might 
justly  be  impleaded  as  a  thief  or  an  usurper,  and  if  in  case  of  such 


QUAKERS  CAUSE  THHB  OWM    DEATH.  tlfi 

n;.v.>.] 

violent  assault  the  owner  should,  so  defendendo,  slay  the  assailant 
and  intruder,  his  blood  would  be  upon  his  own  head,  [f  private 
persons  may  shod  the  blood  of  such  intruder,  may  not  the  Like  be 
granted  to  them,  that  are  the  public  keepers  and  guardians  of  the 

Commonwealth  ?  Have  they  not  as  much  power  to  take  away  the 
hves  of  such  as,  contrary  to  prohibition,  invade  and  intrude  into 
their  public  possessions  or  territories,   as  private  and  particular 

persons  to  deal  BO  with  them,  that,  without  authority,  shall  presume 
to  enter  into  their  private  and  particular  habitations  '(  "  If  Quakers 
"  in  such  violent  and  bold  attempts  lose  their  lives,  they  may 
thank  themselves,  as  the  blameable  cause  and  authors  of  their  own 
death." 

5.  "  As  a  parent  may  defend  his  family  to  the  utmost  against  any 
who  might  break  into  his  house  to  spread  pestilence  among  them, 
so  may  Rulers  do  against  those  who  attempt  to  spread  moral  con- 
tagion among  their  subjects." 

6.  It  was  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  his  disciples, 
that  when  they  were  persecuted  in  one  city,  they  should  flee  into 
another.  "  If,  therefore,  that  which  is  done  against  Quakers  in 
this  Jurisdiction,  were  indeed  persecution,  as  they  account  it, 
though  in  truth  it  is  not  so,  but  the  due  ministration  of  justice;  but 
suppose  it  were,  as  they  think  it  to  be,  what  spirit  may  they  be 
thought  to  be  acted  or  led  by,  who  are  in  their  actings  so  contrary 
to  the  commandment  and  example  of  Christ  and  of  his  saints,  in 
the  case  of  persecution,  which  these  men  suppose  to  be  their  case  ? 
They  choose  to  go  contrary  to  express  directions  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  approved  examples  of  his  saints,  altho  it  be  to  the  hazard 
and  peril  of  their  own  lives." 

A  sufficient  fence  is  ordered  to  be  built  around  the  prison  and 
house  of  correction  in  Boston,  so  that  people  may  not  come  and 
converse  with  the  Quakers  confined  there. 

As  Joseph  Peasly  had  been  required  to  cease  from  preaching  at 
New  Town,  in  Salisbury,  but  had  not  obeyed,  he  is  now  forbidden  * 
to  do  so  in  any  part  of  the  Colony,  until  he  give  satisfaction. 

Christopher  Holder,  who  had  returned  to  Massachusetts  with- 
out due  permission,  is  sentenced  to  banishment  on  pain  of  death,  if 
found  therein  three  days  after  the  next  ship  for  England  departs 
from  Boston  harbor.  He  is  allowed  one  day  in  the  week  to  go 
about  his  business  till  said  vessel  sails,  or  to  leave  the  jurisdiction  in 
any  other  way  he  pleases,  on  the  like  condition. 

Though  some  of  Mr.  Worcester's  people  at  Salisbury  were  dissat- 
isfied about  £80  salary  voted  for  him,  the  Court  require  it  to  be  paid. 
They  also  conclude  that  it  is  not  expedient  for  him  to  preach  once 
a  month  at  New  Town,  and  that  the  parishioners  here  attend  his 
ministrations   at   Old  Town,  and  help  pay  for   his   support  until 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


216  THANKS  FOR  NORTON'S  TRACTATE. 

[Mass. 

properly  released,  and  that  they  forbear  "  to  content  themselves 
with  private  help,  whilst  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  continue  so  bright 
a  star  in  their  candlestick." 

November  12.  "  It  is  ordered  that  the  thanks  of  this  Court  be 
returned  to  the  Rev.  John  Norton,  for  his  great  pains  and  worthy 
labours  in  that  Tractate  he  drew  up,  and  by  order  of  this  Court 
hath  been  printed,  wherein  the  dangerous  errours  of  the  Quakers 
are  fully  refuted  and  discovered,  and  to  acquaint  him  that  this 
Court  hath  given  *  him  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  as  a  small 
recompense  for  his  pains  therein." 

For  violation  of  the  law  f  in  showing  favor  to  Quakers,  James 
Rawlings  is  admonished  ;  Thomas  Macy,  and  Zacheus  Gould  are 
thus  dealt  with,  and  also  fined  ;  Anthony  Emery,  Thomas  Spencer, 
Richard  Nason,  and  Richard  Swain,  are  fined  and  disfranchised  ; 
Edward  Wharton,  for  accompanying  those  executed,  is  sentenced 
to  receive  twenty  stripes,  and  be  imprisoned  until  he  give  sureties 
for  his  orderly  conduct.  John  Heard  and  Nicholas  Hodgden  are 
commanded  to  appear  and  answer  charges  against  them. 

Of  the  above,  Macy,  on  the  27th  of  October,  addressed  the 
Legislature  from  Nantucket.  He  and  others  of  Salisbury  pur- 
chased +  the  patent  of  this  Island  from  Thomas  Mayhew  the  pre- 
ceding July  2d,  and  he  had  recently  moved  thither.  He  related, 
that  while  at  the  former  place,  he  entertained,  for  three-quarters  of 
an  hour,  one  morning  in  a  rain  storm,  William  Robinson,  Marma- 
duke  Stephenson,  Edward  Wharton,  and  another,  and  that  these 
persons  stated  that  they  were  traveling  eastward,  and  wished  for 
direction  to  Hampton. 

An  entry ,§  as  to  the  subsequent  persons,  reads  thus  :  "  Being 
all  of  them  apprehended  and  committed  to  prison,  for  adherence 
to  the  cursed  sect  of  the  Quakers,  having  been  called  before  this 
Court,  openly  showing  their  contempt,  by  refusing  to  give  any  civil 
respect ;  and  upon  the  question  put  to  them  not  disowning  the 
same,  nor  their  submission  to  the  order  here  established,  either  in 
Church  or  Commonwealth  ;  all  which  being  considered  with  their 
disorderly  practices  and  vagabond  life,  in  absenting  themselves 
from  their  family,  relations,  and  running  from  place  to  place  with- 
out any  just  reason  rendered,  the  Court  doth  order,  that  Alice 
Courland,  Hannah  Phelps,  Mary  Scott,  and  Hope  Clifton  be  admon- 
ished ;  that  Daniel  Gould  be  whipped  30  stripes,  Robert  Harper, 
15,  William  King,||  15,  Margaret  Smith,  10,  Mary  Trask,  10,  and 
Provided  Southwick,  10 ;  and  that  Gould,  Harper,  Courland, 
Scott,  and  Clifton,  depart  from  the  jurisdiction  within  five  days, 
and  the  rest  be  committed  to  prison." 

*  The  order  for  this  grant  was  dated  Nov.  4.         f  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 
$  History  of  Nantucket,  p.  14,  5.  §  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

j|  Hutchinson  calls  it  Kingsmill.     3d  ed.  p.  185. 


HOWGILL'S  REPLY   TO   NORTON.  817 

I860.] 

The  publication  at  Cambridge,  which  Norton  wrote  at  the 
request  of  the  Genera]  Court,  ia  called:  "The  Heart  of  New 
England  Rent  at  the  Blasphemies  of  the  present  generation,  or  a 
brief  Tractate  concerning  the  Doctrine  of  the  Quakers."  The 
consideration  of  this  work,  and  the  law  for  the  banishment  of 
Quakers  from  Massachusetts,  was  printed  this  year  in  England. 

89.  On  the  petition*  of  Rev.  John  Higginson  and  Mr.  Brown, 
of  Salem,  to  the  Quarterly  Court  of  Essex  County,  the  wives  of 
George  Gardner,  Samuel  Shattuek,  John  Kitchen,  Robert  Buffum, 
Henry  Trask,  Anthony  Needham,  John  Southwick,  and  of  John 
Smith,  Daniel  and  Provided  Southwick,  Edward  Wharton,  John 
Small,  William  King,  and  James  Smith,  have  their  prosecution  sus- 
pended. Frances  Simpson  is  fined.  Half  of  the  fine  laid  on  Samuel 
Gascoyn  in  the  spring  is  remitted,  and  his  son  is  set  at  liberty. 

December  8.  Among  the  items  for  public  Thanksgiving  f  this 
day  are  "  our  preservation  from  the  destructive  desires  of  that  pes- 
tilent company,  the  Quakers,  the  healing  of  the  breach  at  Hartford, 
and  for  the  peace  of  churches  and  the  Commonwealth." 

1660.  January  1.  General  Monk,  with  his  forces,  crosses  the 
Tweed  and  marches  into  England.  On  February  4,  they  are 
allowed  to  enter  London.  On  the  6th,  Monk  advises,  that  the 
government  of  the  nation  be  that  of  a  Commonwealth  and  the  form 
of  Religion  be  a  moderate  Presbyterianism.  On  the  12th,  he  de- 
clares for  a  free  Parliament,  which  occasions  great  joy.  On  the  17th 
of  March,  a  Council  of  State,  having  been  appointed,  assume  the 
administration  of  the  laws.  In  April,  Monk  receives  a  letter  from 
Charles  II.,  and  replies,  that  he  was  ready  to  assist  him.  On  the 
82d,  Admiral  Montague  sends  word  to  Monk,  that  the  fleet  had 
submitted  to  him.  On  the  25th,  the  Convention-Parliament  meet. 
On  May  1,  they  vote  that  the  Government  of  the  kingdom  be  by 
King,  Lords  and  Commons.  Thus  a  return  to  the  "  old  ways  "  is 
made  after  years  of  toil,  and  the  expense  of  many  lives  and  great 
treasure,  for  the  permanency  of  Republican  institutions.  Though 
the  object,  so  sought,  was  retained  for  a  comparatively  short  period, 
yet  the  struggle  taught  lessons  of  forbearance  and  experience  to 
both  contending  parties.* 

12.  Francis  Howgill  publishes  a  reply  to  Norton's  "  The  Heart 
of  New  England  Rent,"  under  the  title,  "  The  Heart  of  New  Eng- 
land Hardened."  As  a  specimen  of  his  style,  he  remarks  :  "  The 
General  Court  have  ordered  thee  to  tell  lies,  and  thou  has  received 
thy  commission,  and  actest  it,  and  shewest  it  to  the  world."  He 
then  proceeds  to  answer  the  various  charges  which  Norton  made 
against  his  denomination. 

15.  As  related  by  Hull,  "  About  this  time  there  came  in  a  ship 
from  London  and  brought  vs  intelligence  of  the  state  of  our  native 

*  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.         f  Hull  MS.  Diary.         J  Salmon,  vol.  i.  p.  169,  70. 
28 


218  A  QUAKER  GREATER  THAN  MOSES. 

[Mass. 

land,  which  was  very  sad,  partly  by  the  abounding  of  Quakers  and 
almost  all  manner  of  heresies." 

February  22.  For  such  information,  presenting  a  dark  prospect 
in  civil  and  religious  concerns,  the  churches  observe  a  Fast  to  wait 
on  the  Lord  for  deliverance. 

March  7.  Joseph  Nicholson  and  wife,  and  Wenlock  Christo- 
pherson  are  examined  at  Boston.*  So  are  Benjamin  Bellflower 
from  Reading,  and  Martha  Stanley,  late  of  Tenterdon,  in  Kent, 
single  woman,  who  said  she  had  a  message  from  the  Lord  to  visit 
her  friends  in  Boston  prison ;  John  Chamberlain  of  Boston,  Mary 
Smith,  Mary  Trask  and  William  King  from  Salem. 

9.  On  a  second  invitation  f  to  John  Higginson  for  settling  with 
the  society  of  Salem,  they  offer  him  a  salary  of  £160.  The  church 
had  concurred  in  the  two  invitations  of  the  town.  He  answered 
them,  that  it  was  his  desire  to  labor  and  die  among  them,  as  his 
father  had  done.  He  had  already  preached  for  them  nearly  a  year. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  short  period,  he  had  left  his  charge  at 
Guilford,  where  he  was  colleague  with  Mr.  "Whitfield,  and  was  on 
his  way  to  England,  as  his  place  of  future  residence.  Requested 
to  occupy  the  office,  which  his  father  had  honored,  he  felt  that  duty 
required  him  to  consent. 

u  Major  Hawthorn,  at  dinner  with  the  Governor  and  Magistrates 
at  a  Court  of  Assistants,  said  that,  at  Salem,+  there  was  a  woman, 
called  Cassandra  South  wick,  that  said  she  was  greater  than  Moses, 
for  Moses  had  seen  God  but  twice,  and  she  had  seen  him  three 
times,  face  to  face,  instancing  the  places."  As  to  the  same  town,^ 
we  have  the  subsequent  items  of  April  3 :  "  Joseph  Miles  being 
convicted  for  entertayninge  of  a  stranger,  as  Scot,  several  weeks, 
according  to  an  order,  made  20  of  4  mo.,  1657,  wee  have  fined 
him  20/.  to  cleare  the  towne  of  him."  John  Southwick,  having 
brought  hither  Jane,  the  wife  of  Joseph  Nicholson,  about  March 
18,  is  fined  20/.  a  week,  till  she  departs.  Thomas  Spooner  is 
ordered  to  pay  10/.  for  entertaining  "  a  strange  woman." 

April  16.  As  a  specimen  of  popular  feeling  against  the  conduct 
of  Quakers,  William  Burnell,  of  Pulling  Point,  in  Boston,  writes 
the  subsequent  clause  in  his  will :  j|  "  I  give  unto  my  son,  John 
Burnell,  my  house  and  ground  in  Boston,  when  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  provided  he  is  not  corrupted  with  that  opinion,  com- 
monly called  the  Quakers,  but,  in  case  he  should  be  led  aside  by 
that  opinion  of  Quakers,  and  remain  so,  then  my  mind  is,  that  he 
shall  have  but  £50." 

30.  A  warrant  If  is  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  William  Led- 
dra  at  Salem,  and  convey  him  to  Boston  for  trial. 

Henry  Bachellor  is  fined,  May  18,  at  Ipswich  Court,  for  absence 
from  public  worship.     Provided  Southwick,  of  Salem,  is  ordered 

*  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  t  MS.  Town  Rec.  of  Salem. 

%  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  §  MS.  Town  Rec.  of  Salem. 

||  MS.  Suffolk  Ptod.  Rec.  IT  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 


TERMS  OF   PRINTING  THE   BIB]  :jl!) 

to  pay  40  .  for  disturbance  of  the  peace  there,  and  be  imprisoned 
till   this   and    another    fine   are   paid,  OX   be   sold   to  service  >>o  as  to 

earn  BUch  an  amount. 

21.     An    agreement4     is    made    between    the    Corporation    for 

propagating  the  Gospel  in  New  England,  and  Marmaduke  Johnson. 
The  last  person  obligates  himself  to  print  the  Bible  in  the  Indian 
language,  and  such  other  books  as  they  may  desire  ;  to  remain  in 
their  service  three  years  from  the  date  of  his  leaving  Gravesend, 
and  work  not  less  than  twelve  hours  a  day,  all  the  week,  except 
the  Sabbath  ;  and  they  bind  themselves  to  pay  for  his  passage  from 
London  to  Boston;  for  his  "good  and  sufficient  meate,  drinke, 
washinge  and  lodginge,"  and  forty  pounds  a  year,  "  lawful  money 
of  England,"  in  quarterly  payments. 

28.  The  Corporation  f  write  to  the  Commissioners.  They  ap- 
prove of  the  assistance  granted  to  the  widow  of  their  missionary, 
Mayhew,  and  to  his  eldest  son.  They  express  their  desire  to  know 
the  age  of  this  youth,  "  and  to  what  proficiency  he  hath  attained 
iii  the  knowledge  of  the  Indian  language,"  preparatory  for  his 
labor  among  the  natives.  They  remark  :  "  We  are  glad  to  hear  of 
the  progress  which  the  five  Indian  youths  have  made  at  the  Uni- 
versity, desiring  that  such  care  may  be  taken  by  those  under  whose 
government  and  tutoring  they  are,  as  they  do  not  forget  their  own 
native  language,  because  of  the  hopes  we  have,  that  God  may  make 
them  instrumental  of  much  good  to  their  poor  brethren.  Concern- 
ing your  printing  the  New  Testament  in  the  Indian  language,  a 
sheet  whereof  you  have  transmitted  to  us.  It  is  better  to  print 
fifteen  hundred  than  one  thousand  ;  hoping  that  by  encouragment 
from  Sion  College,  with  whom  we  have  had  late  conference,  you 
may  be  enabled  to  print  fifteen  hundred  of  the  Old  Testament  like- 
wise ;  knowing  that  the  foundation  of  true  religion  is  from  the 
Bible,  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  that  the  furtherance 
thereof  is  of  principal  concernment.  Mr.  Eliot,  we  hear,  hath 
translated  the  whole  Bible  into  the  Indian  language."  They  wrish 
the  work  to  progress  as  fast  as  practicable.  They  had  sent  paper 
and  engaged  the  assistance  of  "an  able  Printer,"  Mr.  Johnson, 
whose  name  they  desire  to  have  among  those  who  may  be  instru- 
mental in  publishing  the  sacred  volume. 

The  journal  {  of  Hull  gives,  on  the  21st  of  May,  the  ensuing 
relation :  Mary  Dyer,  who  was  reprieved  27th  October,  "  pre- 
sumptuously returned  and  came  audaciously  through  the  town  at 
high  day.  All  her  private  friends,  that  met  her,  persuaded  her  to 
return.  She  answered,  she  had  a  strong  power  to  goe  forward, 
but  noe  strength  to  goe  backward.  She  was  by  authority  appre- 
hended." 

May  29.  As  the  occasion  of  deep  anxiety  to  the  United  Colonies, 

*  Mass.  Archives,  Eccles.  vol.  ii.  p.  205.  »         J  MS.  Diary. 

t  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  424-6. 


220  CONDITION   OF   BECOMING  FREEMAN. 

[Mass. 

Charles  II.  makes  a  triumphal  entry  into  London  and  succeeds  to 
the  throne  of  his  father. 

The  Mather  papers  contain  a  curious  set  of  verses,  ascribed  to 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  relative  to  his  Majesty.  They  are 
intended  to  show  the  King's  indifference  to  ecclesiastical  concerns, 
which  was  a  source  of  anxiety  to  the  Puritans  of  New  England. 
A  specimen  follows  : 

"  When  the  plate  was  at  paune, 

Then  Charles  without  acre, 

Made  a  vow  to  his  Maker, 

If  ere  I  see  England  againe, 
I  '11  have  a  Religion  all  of  my  owne, 
Where  Papist  and  Protestant  shall  not  be  knowne, 
And  if  it  be  troublesome,  I  will  have  none." 

30.  At  a  session  of  the  Legislature,  we  have  the  subsequent  pro- 
ceedings :  *  The  County  Courts  are  required  to  take  care,  that 
clergymen  are  sufficiently  supported  by  their  parishes;  that  no 
preachers  of  vicious  lives  and  heterodox  principles  be  allowed ; 
that  destitute  congregations  be  supplied  with  ministers,  and  that 
their  "  Presidents  "  charge  the  grand  juries  to  exert  themselves  for 
the  suppression  of  abuses  in  these  respects. 

Owing  to  the  "  sad  and  deplorable  condition  of  our  dear  native 
country,  as  well  by  reason  of  the  great  distractions  in  that  Common- 
wealth, as  also  these  many  provocations  of  the  Lord's  displeasure, 
by  those  horrid  blasphemies  and  wickednesses,  that  there  abound, 
and  the  many  clouds  hovering  over  them,  threatening  the  utter 
frustration  of  those  hopeful  beginnings,  wherewith  of  late  years  the 
Lord  was  pleased  to  favour  not  only  them  and  us,  but  also  his 
name  and  cause  withal ;  "  our  own  defection  from  holy  affections, 
which  we  had  when  the  Lord  led  us  into  this  wilderness,  the  21st 
of  June  is  appointed  for  a  public  Fast. 

"  The  whole  Court  met  together,  sent  for  Mary  Dyer,  who  rebel- 
liously,  after  sentence  of  death  passed  against  her,  returned  to  this 
jurisdiction ;  being  come  before  the  Court,  she  acknowledged  her- 
self to  be  Mary  Dyer,  the  person  that  was  condemned  by  this 
Court  to  death ;  being  asked  what  she  had  to  say  why  sentence 
should  not  be  executed,  she  gave  no  other  answer,  but  that  she 
denied  our  Law  and  came  to  bear  witness  against  it  and  could  not 
choose  but  come  and  do  as  formerly." 

31.  As  Joseph  Nicholson  and  wife,  now  in  prison,  had  been 
banished  on  pain  of  death,  their  case  is  so  far  mitigated,  that  they 
have  leave  to  depart  from  the  Colony  "  by  the  next  4th  day,"  and 
not  return,  on  the  like  penalty. 

As  Zaccheus  Gould  has  sustained  great  loss  by  fire,  his  fine  of 
£3  for  entertaining  Quakers  is  remitted. 

"  This  Court,  having  considered  of  the  proposals  presented  by 
several  of  the  inhabitants  of  Middlesex,  do  declare,  that  no  man 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Her 


TRUSTEES   OF    FHB  col, I, I'd'.   IN    ENGLAND.  I  \  1 

MOO.] 

shall  be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  this  Body  Politick,  bul  such  as 
is  a  member  of  some  church  of  Christ  and  in  full  communion, 
which  they  declare  to  be  the  true  intent  of  the  ancienl  law  of 
1631."  'This  confirmation  of  the  custom,  which  our  fathers  viewed 
chief  support  of  their  religious  Commonwealth,  was  probably 
and  principally  occasioned  by  the  attitude  that  political  affairs  had 
taken  in  the  mother  country,  and  the  tendency  of  them  in  New 
England,  as  well  as  by  the  practice  of  Connecticut,  and  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  reference  to  New  Hampshire  and  Maine. 

Persons  o(  Ipswich  are  granted  a  Plantation  near  Quabog  Ponds, 
if  they  have  twenty  families,  an  approved  minister,  and  land  set 
off  for  the  support  of  the  ministry,  within  three  years.*  A  similar 
privilege  is  allowed  to  men  of  Newbury,  for  a  settlement  on  Saco 
River,  on  like  conditions,  except  they  have  four  years  for  their 
experiment. 

The  petition  of  1  lenry  Pouning,  William  Halsey  and  others,  for 
I  Plantation  at  "  Stony  River  on  both  sides  of  the  way  to  Connec- 
ticut," is  allowed,  with  exemption  from  taxes  five  years,  if,  "  in 
four  years  they  have  twenty  families  there,  and  an  able  minister." 

On  condition  that  the  people  of  New  Town,  in  Salisbury,  get 
"an  able  minister,"  approved  by  the  church  under  Mr.  Worcester, 
and  the  General  Court,  and  keep  him,  they  are  to  be  released  from 
contributing  to  the  support  of  Mr.  Worcester.  As  Shubal  Dum- 
mer,  now  preaching  at  New  Town,  was  immediately  recommended 
according  to  this  contract,  its  terms  were  ratified. 

A  letter*  is  received  by  the  Legislature  from  Richard  Saltonstall, 
Is.  Ashurst  and  Rev.  William  Hooke.  These  state  that  they  are 
doing  for  the  College  as  requested,  and  that  Judge  Hill,  a  member 
of  Parliament,  desirous  to  have  the  Gospel  propagated  in  both 
Englands,  had  given  £1,000  to  the  said  Institution.  He  accom- 
panied the  gift  with  this  condition  :  "  To  be  kept  for  a  stock  or 
laid  out  in  lands,  and  the  rent  thereof  employed  towards  the  edu- 
cation of  youths  in  University  learning,  with  respect  to  preaching. 
And  these  youths  must  be  well  inclined  and  of  pregnant  capaci- 
ties ;  as  also  the  children  of  poor  and  godly  parents  (if  it  may  be)." 
They  add :  "  Give  us  leave  to  tell  you,  that  we  joy  exceedingly  to 
hear  your  zeal  and  faithfulness  to  the  Lord  in  bearing  such  a  signal 
testimony  against  the  troublers  of  your  peace  (the  evil  generation 
of  Quakers)  who  abound  in  this  nation,  taking  boldness  to  blas- 
pheme the  name  of  Christ,  his  servants  and  ordinances.  And  if 
the  Lord  should  search  us  with  candles  (as  he  did  Jerusalem)  we 
believe  they  would  be  found  among  the  Achans  of  England." 
n  hile  the  authors  of  this  passage  knew  that  it  was  severe,  they 
also  believed  that  it  was  true,  from  facts  which  had  come  to  their 
knowledge. 

June  1.  The  day  previous  to  this,f  Mary  Dyer,  on  hearing  the 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  f  Sewall,  p.  226,  7. 


222  MARY  DYER  EXECUTED. 

[Mass. 

Governor  again  sentence  her  to  death,  answered :  "  This  is  no  more 
than  thou  saidst  before."  He  rejoined :  "  But  now  it  is  to  be 
executed  ;  therefore  prepare  yourself  for  to-morrow  at  nine  o'clock." 
After  other  remarks,  she  was  carried  back  to  prison.  At  the  hour 
appointed,  Marshal  Michelson  came  for  her  with  a  guard,  and  found 
her  composed,  with  her  friend,  Margaret  Smith,  in  the  same  apart- 
ment. She  was  brought  out,  and,  as  Sewall  relates,  "  with  a  band 
of  soldiers  led  through  the  town,  the  drums  being  beaten  before 
and  behind  her,  and  so  continued,  that  none  might  hear  her  speak 
all  the  way  to  the  place  of  execution,  which  was  about  a  mile." 
When  she  had  "gone  up  the  ladder,  some  said  to  her,  that  if 
she  would  return,  she  might  come  down,  and  save  her  life.  To 
which  she  replied  :  Nay,  I  cannot,  for  in  obedience  to  the  will  of 
the  Lord  I  came,  and  in  his  will  I  abide  faithful  to  the  death. 
Then  Capt.  John  Webb  said,  that  she  had  been  there  before,  and 
had  the  sentence  of  banishment  upon  pain  of  death,  and  had 
broken  the  law  in  coming  again  now ;  and  therefore  she  was  guilty 
of  her  own  blood.  To  which  she  returned :  Nay,  I  come  to  keep 
blood-guiltiness  from  you,  desiring  you  to  repeal  the  unrighteous 
and  unjust  law  of  banishment  upon  pain  of  death,  made  against 
the  innocent  servants  of  the  Lord."  Mr.  Wilson  said  :  "  Mary  Dyer, 
O  repent,  O  repent,  and  be  not  so  deluded,  and  carried  away  by 
the  deceit  of  the  devil."  To  this  she  answered :  "  Nay,  man,  I 
am  not  now  to  repent.  And  being  asked  by  some,  whether  she 
would  have  the  Elders  pray  for  her,  she  said,  I  know  never  an 
Elder  here."  A  bystander  remarked,  that  she  had  said  "  she 
had  been  in  Paradise.  To  which  she  answered,  Yea,  I  have  been 
in  Paradise  several  days."  Sewall  adds :  "  In  this  well  disposed 
condition  she  was  turned  off,  and  died  a  martyr  of  Christ,  being 
twice  led  to  death,  which  the  first  time,  she  expected  with  un- 
daunted courage,  and  now  suffered  with  Christian  fortitude." 
Thus  closed  the  mortal  career  of  Mary  Dyer,  who  long  before  had 
sustained  Anne  Hutchinson  in  her  trials,  and  departed  from  Boston 
with  her  for  Rhode  Island. 

Soon  after  this  event,  John  Smith,  of  Salem,  whose  wife  Mar- 
garet was  in  prison  for  Quakerism,  wrote*  to  Governor  Endicott,  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  some  conversational  terms  of  her  denomi- 
nation were  considered.  "  It  hath  been  declared  here  in  Salem 
Pulpit,  that  thou  and  thee,  yea  and  nay,  is  the  devil's  sacrifice." 

Charles  II.  received  notice  f  immediately  after  his  Restoration, 
"  That  a  committee,  on  behalf  of  Massachusetts,  sat  every  Saturday 
at  Cooper's  Hall,  for  promoting  the  business  which  Hugh  Peters 
confessed."  This  Chalmers  quotes  from  New  England  papers  in 
London.  The  question  has  never  been  settled  what  Peters  did 
confess  to  Dr.  Young,  who  had  probably  turned  from  his  hot 
republicanism  to  royalty,  and  revealed  his  secret  conversations  with 

*  Bishop,  p.  450.  f  Pol.  Annals,  p.  172. 


POLITICAL  AFFAIRS   DABS.  ; 

1000.] 

Peters.  It  is  likely  that,  ai  Massachusetts  feared  that  enemies 
would  misrepresent  their  position,  they  had  friends  in  London, 
who  met  to  consult  what  would  be  the  best  course  to  be  pursued 
for  their  benefit  in  bo  perilous  an  exigency. 

There*  is  issued,  this  year,  "A  Direction*  for  a  Public  Profes- 
sion."' 4i  Being  the  same  for  substance,  which  was  propounded  to, 
and  agreed  upon  by  the  Church  of  Salem,  1629."  It  contains  a 
Confession  of  Faith,  concerning  God,  his  works,  fall  of  man,  Jesus 
Christ,  Holy  Ghost,  benefits  of  Christ  and  his  Church.  Then 
follows  the  Covenant.  To  this  are  subjoined,  "  Questions  to  be 
answered  at  the  baptizing  of  children." 

Jews  in  America,  or  Probabilities  that  those  Indians  are  Juda- 
ical,  by  John  Eliot,  is  published  in  London. 

A  Tract  is  published  in  London  by  Henry  Gardener,  merchant, 
who  had  lived  long  in  New  England.  He  evidently  had  united 
with  the  Royalists  in  the  purpose  of  wresting  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine  from  the  hands  of  Massachusetts.  He  observes  of  this 
Colony,  if  they  "  fortifie  Pascataqua  River  for  themselves,  as  they 
have  subjugated  it,  and  now  arm  against  the  Dutch  New  Nether- 
land,  with  their  united-  Colonies,  they  may  be  the  invincible  States 
in  America.     All  power  is  in  the  Independent  way." 

19.  The  Legislature  ordered  f  the  Middlesex  Court  to  have  the 
fine,  assessed  on  Maiden  Church,  collected. 

21.  An  extract  from  Hull's  diary  +  follows  :  Fast  observed  "by 
reason  of  intelligence  of  sad  distractions  in  England,  such  as 
threatened  the  frustration  of  all  the  hopes  of  the  Reformation 
begun,  Royalists  taking  head  and  heart  of  the  one  party,  and  Ana- 
baptists and  Sectaries  on  the  other  party,  and  a  fear  of  their  joining 
with  the  Quakers." 

The  following  persons  §  at  Salem  are  arraigned  before  a  County 
Court,  for  absence  from  public  worship.  The  wife  of  Edmund 
Nicholson  is  admonished.  On  the  26th,  James  Smith  and  Samuel 
Salmon  are  alike  treated.  The  wives  of  George  Gardner,  Samuel 
Shattuck,  John  Kitchen,  Robert  BufFum,  and  of  John  Southwick, 
are  fined.  So  also,  are  Daniel  Southwick  and  John  Small.  The 
wife  of  William  Vincent,  who  moved  from  Salem  to  Gloucester,  is 
sentenced  to  pay  20/.,  or  make  a  public  apology  for  disturbing  a 
congregation  on  the  Lord's  day. 

26.  The  wife  of  Anthony  Needham,||  refusing  to  pay  her  fine, 
or  have  it  paid,  the  Court  "  considering  her  former  offensive  and 
provoking  speeches,  and  also  the  desiring  to  have  the  punishment 
inflicted  on  her  person,  she  is  adjudged  to  be  whipped  twelve 
stripes." 

27.  Tidings  arrive  H  that  Charles  II.  was  proclaimed  king.  They 
were,  of  course,  anticipated  by  the  people  here,  who  had  heard 

*  Printed  about  1660.  f  MS.  Mid.  Ct.  Rec.  +  MS. 

§  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.  ||  Ibid.  U  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  194. 


224  HEGICIDES  — COTTON'S   CATECHISM. 

[Mass. 

that  the  affairs  of  England  were  approximating  to  such  a  crisis. 
They  had  cause  to  dread  a  retribution  for  their  sympathy  with  the 
administration  of  Cromwell.  On  August  29,  the  King  delivers  a 
speech  to  the  House  of  Peers,  and  passes  the  Act  of  indemnity, 
excepting  most  of  the  Regicides,  Sir  Henry  Vane,  Lambert,  and 
Hugh  Peters.  * 

August  6.  In  the  dedication  of  Noyes's  Moses  and  Aaron  to 
Charles  II.,  Thomas  Parker,  of  Newbury,  uses  the  following  lan- 
guage :  "  And  now,  most  Royal  King,  fill  the  sails  of  our  hopes 
with  the  blasts  of  your  noble  atchievements.  So  shall  Christ,  the 
Sun  of  righteousness,  run  along  in  your  royal  Government,  and 
make  you  a  greater  King,  at  least,  than  you  were  at  first.  Let 
Popery  and  all  heresy  fall  before  you.  Let  not  needless  and  offen- 
sive ceremonies  be  rigorously  imposed.  Let  men  of  courage  and 
zeal  be  set  up  under  you  in  all  place,  that  shall  suppress  profanity. 
Let  godly  ministers  be  encouraged,  and  let  no  idle,  unlearned,  or 
heretical  minister  be  found  in  your  land.  Let  learning  be  pro- 
moted, and  men  excellent  in  gifts  be  set  apart  for  writing,  according 
to  their  several  and  distinct  qualifications."  The  writer  thus 
expresses  his  wish  for  the  prosperity  of  the  King,  and  means 
whereby,  in  his  judgment,  it  might  be  secured.  It  was  not  revealed 
to  him  how  that  his  majesty  would  persuade  himself,  that  he  was 
called  to  trample  the  liberties  of  Old  and  New  England  under  his 
feet. 

29.  A  record  of  Salem  Church  is  as  follows  :  "  Having  no 
Elders,  our  honoured  brother,  Major  Hawthorne,  and  the  two 
Deacons,  imposed  hands  on  the  Pastor,  (Higginson,)  and  then  the 
Pastor  and  the  two  Deacons  imposed  hands  on  the  Puling  Elder, 
(John  Brown.)  Mr.  Norton,  of  Boston,  did  give  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship  to  both  our  Elders."  John  Smith,f  for  disturbance  and 
crying  out  at  this  ordination,  "  What  you  are  going  about  to  set  up, 
our  God  is  pulling  down,"  was  committed  to  prison.  The  same 
church  vote,  on  September  10,  that  Mr.  Cotton's  Catechism  shall 
be  used  in  families  for  teaching  children,  so  that  they  may  be  pre- 
pared for  public  catechizing  in  the  congregation.  It  is  agreed  that 
the  Lord's  supper  shall  be  once  a  month. 

September  10.  The  Commissioners  J  write  to  the  Corporation  in 
England.  They  remark  that  there  had  been  great  mortality  this 
summer  among  the  Indians  ;  that  one  of  the  Indian  youths  in- 
structed at  Cambridge  was  dead,  and  also  two  more,  under  the 

*  Whalley  and  Goffe,  called  Regicides,  Boston.  Having  left  London  before 
the  King  was  proclaimed,  they  did  not  keep  themselves  secretly.  They  visited 
Governor  Endicott,  who  treated  them  in  a  very  friendly  and  respectful  manner. 
They  immediately  went  to  Cambridge.  By  the  last  of  November,  news  came 
that  they  were  not  included  in  the  amnesty.  Such  information  did  not  lessen 
the  sympathy  of  our  ancestors  in  their  favor,  as  the  defenders  of  civil  and  relig- 
ious freedom,  though  it  forbid  public  demonstrations  of  friendship  for  them. 

f  Hutch.  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  187.  J  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p. 

427,  8,  35. 


INDIAN    DIALECTS. 
MOO.] 

tuition  of  Mr.  Weld,  at  lioxbury  ;  that  aho.it  100  "  of  Mr.  Eliot'l 
Indians  ran  read  in  the  Bible,  and  many  others  ahoiit  Plymouth, 
Martin's  Vineyards,  ami  other  places."  They  observe  of  the 
Indian  Language,  which,  in  "general  throughout  the  country, 
where  the  English  have  to  do,  is  the  same,  though  (hireling  in 
dialeet,  yet  so  as  the  natives  well  understand  and  converse  one  with 
the  other."  They  have  received  from  Mr.  Mayhew  "  an  encourag- 
ing account  of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  among  the  natives  of 
the  Vineyards,  who,  living  in  several  villages,  and  amongst  them 
some  Pagans,  have  very  lately  solemnly  renewed  their  covenant 
to  own  and  serve  the  Lord  by  a  public  profession  of  their  faith  and 
knowledge."  They  say :  "We  shall  attend  your  advice  for  the 
impression  of  the  whole  Bible.  The  impression  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  shall  be  carried  on  together,  which  they  have 
already  begun,  and  resolve  to  prosecute  with  all  diligence  ;  a  sheet 
of  Genesis  we  have  seen,  which  we  have  ordered  shall  be  trans- 
mitted to  you.  The  Printers  doubt  not  but  to  print  a  sheet  every 
week,  and  compute  the  whole  to  amount  to  150  sheets."  The 
cost  was  £4  a  sheet.  They  proceed  :  "  Two  of  the  Indian  youths, 
formerly  brought  up  to  read  and  write,  are  put  apprentice  ;  the  one 
to  a  carpenter,  the  other  to  Mr.  Green,  the  printer,  who  take  their 
trades,  and  follow  their  business  very  well."  On  the  17th,  the 
Commissioners,  to  encourage  Indians  to  apprentice  their  children  to 
"  any  godly  English  "  within  the  United  Colonies,  promise  each  of 
them  "  one  coat  "  a  year  "  out  of  the  Corporation  stock,"  so  long 
as  the  apprenticeship  of  the  children  continues. 

13.  Leverett  sends*  a  communication  to  the  Governor  and  Leg- 
islature. He  expresses  himself  as  though  former  times  of  trial  for 
New  England  are  to  be  renewed.  He  states  that  the  Company 
who  had  carried  on  the  Iron  Works  at  Lynn  had  moved  against 
them,  and  endeavored  to  procure  the  signatures  of  the  Quakers  and 
Anabaptists  to  their  petition.  But  these  two  denominations  de- 
clined such  an  union.  Individual  Quakers  had  complained  to  the 
King  about  those  of  their  order  who  had  been  executed  in  Boston. 
Some  of  them  say  that  they  are  promised  the  liberty  of  dwelling 
in  the  Colony,  if  they  choose.  "  The  generall  vogue  of  people  is, 
that  a  Governour  will  be  sent  over."  Here  one  of  the  perils, 
which  had  severely  tried  the  Colonist,  is  again  presented.  They 
well  knew,  that  if  carried  into  effect,  it  would  sweep  away  the 
heritage  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  they  had  prepared  for 
their  posterity:  Leverett  felt  that  his  situation  was  awkward  and 
unpleasant,  as  the  agent  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  no  favor  at 
the  Court  of  Royalty.  He  observes  :  "  I  made  bold  to  address 
myself  to  Lord  Say,  and  desyred  his  favour,  that  in  case  of  com- 
playnts  to  his  Majesty,  he  would  be  your  friend,  so  far  as  to  desyre 

*  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  323,  4. 
29 


226  EPISCOPACY  RETURNING  TO  ENGLAND. 

[Mass. 
his  Majesty,  that  you  might  be  heard  before  any  thing  were  deter- 
mined concerning  you  as  to  judgment.  His  Lordship  professed 
his  greate  respect  for  the  Plantations,  and  thanked  God  he  prayed 
for  you  dayly,  promising  to  improve  his  interest  according  to  my 
motion."  Thus  this  Puritan  nobleman  still  held  fast  to  his  former 
professions  of  regard  for  the  cause  of  our  fathers.  The  writer 
adds,  as  the  filling  out  of  his  portraiture  :  "  Episcopacy,  common 
prayer,  bowing  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  signe  of  the  cross  in  baptism, 
the  altar  and  organs  are  in  use,  and  like  to  be  more.  The  Lord 
keepe  and  preserve  his  churches,  that  there  may  not  be  fainting  in 
a  day  of  tryall." 

20.  William  Brimsmead  is  minister  of  Marlborough.  He  was 
of  the  class,  in  1647,  who  were  required  to  study  four  years  at 
Harvard  College,  instead  of  three,  as  had  been  the  custom.  On 
account  of  opposition  to  this  change,  he  and  others  left,  and  thus 
lost  their  degrees.  Tradition  says  that  he  did  not  baptize  children 
born  on  the  Sabbath,  perhaps  supposing  that  the  holy  time  of  their 
birth  had  a  sufficientlv  consecrating  influence.  He  was  a  bachelor. 
He  died  July  3,  1701. 

This  year,  William  Holmes's  wife,  of  Scituate,  is  accused  of 
witchcraft,  but  was  cleared  the  next  year. 

October  16.  "  The  Court  considering  how  far  Satan  doth  pre- 
vail upon  several  persons  in  this  jurisdiction  to  make  away  them- 
selves, judgeth  that  God  calls  them  to  bear  testimony  against  such 
wicked  and  unnatural  practice,  that  they  may  be  deterred  therefrom, 
do  therefore  order,  that  from  henceforth,  if  any  person,  inhabitant, 
or  stranger,  shall  at  any  time  be  found  by  any  jury  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  himself,  or  be  wilfully  guilty  of  their  own  deaths,  every 
such  person  shall  be  denied  the  privilege  of  being  buried  in  the 
common  burying  place  of  Christians,  but  shall  be  buried  in  some 
common  highway,  where  the  Selectmen  of  the  town  where  such 
person  did  inhabit,  shall  appoint,  and  a  cart  load  of  stones  laid 
upon  the  grave,  as  a  brand  of  infamy,  and  as  a  warning  to  others  to 
beware  of  the  like  damnable  practice." 

For  explanation  of  the  law,  as  to  the  manner  of  trying  those 
discovered  in  the  Colony  after  their  banishment  on  pain  of  death, 
it  is  ordered  that  such  persons  shall  be  tried,  in  the  Court  of  As- 
sistants, by  a  jury  of  twelve  men,  and,  if  convicted,  shall  be 
"  executed  by  warrant  from  the  Governor  or  Deputy  Governor, 
directed  to  the  Marshal  General,  unless  they  be  regularly  reprieved 
in  the  mean  time." 

"  There  being  some  women,  Quakers,  now  in  prison,  liable  to 
sentence  of  banishment,  whose  husbands  are  innocent  persons  in 
that  respect,  so  far  as  we  know,  and  are  inhabitants  in  this  jurisdic- 
tion, this  Court  doth  order,  that  the  said  women,  named  Margaret 
Smith  and  Mary  Trask,  be  committed  to  the  House  of  Correction, 
and  there  kept  to  constant  labour  and  mean  diet,  according  to  the 
orders  of  the  said  House,  till  this  Court  release  them  ;  and  that  the 


LETTERS  TO   FRIENDS  ABROAD. 
1680.] 

sentence  of  banishment  upon  said  persons  be  suspended,  any  law 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding  ;  unless  their  husbands  shall  choose 
to  carry  them  out  of  this  jurisdiction,  and  not  return  without  leave 
first  obtained." 

"  In  answer  to  a  motion  of  the  Quakers  now  in  prison,  that  they 
may  have  their  liberty  to  go  for  England,  the  Court  judgeth  it 
meet  to  declare  that  all  Quakers  now  in  prison  shall  forthwith  have 
their  liberty  to  go  for  England  in  this  ship  now  bound  thither,  if 
they  will.  And  for  such  as  will  not  go  for  England,  they  shall 
have  liberty  forthwith  to  depart  this  Jurisdiction  within  eight  days, 
so  as  they  solemnly  engage  under  their  hands,  delivered  by  them 
to  the  Governor  or  Deputy  Governor,  that  they  will  not  return 
into  this  Jurisdietion,  without  leave  from  the  Council  or  General 
Court  first  by  them  obtained." 

Joseph  Nicholson  and  his  wife,  Jane,  were  among  those  per- 
mitted to  embark  for  England,  but  the  vessel  was  so  crowded,  they 
could  not  be  accommodated.  They  returned  to  prison  until  another 
passage  should  be  offered. 

"  The  Court  judgeth  it  necessary  that  letters  of  thankfulness  be 
sent  to  our  honoured  friends  in  England,  for  their  great  respect  to 
this  Colony,  and  refer  the  same  to  the  Overseers  of  the  College,  to 
be  sent  by  the  first  opportunity."  They  deeply  felt  that  advocates 
for  their  interests  around  the  restored  throne,  in  this  time  of  their 
peril,  were  benefactors  of  true  worth. 

As  an  indication  that  our  authorities  feared  foes  from  abroad, 
as  well  as  at  home,  who  might  attempt  the  subversion  of  their 
privileges,  they  renew  their  order  for  every  town  to  be  provided 
with  a  stock  of  powder  and  ammunition. 

18.  Nehemiah  Cushing,  of  Pembroke,  Deputy  Sheriff,  attempts  * 
on  the  Sabbath  to  force  open  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  meeting 
house  in  the  south  precinct  of  Bridgewater,  before  the  time  for  wor- 
ship, and  after  the  doors  are  opened,  he  enters  with  Mr.  Allen,  and 
disturbs  the  audience  by  declaring  that  he  will  carry  away  all  who 
combine  to  keep  this  minister  out  of  the  pulpit,  and  he  asserts, 
also,  that  he  will  read  a  warrant  from  Justice  Little,  of  Pembroke  ; 
but  the  people  desiring  him  to  forbear,  Mr.  Short  begins  the  exer- 
cises. When  these,  for  the  forenoon,  are  closed,  and  Solomon 
Lenard,  the  deponent,  leaves  the  house,  the  sheriff  requires  him, 
in  his  majesty's  name,  to  appear  before  Justice  Little  the  next  day. 
This  Lenard  did,  gave  bonds  to  answer  at  Plymouth,  and  to  be  of 
good  behavior  to  Mr.  Allen,  though  he  said  he  was  not  told  the 
reason  why  he  should  do  so. 

19.  Endicott  writes  $  to  Leverett.     The  former,  in  view  of  the 

*  Mass.  Archives,  Eccles.  vol.  i.  p.  6. 

f  For  the  encouragement  of  free  schools  in  the  towns  which  follow,  Roxbury 
is  granted  500  acres  of  land,  Charlestown  1,000,  and  Boston  1,000  acres. 
t  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  324,  5. 


228  LETTER  TO  JOHN  DURY. 

[Mass. 

measures  adopted  in  London,  and  injurious  to  the  interests  of 
Massachusetts,  informs  the  latter,  that  two  petitions  are  forwarded, 
one  for  the  King  and  another  for  the  Parliament.  He  requests 
Leverett,  that,  so  long  as  he  should  continue  there,  he  would  exer- 
cise his  accustomed  care  and  faithfulness  for  his  native  Colony. 
He  mentions  that  Messrs.  Saltonstall  and  Ashurst  have  been 
desired  to  act  in  its  behalf. 

23.  On  information*  to  the  General  Court,  of  "  many  disorders 
committed  in  several  congregations  by  boys  and  youth  in  time  of 
divine  exercise,"  they  impower  the  selectmen  of  every  town  to 
prevent  such  offences.  These  were  probably  occasioned  by  the 
example  of  the  Quakers. 

26.  Near  this  date,  Hull  f  remarks  :  "  We  heare  of  the  Bishops 
and  with  them  the  old  formalities  of  surplice,  etc.  were  begun  to 
be  practised  again  in  our  native  land,  which  had  been  now  twenty 
yeares  expunged,  and  many  good  ministers  put  out  of  place." 

About  this  time  John  Norton  composes  the  letter  J  from  thirty- 
nine  New  England  ministers,  the  President  and  four  fellows  of  the 
College,  to  John  Dury,  who  had  addressed  them  on  the  subject  of 
pacification  among  all  evangelical  denominations.  An  extract  fol- 
lows :  "  We  give  thanks  unto  the  Father  of  lights  with  all  our 
hearts,  who  hath  put  this  work  into  the  minde  of  Dury,  savouring 
of  a  spirit  more  than  humane ;  and  hath  added  also  suitable 
courage  to  the  promoting  so  pious  and  apostolical  a  matter :  which 
task,  whosoever  shall  effect,  if  we  may  be  judges,  will  deserve  a 
more  than  ordinary  triumphant  statue  ;  whose  monument  will  so 
far  excel  the  trophies  of  Achilles,  as  if  they  were  not  worthy  to  be 
mentioned.  However  the  issue  of  the  matter  fall,  yet  it  is  a  great 
deal,  to  have  attempted  in  a  great  design.  Seek  the  peace  of 
Jerusalem  ;  they  shall  prosper  that  love  thee." 

November  27.  Elizabeth  Kitchen  and  others  §  previously  named, 
of  Salem,  are  fined  from  5/.  to  £7  10.  The  wife  of  Robert 
Stone  is  required  to  pay  Court  fees.  John  Burton  is  presented 
and  dismissed.  John  Small  is  charged  with  declaring  that  the 
doctrines  of  Mr.  Higginson  are  folse. 

30.  Another  extract  from  Hull ||  relates,  Mr.  Trumbull  "brought 
intelligence  that  the  Bishops  countenance  the  old  liturgie  and 
invention  of  men  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  the  face  of  things 
looking  sadly  toward  the  letting  in  of  Popery." 

December.  About  this  date,  the  ensuing  letter  1i  is  written  in 
London,  by  J.  Curwin,  probably  for  Governor  Endicott :    "Sir — 

*  Mass.  Archives,  Eccles.  vol.  i.  p.  6.  f  MS.  Diary. 

j  This  was  printed  in  1661.  It  could  not  have  been  earlier  than  1660.  John 
Higginson,  one  of  its  signers,  as  pastor  of  Salem,  was  not  ordained  there  till 
August  29th  of  the  same  year ;  nor  could  it  have  been  later  than  January  23, 
1661,  when  Ezekiel  Rogers,  of  Rowlev,  another  of  its  signers,  died. 

§  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.  ||  MS.  Diary.  r  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers. 


LETTBB   FROM    LONDON. 

I  have  ben  divers  timet  with  Corinall  Temple  at  hu  Lodgeing, 
whome  I  finde  to  be  a  real!  cordial]  gentleman  for  poore  New 
England,  who  hath  not  wanted  for  iocs,  for  1  will  tell  you,  Sir, 
what  not  only  1,  but  ten  or  a  doesen  besides  myselfe  can  teatiiie, 
which  I  doubt  not  la  writt  by  other  hands.  Sir,  the  first  day  that 
Cori.  Temple  came  to  the  Exchange  alter  he  had  bene  att  Court, 
he  went  to  the  Sunne  to  Dummer,  and  I  thinke  most  of  N.  K. 
men  were  tlieare,  amongst  the  rest  was  Mr.  Mauericke.  Cori. 
Temple  was  then  pleased  to  tell  vs  what  he  said  to  the  King  in 
the  bchalfe  of  N.  E.  which  was  very  much  and  spooke  merrylie, 
as  you  know  his  manner  is,  and  saved  for  all  those  afh'daues  or 
oaths,  yl  are  giuen  in  against  the  Country,  yett  I  will  hould  6 
to  4,  N.  E.  hath  theare  libcrtye  contrary  to  expectations.  Mr. 
Mauericke  thinks  to  haue  found  hime  far  otherwise,  and  of  his 
judgment  Mr.  Mauericke  saied  before  all  the  Company,  that  N.  E. 
weare  all  rebells,  and  he  would  prouc  them  soe,  and  that  he  had 
giuen  in  to  the  Counsill  soe,  but  I  think  he  will  be  shamed  of  it. 
To-morrow  morning  N.  E.  business  is  to  be  heard  att  the  Counsill 
table,  and  wee  intend  to  bee  theare.  Sir,  you  need  not  feare  but 
N.  E.  will  inioy  theare  libertyes  as  euer.  And  conserning  the 
Quakers,  I  tell  you  whatt  Cori.  Temple  sayeth,  that  the  letters 
that  he  delivered  of  the  country  to  the  Counsill  in  presence  of  ye 
King,  they  writt  that  theay  should  obserue  his  Majesty's  commands 
in  all  thinges,  and  that  theay  had  giuen  the  Quakers  liberty.  The 
King  hearing  this,  clapt  his  hands  on  his  breast,  saved,  that  he 
intended  not  soe,  but  that  theay  should  not  hang  them,  while 
further  order." 

10.  Hull  writes  *  to  Leverett,  in  London  :  "  New  Englande 
sinn  may  cry  aloud  for  a  scourge  vpon  Newr  Englande  ;  but  the 
blood  of  Jesus  speaketh  better  things.  Calumniating  tongues  and 
penns  may  act  their  part.  Let  the  lovers  of  the  truth  also  doe 
theirs.  The  Lord  many  tymes  prevents  the  evill  feared,  though 
never  soe  near  accomplishment." 

13.  About  this  date,  William  Leddra,  imprisoned  at  Boston, 
writes  to  the  friends  in  New  England.  For  the  most  part,  his 
epistle  f  refers  to  the  need  of  vigilance  against  spiritual  imper- 
fections, and  is  regular  in  the  train  of  profitable  thoughts.  One 
passage  of  it  refers  to  his  sufferings  :  "  I  further  testifie,  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  God,  and  witnes,  with  a  pen  of  trembling,  that  the 
noise  of  the  whip  on  my  back,  all  the  imprisonments,  and  banish- 
ing upon  pain  of  death,  and  after  returning,  the  loud  threatening 
sound  of  a  halter,  from  their  mouths,  who,  Jezebel-like,  sat  on  the 
imperious  throne  of  iniquity,  did  no  more  affright  me,  through  the 
strength  of  the  power  of  God  in  me,  than  if  they  had  threatened 
to  have  bound  a  spider's  web  to  my  finger." 

*  Hutch.  MS.  Papers.  f  Bishop,  p.  292-8. 


230  ADDRESS  TO  THE  KING. 

[Mass. 

19.  The  General  Court,  called  by  the  Governor,  hold  a  special 
session.  Perceiving  that  it  was  high  time  to  propitiate  the  King 
and  turn  away  from  him  the  influx  of  prejudices,  which  had  been 
put  in  motion,  they  adopt  an  address  *  to  him.  They  eloquently 
plead  their  cause.  "  We  crave  leave  to  supplicate  your  Majesty  for 
your  gracious  protection  of  us  in  the  continuance  both  of  our  civil 
privileges,  according  to  the  known  end  of  suing  for  the  Patent, 
confirmed  upon  this  Plantation  by  your  Royal  Father  ;  this — this 
— viz. — our  liberty  to  walk  in  the  Faith  of  the  Gospel  with  all 
good  conscience, — the  cause  of  our  transporting  ourselves  with  our 
wives,  our  little  ones,  and  our  substance  from  that  pleasant  land 
over  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  into  the  vast  and  waste  wilderness,  choos- 
ing rather  the  pure  Scripture  worship,  with  a  good  conscience,  in 
this  poor  remote  wilderness,  amongst  the  heathen,  than  the  pleas- 
ures of  England,  with  submission  to  the  impositions  of  the  then  so 
disposed  and  so  far  prevailing  Hierarchy.  We  left  not  our  country 
upon  any  dissatisfaction  as  to  the  Constitution  of  the  civil  State. 
Our  lot,  after  the  example  of  the  good  old  non-conformists,  hath 
been  only  to  act  a  passive  part  throughout  these  late  vicissitudes 
and  successive  overturnings  of  State.  Our  humble  request  is  that 
your  Majesty  would  permit  nothing  to  make  an  impression  upon 
your  royal  heart  against  us,  until  we  have  both  opportunity  and 
leave  to  answer  for  ourselves.  Few  will  be  nocent,  if  it  be  enough 
to  deny.     Few  will  be  innocent,  if  it  be  enough  to  accuse. 

"  Concerning  the  Quakers,  open  and  capital  blasphemers,  open 
seducers  from  the  glorious  Trinity,  the  Lord's  Christ,  the  blessed 
Gospel,  and  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of  life  ;  open 
enemies  to  government  itself,  as  established  in  the  hands  of  any  but 
men  of  their  own  principles,  malignant  and  assiduous  promoters 
of  doctrines  directly  tending  to  subvert  both  our  churches  and 
State.  After  all  other  means  for  a  long  time  used  in  vain,  we  were 
at  last  constrained  for  our  own  safety  to  pass  a  sentence  of  ban- 
ishment against  them  on  pain  of  death,  such  was  their  dangerous, 
impetuous,  and  desperate  turbulency,  both  to  Religion  and  the 
Estate,  civil  and  ecclesiastical.  The  Magistrate  at  last,  in  con- 
science both  to  God  and  man,  judged  himself  called,  for  the 
defence  of  all,  to  keep  the  passage  with  the  point  of  the  sword 
held  towards  them.  This  could  do  no  harm  to  him,  that  could  be 
warned  thereby.  Their  wittingly  rushing  themselves  thereupon 
was  their  own  act,  and  we,  with  all  humility,  conceive  a  crime, 
bringing  their  blood  upon  their  own  head.  The  Quakers  died  not 
because  of  their  other  crimes,  how  capital  soever,  but  upon  their 
superadded,  presumptuous,  and  incorrigible  contempt  of  authority, 
breaking  in  upon  us,  notwithstanding  their  sentence  of  banishment 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     The  address  was  presented  to  the  King  Feb.  11, 
1661,  and  printed  in  London. 


ADDRESS  TO  THB   LORDS  and  commons.  £81 

l(i(!0.] 

made  known  to  them.  Had  they  not  been  restrained,  so  far  ai 
appears,  there  was  too  much  cause  to  fear  that  we  ourselves  must 

quickly  have  died,  or  worse,  and  Buch  was  their  insolency,  that 
thrv  would  not  be  restrained  but  by  death  ; — nay,  had  they  at  last 
but  promised  to  depart  the  jurisdiction,  and  not  to  return  without 

leave  from  authority,  we  should  have  been  glad  of  such  an  oppor- 
tunity to  say,  they  Bhould  not  die. 

"  If  according  to  this  our  humble  petition  and  good  hope,  the  God 
of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  the  «  Father  of  mercies  '  incline  *  your 
royal  heart  to  shew  unto  us  the  kindness  of  your  Highness'  protec- 
tion of  us  in  those  liberties,  for  which  we  came  hither  and  which 
we  have  hitherto  here  enjoyed,  these  churches  shall  be  comforted, 
a  door  of  hope  opened  by  so  signal  a  pledge  of  the  lengthening  of 
their  tranquillity,  that  these  poor  and  naked  Gentiles,  not  a  few  of 
whom  are  come  and  are  coming  in,  shall  still  see  their  wonted 
Teachers,  with  the  encouragement  of  a  more  plentiful  increase  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  amongst  them,  and  the  blessing  of  your 
poor  afflicted  (and  yet  we  hope)  a  people  trusting  in  God,  shall 
come  upon  the  head  and  heart  of  that  great  King,  who  was  some- 
time an  exile  as  we  are." 

The  Court  accept  of  another  address  for  the  Lords  and  Com- 
mons. After  stating  the  reasons  why  they  left  England,  they  ob- 
serve :  "  But  so  it  is,  as  we  are  informed,  that  endeavours  have 
been  used  to  render  us  obnoxious.  We  are  not  unwilling  and 
hope  we  need  not  be  ashamed  to  give  your  honours  an  account  with 
what  integrity  and  simplicity  of  heart  we  have  managed  the  trust 
committed  to  us,  or  exercised  any  power,  though  perhaps  to  the 
dissatisfaction  of  the  nocent.  We  have  this  hope  that  your  honours 
will  be  very  tender  of  admitting  appeals,  in  particular  cases,  as  not 
only  prejudicial,  but  even  destructive  to  us."  They  proceed  to 
remark,  that  they  hope  their  statement  relative  to  the  Quakers  will 
be  satisfactory ;  that  the  extension  of  their  Government  Eastward 
was  on  petition  of  inhabitants  there,  and  they  were  disposed  to  act 
justly  in  the  premises ;  that,  before  they  are  condemned  on  accusa- 
tions, they  wish  to  be  heard.  They  add  :  "  It  cannot  but  be  most 
honourable  for  his  Majesty  to  confirm  the  grant  of  his  Royal  Father, 
that  we  may  not  be  losers  by  his  Restitution,  but  have  cause  with 
the  rest  of  our  countrymen,  to  join  in  the  joyful  acclamation,  Vivat 
Carolus  Secundus. 

*  God  is  honoured  whilst  the  poor  Indians  are  made  partakers  of 
true  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  a  more  hopeful  way  than  we 
have  heard  elsewhere,  and  that  by  the  great  charity  of  many  pious 
benefactors  in  our-  native  country,  encouraged  and  allowed  by 
authority  there,  which  was  also  a  principal  intent  of  his  Majesty, 
declared  in  the  Patent.  Which  pious  and  charitable  work  will,  we 
doubt  not,  be  so  acceptable  to  your  honours,  that  no  encourage- 


2o2  INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  FOREIGN  AGENT. 

[Mass. 

ment  shall  be  wanting  on  your  part,  which  may  be  expected  or 
desired  of  the  professed  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Though  the  Indians  of  Natick*  were  formed  into  a  town  in 
1651,  yet  those  among  them,  who  gave  evidence  of  piety,  were  not 
embodied  as  a  Church  till  the  present  year.  Some  Indian  men 
and  women  of  like  character,  from  other  places,  subsequently 
united  with  them.  Hutchinson,f  quoting  GofFe's  Journal,  says 
that  "  there  were  at  that  time,  ten  Indian  towns  of  such  as"  were 
called  praying  Indians  "  in  New  England. 

A  small  company  from  Massachusetts  carrying  their  religious  in- 
stitutions +  with  them,  settle  around  Cape  Fear.  Chalmers  states, 
that,  through  the  sterility  of  the  soil  and  the  want  of  a  good  fishery, 
they  suffered,  for  years,  the  necessities  of  poverty.  Dr.  Williamson 
relates,  that  the  New  England  Colony  which  planted  on  Old  Town 
Creek  this  year,  are  forced  away  by  Indians;  that  before  the 
autumn  of  1663,  they  left  their  settlement,  with  many  hogs  and 
neat  cattle,  to  the  hands  of  such  invaders. 

Instructions  §  are  prepared  for  John  Leverett,  or  if  he  be  absent, 
for  Richard  Saltonstall  and  Henry  Ashurst.  They  follow  :  "  You 
will  deliver  these  addresses ;  gain  as  many  friends,  among  those 
who  have  influence  with  the  King,  for  New  England,  as  you  can  ; 
obtain  his  opinion  and  that  of  Parliament,  relative  to  Massachusetts, 
as  speedily  as  possible ; — if  asked  by  his  Majesty  and  Parliament 
what  this  Colony  desire  to  have  continued, — reply,  privileges  in 
Church  and  State,  as  allowed  by  the  Charter ;  no  General  Governor 
imposed  on  us ;  no  appeals,  either  civil  or  criminal,  from  our  de- 
cisions ;  and,  if  you  perceive  the  King  and  Parliament  are  propi- 
tious to  us,  to  petition  for  the  renewal  of  the  Act,  which  frees  us 
from  customs; — should  charges  about  extension  of  jurisdiction  and 
the  Iron  Works  come  up,  you  will  request  that  time  may  be  grant- 
ed for  rejoinder.  Concerning  the  Quakers,  <  if  there  should  be  any 
design  to  encourage  their  coming  hither,  or  His  Majesty  induced 
to  permit  them  their  liberty  here,  (which  God  forbid,)  we  intreat 
you  above  all  things  else,  to  use  your  utmost  interest  to  prevent,  as 
being  destructive  to  our  being  here,  and  so  contrary  to  our  con- 
sciences to  permit,  and  no  less  oppressive  of  us  than  the  destroying 
of  us  and  ours  by  the  sword.'  Send  intelligence  whenever  neces- 
sary. *  If  any  objection  be  made,  that  we  have  forfeited  our  Patent 
in  several  particulars,  you  may  answer,  that  you  desire  to  know  the 
particulars  objected,  and  that  you  doubt  not  but  a  full  answer  will 
be  given  thereto  in  due  season.'  " 

Dec.  21.  Elders  are  convened  ||  at  Boston  by  request  of  the 
Legislature,  with  regard  to  the  call  for  an  address  to   the   King. 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  181.  f  1st  Ed.  p.  166. 

+  Chalmers,  p.  515,  6.     Williamson.     Holmes,  vol.  i.  p.  317. 

§  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  329-31.  ||  Hutch.  MS.  Papers. 


CLERICAL   PROPOSITIONS. 

M5&] 

They  are  "Wilson,  Mather,  Syms,  Norton,  Eliot,  Higginson, 
Thatcher,  Shephard,  Allen,  Wilson,  jr."  They  approve  of  dis- 
patching such  ii  document  Two  ot  their  propositions  follow  : 
"  It  is  doubted  by  the  most,  whether  we  bo  called  (at  this  time) 
to  declare  (or  pronounce)  our  judgment  as  concerning  tho  con- 
fusions by-past,  however  grievous.  That  all  due  acknowledgment 
is  to  be  made  of  the  King's  Majesty  in  that  high  and  soveraigne 
place,  or  most  rightful  throne,  is  meet  and  necessary,  yet  how  high 
the  congratulations  should  be,  considering  things  present  and  the 
sequels  thereof,  (to  God  only  knowne,)  we  cannot  apprehend." 
They  recommend  the  draught  by  Norton,  with  some  exceptions, 
though  another  was  adopted.  The  report  was  handed  to  the 
Legislature  by  Wilson,  sen.,  in  the  name  of  the  Elders. 

A  letter  is  addressed  by  Mary  Trask  and  Margaret  Smith  to  the 
Governor  and  "  the  rest  of  this  jurisdiction,  who  are  given  to  fight 
against  y°  Lord  and  his  truth  in  this  day,  wherein  it  is  sprung  forth 
and  by  ye  comeliness  of  it  hath  the  Lord  our  God  constrained  us 
to  take  up  the  cross  and  follow  him  through  great  tryalls  and  suffer- 
ings ;  "  who  have  "  shamefully  intreated  his  hidden  ones,  whom 
He  hath  sent  amongst  you."  It  goes  on  in  this  style:  "From 
your  house  of  correction,  where  wee  have  been  uniustly  restrained 
from  our  children  and  habitations,  one  of  us  about  ten  months,  and 
ye  other  about  eight;  and  where  we  are  yet  continued  by  you, 
oppressors,  y4  know  no  shame."  It  is  dated  in  Boston  and  has  the 
signatures  of  the  writers. 

24.  Robert  Harper  and  wife  Deborah,  who  had  been  imprisoned 
two  months,  John  Smith,  three  months,  and  his  wife  Margaret, 
petition  for  release.* 


PLYMOUTH. 

1658.  February  2.  Copeland  is  summoned  f  to  answer  for 
asserting  that  when  he  and  Holden  were  arraigned  before  John 
Alden,  the  head  and  knees  of  this  magistrate  shook.  He  is  ordered 
to  leave  the  Colony  within  forty-eight  hours,  and  be  whipped  when- 
ever found  within  its  bounds.  William  Brend  charged  with  being 
"  of  a  turbulent  spirit  and  forward  to  abuse  men  with  his  tongue," 
has  a  similar  sentence.  Both  of  them,  passing  through  Plymouth 
on  the  8th,  were  apprehended  and  punished  according  to  such 
judgment. 

March  2.  The  Court  pass  {  the  following  Act.    No  public  meet- 

*  Bishop,  p.  453-7.  t  Plym.  Col.  Rec.     Bishop,  p.  177,  8. 

X  Plym.  Col.  Laws. 

30 


234  CUD  WORTH  DEPOSED. 

[Plym. 

ing  shall  be  set  up  without  their  permission.  "  Whereas,  there 
hath  severall  persons  come  into  this  Government,  commonly  called 
Quakers,  whose  doctrine  and  practices  manifestly  tend  to  the  sub- 
version of  the  fundamentalls  of  Christian  Religion,  Church  order 
and  the  civill  peace*  of  this  Government,  as  appears  by  the  Teste- 
monies  given  in  sundry  depositions  and  otherwise,"  it  is  therefore 
enacted,  that  no  inhabitant  shall  wittingly  entertain  a  Quaker,  on 
penalty  of  £5  for  each  offence,  or  of  being  whipt ;  that  whoever, 
in  any  town,  knows  that  such  persons  have  come  thither,  shall 
give  notice  thereof,  that  they  may  be  apprehended,  be  committed 
to  jail  and  there  "  kept  close  prisoners  with  such  victualls  onely  as 
the  Court  aloweth  untill  they  shall  defray  the  charge  both  of  theire 
imprisonment  and  theire  transportation  away ;  together  with  an 
ingagement  to  returne  into  this  Government  noe  more,  or  else  to 
be  continewed  in  close  durance  till  further  order  from  the  Court ;  " 
that  there  be  no  meetings  of  that  denomination  on  "  penaltie  of  40/. 
a  time  for  every  speaker,  and  10/.  a  time  for  every  hearer,  that  are 
heads  of  families,  and  40/.  a  time  for  the  owner  of  the  place,  that 
permits  them  soe  to  meete  together." 

Arthur  Howland,  for  having  a  Quaker  *  meeting  at  his  house, 
resisting  and  threatening  the  Constable,  is  fined  £9 — "  and  ordered 
to  give  bond  in  view  of  a  writing,  which  he  had  shown  to  others 
as  well  as  presented  to  the  Court,  who  considered  it  as  of  a  perni- 
cious tendency."  Zoeth  Howland,  for  speaking  opprobriously  of 
ministers,  is  required  to  sit  in  the  stocks  for  an  hour.  Henry 
Howland  is  fined  10/.  for  having  a  meeting  at  his  house  contrary 
to  law.  Peter  Gaunt,  Daniel  Winge,  Ralph  Allen,  jr.,  and  William 
Allen,  being  summoned  for  tumultuous  carriage  at  a  Quaker  meet- 
ing in  Sandwich,  are  cleared  on  this  count,  but  are  fined  20/.  apiece 
for  wearing  their  hats  before  the  Court.  Steven  Winge  and 
Thomas  Butler  are  admonished  for  being  at  the  same  assembly. 
William  Newland  and  Ralph  Allin,  sen.,  are  released  from  im- 
prisonment if  paying  the  fees  due. 

The  members  of  Capt.  James  Cudworth's  company  of  Scituate, 
petition  that  he  may  be  removed  from  his  command,  because  he 
has  meetings  of  Quakers  at  his  dwelling,  and  otherwise  encourages 
them  "  who  have  rendered  themselves  in  their  doctrines,  speeches 
and  carriages,  destructive  to  the  peace  of  this  jurisdiction."  Cud- 
worth  desired  the  same  release.  It  is  granted.  As  a  Commis- 
sioner f  of  the  Union,  he  declined  to  sign  the  letter  to  Rhode  Island 
against  the  Quakers. 

William  Paule  is  required  to  leave  Taunton,  because  his  contin- 
uance there  is  the  occasion  of  contention  among  the  inhabitants. 
Thomas  Joanes,  weaver,  of  the  same  place,  has  a  similar  requisition 
made  of  him,  because  he  is  of  "  ill-report." 

*  Plym.  Col.  Laws.  f  Baylies'  Hist,  of  Plym.  Col.  vol.  ii.  p.  41-3. 


ABUSE  OK  THB  GOVERNOR. 

May  1.  Rct.  Ralph  Partridge's  will  is  proved,  which  indicates 
tli.it  his  decease  had  been  recent  He  finished  his  ministry  of  forty 
vcars  at  Duxbury.  He  had  enjoyed  a  remarkable  share  of  health 
through  such  a  period.  When  most  of  the  preachers  in  Plymouth 
Colony  left  their  congregations  for  lack  of  support,  he,  though  sub- 
ject to  a  similar  trial,  remained  steadfast  at  his  post.  He  possi 
the  virtues  of  the  clerical  character  in  an  eminent  degree.  llis 
strong  powers  of  mind  -were  commendahly  cultivated  in  literary 
and  theological  studies,  and  consecrated  to  the  promotion  of  Re- 
ligion, as  the  main  object  of  his  life.  As  he  had  lived  dutifully, 
so  he  died  happily.  That  he  was  held  in  high  estimation  by  the 
United  Colonies,  was  indicated  by  the  appointment,*  which  their 
Svnod  at  Cambridge  made  of  him  in  connection  with  John  Cotton, 
and  Richard  Mather,  for  drawing  up  individually,  "  A  Model  of 
Church  Government  according  to  the  Word  of  God,"  so  that  from 
them,  taken  collectively,  might  be  drawn  a  suitable  form.  His 
will,  dated  September  20,  1655,  mentions  his  eldest  daughter, 
Mary,  wife  of  John  Marshall,  and  his  daughter  Elizabeth  Thatcher, 
whose  eldest  daughter  was  Elizabeth  Kemp,  second  son,  Ralph, 
and  youngest,  Peter.  His  wife,  Patience,  had  died  before  the  date 
of  his  last  testament.  Her  departure  rendered  him  more  ready 
and  willing  to  follow. 

June  1.  Ralph,  sen.,  John,  William,  George  and  Matthew 
Allin,  Robert  Harper,  Thomas  Greenfield,  Ed.  Perry,  Richard 
Kerbev,  jr.,  Thomas  Ure,  William  Giffard,  Daniel  Winge,  John 
Jenkins  and  George  Webb,  all  of  Sandvvich,  are  summoned  f  to  give 
reasons  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Government 
and  the  State  of  England,  which,  again  being  tendered  them  in 
open  Court,  they  refuse,  saying  they  held  it  unlawful  to  take  any 
oath.  John  Newland  and  Thomas  Johnson,  who  Jiad  been  ordered 
to  appear,  did  not  on  account  of  lameness.  George  Webb  engaged 
to  leave  the  Colony  in  a  short  time.  "  The  others  liable  to  pay 
the  fine  in  that  case  amerced." 

Arthur  Howland,  having  apologized  for  "the  seditious  and 
slanderous  passages  "  in  his  writing,  the  Court,  with  the  additional 
consideration  of  his  age  and  infirmities,  excuse  him  "  with  this 
proviso,  that  if  he  shall  offend  in  like  manner  any  more,  this  his 
great  offence  will  come  into  remembrance  to  augment  the  pun- 
ishment." 

3.  Humphrey  Norton  and  John  Rouse,  having  appeared  at 
Plymouth,  on  the  1st,  contrary  to  law,  are  examined.^  Norton 
"said  to  Governor  Prince,  several  times,  Thou  liest ;  thou  art  a 
malicious  man.  In '  like  manner  Rouse  behaved  himself  in  his 
words  unto  the  Court  unworthily."  They  were  remanded  to  their 
confinement. 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  505.  f  Plym.  Col.  MS.  Rec.  J  Ibid.     Bishop, 

p.  179,  80. 


236  IMPORTANCE  OF  JUDICIAL  LAW. 

[Pl 

5.  They  were  again  arraigned.  Norton  thus  expresses  himself 
to  the  Governor :  "  Thy  clamorous  tongue  I  regard  no  more  than 
the  dust  under  my  feet."  He  and  Rouse  refuse  to  take  an  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  State  of  England,  whose  subjects  they  claimed  to 
be.  They  are  sentenced  to  be  whipped,  which  was  executed  forth- 
with. As  they  would  not  pay  the  Marshal's  fees,  they  were  re- 
turned to  durance.  Here  they  were  kept  till  the  10th,  when  a 
settlement  was  made,  and  they  departed. 

"  By  reason  of  many  disturbant  persons  in  Sandwich,"  a  Mar- 
shal is  chosen  to  assist  the  Constable  there,  and  also  to  give  his  aid 
with  regard  to  Barnstable  and  Yarmouth,  in  apprehending  suspi- 
cious persons  and  other  like  services. 

16.  Humphrey  Norton*  writes  from  Rhode  Island,  to  Governor 
Prince  of  Plymouth.  After  imputing  to  him  iniquitous  motives 
and  actions,  and  denouncing  judgments  upon  him,  he  declares : 
"  Thou  shalt  know  to  thy  griefe,  that  prophetts  of  the  Lord  God 
wee  are,  and  the  God  of  vengeance  is  our  God." 

23.  C.  Holder  and  John  Copeland  f  are  apprehended,  while  on 
their  way  to  meeting  at  Sandwich.  They  were  carried  to  Barn- 
stable and  there  whipped ;  the  29th  taken  back  to  Sandwich,  and 
the  next  day,  out  of  the  jurisdiction. 

August  4.  A  list  of  people  +  who  had  attended  Quaker  meeting 
at  William  Allin's,  is  handed  in  and  he  fined. 

September  29.  Ordered  that  the  "  railing  papers  "  of  Humphrey 
Norton,  with  the  deposition  of  Christopher  Winter  relative  to  the 
opinions  of  them,  and  Norton's  reply,  be  put  on  public  record,  and 
that  the  said  Norton  be  apprehended  and  "  brought  to  condign 
punishment." 

Prefatory  to  the  republication  of  their  general  laws,§  the  Legis- 
lature remark  :  "  Although  sundry  particulars  in  the  judicial  law, 
which  was  of  old  enjoyed  to  the  Jews,  did  more  especially  (at 
least  in  some  circumstances)  befit  their  '  Pedagogue,'  yet  are  they, 
for  the  main,  so  exemplary,  being  grounded  on  principles  of  moral 
equity,  as  that  all  men,  Christians  especially,  ought  always  to  have 
an  eye  thereunto,  in  the  framing  of  their  political  constitutions. 
Although  we  hold  and  do  affirm,  that  both  Courts  of  justice  and 
Magistrates,  who  are  the  ministers  of  the  law,  are  essentially  civil ; 
notwithstanding  we  conceive,  that  as  the  Magistrate  hath  his  power 
from  God,  so  undoubtedly  he  is  to  improve  it  for  the  honour  of 
God,  and  that  in  the  upholding  of  his  worship  and  service,  and 
against  the  contrary,  with  due  respect  also  to  be  had  unto  those 
that  are  really  conscientious,  though  differing  and  dissenting  in 
some  smaller  matters.  But  if  any  really,  or  in  pretence  of  con- 
science shall  profess  that  which  eminently  tendeth  to  the  inunda- 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  321.  f  Bishop,  p.  179-80. 

+  Plym.  Col.  MS.  Rec.  §  Plym.  Col.  Laws. 


i  M'lt'  MEMBERS  OF  LEGISLATURE.  83*3 

1658.] 

tioii  of  Cavil  Btate  and  violation  of  natural    bonds,  or  the  overthrow 

of  the  churches  o(  God  or  of  his  worship,  that  here  prudence  i~>  to 
bo  Unproved  in  the  enacting  ami  executing  of  laws."     Such  was 

the  real  belief  and  exposition  of  the  Plymouth  and  most  other 
New  England  authorities. 

"  Whereas  complaint  is  made  of  great  abuses  in  sundry  places, 
of  prophaning  the  Lord's  day  by  travellers  both  horse  and  loot,  by- 
bearing  of  burdens,  carrying  of  packs,  etc.,  upon  the  Lord's  day, 
to  the  great  offence  of  the  godly  welafected  among  us,"  it  is 
enacted,  that  each  person  who  so  transgresses  shall  pay  20/.,  or  sit 
in  the  stocks  four  hours,  except  he  "  can  give  a  sufficient  reason 
for  soe  doing." 

It  is  enacted,  "  that  whereas  the  number  of  freemen  in  many 
places  is  but  small,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  townships  many 
more,  who  have  equal  votes  with  freemen  in  the  choice  of  depu- 
ties, who  being  the  body  of  freemen  representative  together  with 
the  Magistrates,  have  equal  votes  for  the  enacting  of  laws,  who  by 
weakness,  prejudice,  or  otherwise,  it  hath  or  may  come  to  pass, 
that  very  unfit  and  unworthy  persons  may  be  chosen,  that  cannot 
answer  the  Court's  trust  in  such  a  place  ;  that  as  all  such  Courts, 
as  Magistrates  and  deputies,  are  to  act  in  making  of  laws,  and 
being  assembled,  the  Court  in  the  first  place  take  notice  of  their 
members,  and  if  they  find  any  unfit  for  such  a  trust,  that  they  and 
the  reason  thereof  be  returned  to  the  town  from  whence  they  were 
sent,  that  they  make  choice  of  more  fit  and  able  persons  to  send  in 
their  stead  as  the  time  shall  permit."  It  is  required  that  persons 
nominated  for  freemen  shall  stand  candidates  one  year  ;  that  laws 
shall  be  made  and  repealed  by  a  General  Court,  elected  out  of  the 
freemen. 

It  is  ordered,  that  no  Quaker,  no  opposer  of  the  laws  of  true 
worship,  of  service  to  the  country,  shall  be  admitted  a  freeman  ; 
that  whoever  is  a  freeman,  and  is  or  becomes  a  Quaker,  or  an  en- 
courager  of  such  a  denomination,  or  speaks  contemptuously  of  the 
Court  or  laws,  or  is  adjudged  "  grossly  scandalous,"  as  a  liar, 
drunkard,  or  swearer,  shall  lose  his  freedom ;  that  they  who  refuse 
to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  shall  not  vote  for  public  officers. 

It  is  required,  that  "  a  fourth  part  of  each  military  company  " 
go  to  meeting  on  the  Sabbath,  fully  equipped  for  service,  from  the 
first  of  March  to  the  last  of  November,  and  that  a  troop  of  horse 
from  the  several  towns,  be  ready  for  action.  Such  preparation  was 
probably  made  to  quell  insurrection,  apprehended  from  the  influ- 
ence of  Quaker  principles. 

Whoever  are  convicted  of  adultery  shall  be  wrhipped  twice 
in  a  severe  manner  ;  the  first,  while  the  Court  which  condemns 
them  is  in  session,  and  the  second,  wThen  it  shall  order.  Another 
part  of  their  punishment  for  such  a  crime  is,  that  they  shall  "  wear 
two  capital  letters,  viz.,  A  D,  cut  out  in  cloth,  and  sewed  on  their 


238  PUNISHMENT  OF  SOCIAL   VICE. 

[Plym. 

uppermost  garments  on  their  arm  or  back  ;  and  if  at  any  time 
they  shall  be  taken  without  the  said  letters  while  they  are  in  the 
government  so  worn,  to  be  forthwith  taken  and  publicly  whipt." 
How  inactive  the  arm  of  authority  now  for  the  suppression  of 
social  immorality  to  what  it  was  in  other  days  ! 

It  having  been  an  ancient  and  wholesome  order,  dated  "  March 
the  seventh,  1636,"  that  no  stranger  should  reside  in  the  Colony 
without  the  consent  of  the  Governor  and  two  Magistrates  at  least, 
and  that  many,  contrary  to  this  order,  have  crept  into  some  town- 
ships, who  are  and  may  be  "  a  great  disturbance  of  our  more 
peaceable  proceedings,"  it  is  enacted  that  such  individuals  shall 
have  the  law  executed  upon  them. 

"  Whereas  sundry  persons,  both  Quakers  and  others,  wander  up 
and  down  in  this  Jurisdiction,  and  follow  no  lawful  calling  to  earn 
their  own  bread,  and  also  use  all  endeavors  to  subvert  civil  state, 
and  to  pull  down  all  churches  and  ordinances  of  God,  to  thrust  us 
out  of  the  ways  of  God,  notwithstanding  all  former  laws  provided 
for  the  contrary,"  it  is  ordered,  that  a  workhouse  be  erected  for 
such  persons,  and  also  for  "  all  rebellious  children  or  servants  " 
who  will  not  work,  and  have  not  enough  to  support  themselves, 
and  that  the  preceding  individuals  shall  be  confined  there,  and  have 
no  other  sustenance  than  they  will  earn  by  their  own  labor. 

Oct.  2.  As  the  Court,  at  their  June  session,*  appointed  Gov.  Prince 
and  other  Magistrates  to  examine  and  redress  grievances,  endured 
by  ancient  inhabitants  of  Sandwich,  as  expressed  in  their  petition 
of  August  28th,  and  finding,  from  the  report  of  such  a  Committee, 
that  Ralph  Allin,  sen.,  Thomas  Ewer,  Thomas  Greenfield,  Richard 
Kerbey,  jr.,  Henry  Saunders,  Matthew  Allin,  John  Jenkins,  Daniel 
and  Steven  Winge,  have  had  no  legal  admittance  into  the  town 
and  still  act  in  its  affairs, — they  are  commanded  to  cease  from  such 
action,  and  the  like  injunction  is  to  be  obeyed  by  "  any  others  be- 
sides," who  are  similarly  deficient.  It  is  ordered  that  no  person 
shall  become  a  dweller  in  Sandwich  or  "  enjoy  the  privileges  there- 
of," without  the  "  consent  of  the  Church,"  and  Mr.  Thomas  Prince 
or  any  of  the  Assistants,  whom  they  shall  choose. 

Matthew  Fuller  is  fined  for  asserting,  that  the  law  requiring 
the  maintenance  of  ministers,  was  enacted  through  satanic  influence. 
James  Wiatt  is  to  be  sharply  reproved  "  for  waiting  a  note  about 
common  business  on  the  Lord's  day,  at  least  in  the  evening  some- 
what too  soon." 

Robert  Harper,  Ralph,  sen.,  John,  William  and  Matthew  Allin, 
Edward    Perry,    Richard    Kerbey,  jr.,    Thomas   Ewer,     William' 
Gifford,  Daniel  Winge  and  John  Jenkins,  are  fined  £5  each  for 
refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

"The  Court  having  taken  into  their  serious  consideration f  some 

*  Plym.  Col.  MS.  Rec.  t  Ibid. 


1XMKK1.'  i  [OH   i\    lit  i :  <  OLONT.  &38 

I 

ngns  of  God's  displeasure,  manifested  by  bis  afflicting  hand  on  the 
country,  particularly  by  bis  visitation  of  many  families  and  persons 
with  sickness  and  weakness,  and  particularly  by  the  unseasonable  - 
oi  the  weather  for  bringing  the  fruits  of  the  earth  for  our  own 
food  and  stover  for  our  cattle,  as  also  by  letting  loose  a  scourge 
upon  us,  those  (retting  gangrene-like  doctrines  and  persons,  com- 
monly called  Quakers,  and  not  hitherto  bo  effectually  blessing  our 
endeavours  as  we  have  desired,  for  preventing  their  infection  and 
disturbance,  as  also  by  the  too  much  prevailing  of  a  spirit  of  divis- 
ion both  in  church  and  civil  affairs,  to  the  great  dishonour  of  God 
and  discomfort  one  of  another  ;  " — therefore  "  a  day  of  humiliation  " 
is  appointed  to  be  observed  on  the  21st  instant. 

In  their  orders  to  the  Major,  the  Court  say,  "in  case  of  any 
sudden  approach  of  an  enemy  or  insurrection  within  ourselves" 
you  will  command  the  forces  accordingly. 

November  5.  Johu  Copeland  and  Josiah  Coal*  are  taken  from 
a  Friend's  house  at  Sandwich  and  imprisoned. 

December  3.  "As  Quakers  repair  to  Sandwich  f  from  other 
places  by  sea,  coming  in  at  Monument  with  a  boat,  which  practices, 
if  continued,  the  Court  conceiveth  may  prove  of  dangerous  conse- 
quence," it  is  therefore  ordered,  that  George  Barlow, J  marshal  of 
Sandwich,  arrest  every  such  boat  and  all  persons,  who  come,  to 
his  knowledge,  at  Monument  or  any  place  on  the  coast  within 
his  jurisdiction.  James  Skiffe  is  summoned  to  appear  at  the 
March  Court,  and  answer  for  traducing  the  law,  which  requires 
that  an  oath  of  fidelity  be  taken. 

Richard  Bear  may  be  released  from  prison,  and  appear  at  the 
same  session,  if  he  give  security  for  his  appearance. 

10.  Cudworth  writes  to  a  friend  §  in  London.  He  states  how, 
that  for  two  years,  he  had,  as  a  Magistrate,  opposed  various  trans- 
actions of  Government,  as  to  restrictions  and  punishment  for  reli- 
gious offences  ;  and  that,  since  the  prosecution  of  Quakers,  he  had 
opposed  it  with  firm  resistance.  He  observes,  that  he  and  Hatherly 
were  left  out  of  office  last  election,  and.  himself  had  lost  his  cap- 
taincy, for  such  a  course.  He  proceeds  :  "  New  Plymouth  saddle 
is  on  the  Bay-Horse,  (viz.  Boston,)  we  shall  follow  them  on  the 
career.  They  (Quakers)  have  many  meetings,  and  many  adherents, 
almost  the  whole  town  of  Sandwich  is  adhering  towards  them. 
Our  civil  Powers  are  so  exercised  in  things  appertaining  to  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  in  matters  of  Religion  and  Conscience,  that  we 
have  no  time  to  effect  any  thing,  that  tends  to  the  promotion  of  the 
Civil  Weal ;  but   now  we  must  have  a  State  Religion ;    a  State 

*  Bishop,  p.  180.  f  Plym.  Col.  MS.  Rec. 

X  Bishop,  in  X.  E.  Judged,  p.  389,  says  that  Barlow  had  preached  at  Exeter 
and  elsewhere  ;  that  he  became  a  lawyer  and  came  to  Plymouth  Patent. 
$  Xeal's  N.  E.  vol.  i.  p.  336.     Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  191-5. 


240  THOMAS  HINCKLEY'S  LAW. 

[Plym. 

Ministry,  a  State  way  of  maintenance.  We  must  all  go  to  the 
public  place  of  meeting,  in  the  Parish  where  he  dwells  or  be  pre- 
sented. I  am  informed  of  sixty  or  eighty  last  Court  presented  for 
not  coming  to  public  meetings,"  which  was  done  by  the  revival  of 
what  is  "  called  Thomas  Hinckley's  law."  "  Through  mercy,  we 
have  yet  among  us  worthy  Mr.  Dunstar,  whom  the  Lord  hath  made 
boldly  to  bear  testimony  against  the  spirit  of  persecution." 

William  Newland  *  for  being  at  the  meeting  of  the  Quakers, 
eighteen  times,  is  fined  £9,  and  for  his  wife,  having  been  there 
twenty  times,  £10,  and  for  entertaining  John  Copeland  and  another 
Quaker,  he  is  fined  £5. 

About  this  time,  the  amount  of  fines  f  taken  from  Joseph,  George, 
Ralph,  sen.,  Ralph,  jr.,  William  and  Matthew  Allen,  Robert  Har- 
per, Edward  Perry,  William  Gifford,  William  Newland,  John 
Jenkins,  Henry  Howland,  Thomas  Greenfield,  Richard  Kir  bey, 
Thomas  Ewer,  Daniel  Winge,  Peter  Gaunt,  Michael  Turner  and 
John  Newland,  for  refusing  to  take  legal  oaths  and  attend  public 
worship,  amounted  to  £660  7  6. 

The  Assistants  order  f  George  Barlow,  marshal  of  Sandwich,  to 
apprehend  all  Quakers  who  endeavor  to  enter  the  Colony  by  means 
of  boats,  and  to  take  the  sails  from  these  and  secure  them  until 
legal  action  shall  be  had  in  the  case.  A  reason  of  this  course  is, 
that  Quakers  were  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  Sandwich  by  coming 
into  Manomet  by  sea. 

1659.  February  21.  After  a  life  of  eminence  and  suffering, 
Henry  Dunster  §  dies  at  Scituate.  Mather  says,  that  he  so  departed 
"  in  such  harmony  of  affection  with  the  good  men  who  had  been 
the  authors  of  his  removal  from  Cambridge,  that  he  by  his  will 
ordered  his  body  to  be  carried  "  thither  "  for  its  burial,  and  be- 
queathed legacies  to  those  very  persons."  Having  married  the 
widow  of  Rev.  Jose  Glover,  Mr.  Dunster  had  three  sons  by  her, 
David,  Henry,  and  Jonathan.  Summoned  to  the  bar  where 
diversity  of  opinion  on  the  symbols  of  grace  in  the  soul,  is  recti- 
fied, and  to  the  world  where  such  signs  are  realized  in  their  signi- 
fication of  unalloyed  holiness,  we  trust  that  he  participates  in 
perfect  and  abounding  peace. 

March  1.  "  Whereas  the  Court  ||  takes  notice  of  sundry  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Yarmouth  to  be  ready  to  discharge  their  duty 
according  to  their  abilities  for  the  incouragement  and  support  of 
the  ministry  of  the  Word  among  them,  which  this  Court  doth  very 
well  resent  from  them,  and  cannot  but  as  ill  resent  the  contrary  in 
such  of  them  as  do  neglect  their  duty  therein,"  they  order  that 
£40  or  £50  annually  be  raised  for  such  a  purpose  by  free  contribu- 
tions, and  that,  if  any  refuse  to  do  this,  they  shall  be  legally 

*  Plym.  Col.  Book  of  Indian  Deeds,  Treas.  acct.  f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  195. 

X  Plym.  Col.  Rec.     §  Magnalia,  b.  iii.  p.  367,  ed.  1820.     Farmer's  N.  E.  Gen. 
||  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 

I 


DISFRANCHISED  OP   FREEDOM.  -II 

MSB.] 

jed  and  compelled  to  pay  proportionally  M  to  whaJ  others  of 
their  neighbours,  who  are  ready  to  do  their  duties  in  the  premises, 
have  freely  engaged." 
John  Smith,  jr.,  of  Plymouth,  wife  of  Henry  Howland,  Zoeth 

1  lowland  and  his  wife,  John  Soule  and  the  wile  of  George  Soule, 
of  Duxbury,  Arthur  Howland  and  his  wife,  of  Marshfield,  Mrs. 
Cudworth,  good-wife  Coleman,  William  Parker  and  his  wife,  of 
Scituate,  are  each  lined  10/.  for  "  frequently  absenting  themselves 
from  the  public  worship  of  God." 

June.  Nicholas  Davis,*  of  this  Colony,  is  imprisoned  at  Boston 
as  one  of  the  Quakers.  He  was  subsequently  banished,  with 
others,  on  pain  of  death,  not  to  appear  in  Massachusetts  after  the 
14th  of  September. 

7.  James  Cudworth  and  James  SkifFe,f  returned  as  Deputies  to 
the  General  Court,  are  not  allowed  to  take  their  seats,  because  they 
favored  such  a  denomination. 

"  Forasmuch  as  many  persons  J  are  greatly  corrupted  with  the 
Quakers'  doctrines  by  reading  theire  bookes,  writings,  or  epistles, 
which  are  sent  and  distributed  into  sundry  places  within  this  juris- 
diction," it  is  ordered  that  such  publications  be  seized. 

It  is  ordered  that  a  proposition  be  made  to  the  Quakers  that 
none  of  them  shall  be  fined  who  will  engage  to  move  out  of  the 
Colony  in  six  months,  and  that  whoever  of  them  are  unable  to 
meet  the  charge  of  removal  shall  receive  "  some  supply  out  of  the 
Treasury." 

Every  person  frequently  absent  from  the  public  worship,  "  ap- 
proved by  this  government,"  shall  pay  10/.  for  each  offence. 

Magistrates  shall  mitigate  the  penalty  for  refusing  to  take  the 
oath  of  fidelity  in  the  cases  of  individuals  who  are  in  low  circum- 
stances. 

In  accordance  with  the  rule  §  adopted  the  last  year,  it  is  ordered 
that  William  Newland,  of  Sandwich,  Henry  Howland,  of  Dux- 
bury,  John  Barnes,  of  Plymouth,  and  Richard  Beare,  of  Marsh- 
field,  be  disfranchised,  and  that  they  appear  at  the  Court  of 
Assistants  next  August,  to  be  censured  accordingly.  They  were 
"  disfranchised  of  their  freedom  of  this  Corporation,"  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  October  3  ;  the  two  first  for  sustaining  the  Quakers,  and 
the  two  last  for  immorality. 

"  Whereas, 1 1  some  have  desired,  and  others  thinke  it  meet  to 
permitt  persons  to  frequent  the  Quaker  meetings  to  endeavor  to 
reduce  them  from  the  error  of  theire  wayes,  the  Court  considering 
the  premises  doe  permitt  John  Smith,  of  Barnstable,  Isaac  Rob- 
inson, John  Chipman,  and  John  Cooke,  of  Plymouth,  or  any  two 

*  Bishop's  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  114.  f  Plym.  Col.  Kec. 

I  Plym.  Laws  and  Liberties.  §  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 

|j  Plym.  Laws  and  Liberties. 

3t 


242  HUMANITY  OF  CHRIST  DENIED. 

[Plym. 

of  them,  to  attend  the  said  meetings  for  the  ends  aforesaid,  att  any- 
time betwixt  this  Court  and  the  next  October  Court." 

Edward  Perry,  John  Newland,  Robert  Harper,  Richard  Kerbey, 
jr.,  Ealph,  sen.,  William,  John,  Matthew  and  George  Allin, 
Thomas  Ewer,  and  John  Jenkins,*  are  fined  £5  each  for  refusing 
to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity. 

September  7.  The  Governor  had  had  £5  put  in  his  hands  by 
the  Commissioners  of  the  mission,f  for  distribution  among  Chris- 
tian Indians. 

October  6.  "Forasmuch  as  our  people  of  Sandwich,{  called 
Quakers,  have  had  by  them  many  papers  and  writings,  that  are 
false,  scandalous  and  pernicious  to  the  Government,"  George 
Barlow,  the  marshal,  is  ordered  to  take  a  man  or  two  with  him, 
and  search  the  houses  of  William  Newland  and  Ralph  Allin  of 
Sandwich,  and  of  Nicholas  Davis  of  Barnstable,  for  such  papers, 
and  bring  them  either  to  the  Court,  Governor  or  Assistants. 

Thomas  Ewer,  for  "  his  tumultuous  and  seditious  carriages  and 
speeches "  in  Court,  is  sentenced  to  lie  neck  and  heels  during 
their  pleasure,  but  being  informed  that  he  had  a  rupture,  they 
omit  such  punishment.  They  however  assure  him,  that  if  he  do 
not  behave  more  orderly  in  their  presence,  and  rule  his  tongue, 
they  shall  send  him  out  of  the  Colony. 

William  Leddra  and  Peter  Peirson,  who  had  been  imprisoned 
at  Plymouth  some  time,  are  brought  before  the  Court  and  asked  if 
they  would  leave  the  Colony  and  return  no  more  ;  and  pay  the 
jailor's  fees.  They  replied  in  the  negative  and  were  remanded  to 
prison.  The  record  states,  as  pertaining  to  the  law,  "  in  agitation 
about  which,  has  Peter  Peirson  openly  denied  the  humanity  of 
Christ." 

Edward  Perry,  John  Newland,  Ralph,  William,  Matthew, 
George,  and  Joseph  Allin,  Daniel  Winge,  Thomas  Ewer,  Richard 
Kerbey,  jr.,  and  Robert  Harper,  refusing  to  take  oath  of  fidelity  to 
the  State  of  England  and  to  this  Government,  are  fined  £5  apiece. 
John  Jenkins  of  Sandwich,  who  sent  wrord  that  he  was  of  like 
mind  with  them,  is  fined  an  equal  amount. 

The  following  individuals  §  are  fined.  Thomas  Pope,  10/.  ; 
Thomas  Butler,  £2  10/. ;  Richard  Kerbey,  jr.,  £5  ;  Stephen  Wing, 
£1  ;  Edward  Perry,  £1. 

December  6.  As  Thomas  Greenfield,  ||  who  lately  came  from 
England  to  Rhode  Island,  brought  Mary  Dyer  to  Plymouth 
November  14,  contrary  to  law,  he  had  been  imprisoned  as  a  foreign 
Quaker.  But  it  being  made  known  that  he  owned  a  house  and 
land  at  Sandwich,  he  is  released  and  his  fees  ordered  to  be  taken 
out  of  his  property.     He  is  also  required  to  pay  for  Mrs.  Dyer's 

*  Plym.  Laws  and  Liberties.         f  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  p.  406. 

+  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  §  Plym.  Treasury  Rec.       ||  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


ORDINANCE   OF   BINDING    P8  \l.Ms.  543 

1980.] 

transportation  back  to  Rhode  [aland  and  tin*  com  of  ber  imprison- 
ment 

This  year,  Edward  Bulkley  moves  from  Marshfield  to  Concord, 
and  there  succeeds  his  father  in  the  ministry. 

1660.  March  7.  The  Conrt  remarks  "the  scandals  and  false- 
hoods" in  a  letter  from  Isaac  Robinson,  prejudicial  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  an  encouragement  to  Quakers.  Though  by  law  lie 
is  liable  to  be  disfranchised,  yet  his  case  is  deferred  till  farther 
inquiry.  This  man  was  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Robinson,  who  died 
in  Leyden.  lie  was  appointed  the  last  year  to  endeavor  the  con- 
version of  Quakers  ;  but  it  seems  that  the  reverse  occurred,  and  he 
turned  to  their  faith.  James  Cudworth,  charged  with  disaffection 
to  authority,  promoting  the  cause  of  Quakerism  in  a  written  paper, 
and  sending  a  letter  to  England,  is  ordered  to  appear  on  bond  of 
£500. 

William  Leddra  and  Peter  Pierson,*  brought  from  prison,  are 
asked  if  they  will  leave  the  Colony  "  in  some  convenient  time," 
and  return  no  more.  The  former  answers,  that  his  confinement  is 
unjust  and  illegal,  and  that  it  is  likely,  if  he  were  free,  he  would 
depart  "  in  the  will  of  God  ere  long."  He  is  assured,  if  he  will 
engage  to  go  from  the  jurisdiction  by  such  a  time,  he  may  have  his 
liberty,  but  he  declines  this  engagement.  The  same  proposals  are 
offered  to  Pierson  with  a  similar  result.  They  are  both  recom- 
mitted with  the  privilege  that,  whenever  they  express  a  wish  to  the 
Magistrates,  Cudworth  and  Bradford,  for  enlargement  so  that  they 
may  depart  from  the  Colony,  it  shall  be  allowed.  The  Court  were 
evidently  anxious  to  liberate  these  prisoners,  that  they  might  escape 
the  censure  from  increasing  friends  to  Quakers  of  keeping  them 
confined  in  the  winter  season.  On  April  IT,  Leddra  and  Pierson 
give  notice  of  their  readiness  to  comply  with  the  condition,  and  are 
set  at  liberty. 

May  1.  John  Williams  is  called  before  the  Court  of  Assistants 
at  Plymouth  and  required  to  give  bond  of  £40  to  answer  for  enter- 
taining a  foreign  Quaker,  and  having  a  meeting  with  him  at  his 
house.  He  refuses  to  be  so  bound,  and  denies  the  right  of  such 
Magistrates  to  make  this  demand.  On  June  6,  he  is  fined  40/., 
though  the  collection  of  it  is  suspended,  in  hopes  that  he  may  re- 
form. He  is  displaced  from  his  office  of  ensign.  John  Smith  and 
wife  of  Plymouth  are  accused,  because  they  had  a  similar  meeting 
at  their  house.  Henry  Howland  is  tried  on  a  like  charge.  Robert 
Bartlett  is  arraigned  for  speaking  contemptuously  "  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  singing  Psalms."  He  makes  an  acknowledgment ;  being 
sharply  admonished,  he  is  discharged. 

June  6.  A  copy  of  the  letter  forwarded  by  Cudworth  to  Eng- 
land, being  laid  before  the  General  Court,  they  pass  the  following 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


244  ARMS    BROUGHT  TO  AVORSHIP. 

[Plym. 

sentence  :  He  "  being  found  a  manifest  opposer  of  the  laws  of  the 
Government,  as  appears  by  sundry  expressions  in  a  letter  directed 
by  him  to  the  Governor  and  otherwise,  is  sentenced,  according  to 
law,  to  be  disfranchised  of  the  freedom  of  this  Corporation."  The 
Court  pass  an  order  of  the  same  kind,  relative  to  Isaac  Robinson, 
as  "  a  manifest  opposer  of  the  laws,"  expressed  in  a  letter  to  the 
Governor  and  others.  Both  of  these  persons  were  restored,  July 
1673,  as  freemen. 

8.  Fines  are  imposed.*  Henry  Dillingham,  15/. ;  Thomas  But- 
ler and  wife  Dorothy,  £2 ;  and  Joseph  Allin,  £2  10.  For  still 
declining  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity,  the  following  persons  are 
individually  assessed  £5  :  Edward  Ferry,  John  Newland,  Ralph, 
William,  Matthew,  George  and  Joseph  Allen,  William  Gifford, 
Daniel  Wing,  Thomas  Ewer,  Richard  Kerbey,  jr.,  and  Robert 
Harper. 

Fines  laid  on  persons  of  Sandwich  and  to  be  collected,  amount 
to  £116  4.  Similar  assessments  are  made  on  John  Smith,  jr.  10/., 
John  Soule,  10/.,  Zoeth  Howland  and  wife,  £1,  Arthur  Howland 
and  wife,  £1  10,  William  Parker,  10/.,  Mrs.  Cud  worth,  10/.,  and 
good- wife  Coleman,  10/. 

10.  Several  acts  are  passed.f  The  first  begins  thus  :  "  Whereas 
there  hath  severall  persons  come  into  this  Government  commonly 
called  Quakers,  whose  doctrine  and  practices  manifestly  tend  to 
subversion  of  the  fundamentals  of  Christian  Religion,  Church  order 
and  the  Civill  peace  of  this  Government,"  none  are  allowed  to 
entertain  them  on  penalty  of  five  pounds,  or  be  whipped  for  each 
default.  Every  person  of  such  a  denomination,  entering  the  Col- 
ony, shall  be  imprisoned.  If  any  refuse  to  leave  the  jurisdiction, 
they  shall  be  whipped  and  sent  away.  Penalties,  as  to  money  and 
confinement  in  stocks  and  cages,  shall  be  enforced,  for  holding,  per- 
mitting and  attending  their  meetings.  The  apprehension  of  them 
shall  be  extended  from  Constables  to  all  the  inhabitants,  who  may 
meet  with  such  foreigners.  No  person  shall  supply  them  with 
horses,  and  whatever  of  these  animals  are  brought  into  the  Colony 
by  them,  shall  be  forfeited.  A  reason  assigned  is,  that  they  may, 
by  such  animals  conveyed,  more  speedily  poison  the  people  with 
their  tenets,  and  more  easily  escape  from  pursuers.  Whoever  brings 
any  Quaker  into  the  jurisdiction,  shall  pay  £10  for  the  offence. 
Especially  in  reference  to  this  denomination,  cages  are  ordered  to 
be  erected  in  the  various  towns,  particularly  at  Sandwich,  Dux- 
bury,  Marshfield  and  Scituate. 

"  If  any  overseer  *  of  any  squadron  in  any  milletary  companie, 
shall  neglect  to  take  notice  of  and  present  a  true  list  of  such  as  are 
defective  in  bringing  theire  arms  to  the  meeting  on  the  Lord's  day 
shalbee  fined  three  pounds." 

*  Plym.  Treasury  Rec.  f  Plym.  Col.  Laws.  J  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


STJ8PICI0N    OF  QUAKERS'   tN8UKRECTION.  -'I' 

1060.] 

[$.  William  Sabine,  of  Rehoboth,  gives  testimony.  On  bis  way 
home  from  Dedham,  be  met  with  two  Quakers,  whq  discoursed 
■bout  those  o(  their  denomination  latelj  executed  in  Boston. 
d  why  they  did  not  attempt  a  rescue,  their  answer  was,  that 
they  were  desirous  to  do  it,  but  they  had  no  leader.  The  deponent 
then  Baid,  there  was  .Major  William  tiathorn,  who  was  more  for 
liberty  than  some  other  men,  to  whom  they  might  have  applied  to 
ascertain  it"  he  would  not  head  them.  Their  reply  was,  Hang  him  ; 
he  would  run  with  the  stream,  for  the  great  stream  run  the  other 
way.  One  of  them  remarked,  that  the  Government  had  taken  £10 
from  him  for  his  wile's  attendance  on  Quaker  meetings,  hut  he 
hoped  to  have  it  again  ere  long  ;  that  they  had  made  over  all  their 
estates,  except  land,  to  other  men,  and  that,  should  lay.  The  witness 
observed,  the  authorities  would  take  that  also.  They  rejoined,  they 
should  know  how  to  recover  it  ere  long,  and  that  they  were  ac- 
quainted with  the  ruler's  intentions  and  writings  in  England. 
Questioned  how  they  obtained  such  information,  they  stated,  that 
their  denomination  had  active  men,  who  broke  open  letters,  took 
copies,  and  sealed  them  again.  They  instanced  a  communication 
from  the  Deputy  Governor  of  Massachusetts  to  one  Mr.  Sturgeon 
in  England,  as  having  been  thus  served,  and  thereby  they  had 
knowledge  of  what  he  wrote.  They  asserted,  that  the  marshal  of 
Salem  was  pictured  up  in  the  Exchange  of  London,  with  his  bald 
head,  standing  behind  a  bush,  looking  after  a  hog  and  cow. 

Having  been  informed  that  Mr.  Ling,  one  of  the  merchant 
adventurers  who  helped  lay  the  foundation  of  Plymouth  Colony, 
had  been  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  the  Court  vote,  that  twenty 
pounds  be  sent  to  him,  as  some  relief,  and  that  whatever  may  be 
the  deficiency  in  such  a  sum,  after  contributions  have  been  made  in 
the  several  towns,  shall  be  made  up  from  the  public  treasury. 

John  Xewland  *  is  cautioned  by  the  Court,  because  he  was 
charged  with  saying,  that  "  he  was  holy  as  God  is  holy  and  as 
perfect  as  God  is  perfect,"  and  so  should  remain  perpetually. 
Daniel  Butler,  for  rescuing  a  strange  Quaker  from  marshal  Barlow, 
and  for  breaking  away  when  arrested,  is  sentenced  to  be  whipped. 
Thomas  Butler  and  his  wife  Dorothy,  charged  with  turbulence 
when  search  was  made  for  their  son  Daniel  at  their  house,  are  fined 
40  .  Joseph  Allen,  for  attending  a  Quaker  meeting,  and  for  making 
disturbance  at  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  at  Scituate,  is  fined 
10'.  for  the  former  and  40/.  for  the  latter.  Edward  Perry,  John 
Xewland,  Ralph,  William,  Matthew,  George  and  Joseph  All  in, 
William  GifFord,  Daniel  Wing,  Thomas  Ewer,  Richard  Kerbey, 
jr.,  and  Robert  Harper,  appear,  as  summoned  according  to  law,  and 
refuse  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity.  On  the  8th  of  October  eight 
of  them  are  convicted. 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


246  DECEASE   OF  NICHOLAS   BAKER. 

[Plym. 

August  7.  William  Parker  of  Scituate  is  fined  40/.  for  a  Quaker 
meeting  held  at  his  house,  and  £5  for  entertaining  Wenlock 
Christopherson  there.  William  Newland  is  required  to  pay  an 
amount  of  the  last  sum  on  a  like  accusation.  Wenlock  Christo- 
pherson is  arraigned.  He  is  ordered  to  leave  the  Colony  forth- 
with. He  declines,  and  is  therefore  imprisoned.  Altering  his 
purpose  soon  after,  he  was  released. 

September  10.  Richard  Bourne  is  allowed*  by  the  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies,  as  agents  of  the  Missionary  Society  in 
England,  £L20  as  his  salary  for  preaching  a  weekly  lecture  among 
the  Indians. 

This  year,  Nicholas  Baker  f  succeeds  Rev.  Mr.  Chauncev  as 
minister  of  Scituate.  He  was  from  Hingham,  which  he  had 
represented  in  General  Court,  1636  and  1638.  In  1672,  his 
people  gave  him  a  grant  of  land.  He  was  slandered,  1677,  by 
John  Ilance,  as  a  false  prophet.  While  afflicted  with  the  stone, 
which  occasioned  his  death,  August  22,  1678,  aged  sixty-eight,  he 
remarked,  "A  mercy  of  God  it  is  no  worse."  He  left  a  wife, 
Grace,  and  sons,  Samuel,  Nathaniel  and  Nicholas.  Though  he 
had  no  public  education,  he  was  talented,  intelligent,  and  worthy 
of  his  calling  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 

October  2.  The  following  persons  are  each  fined  10/.  for  attend- 
ance at  a  Quaker  meeting.  Robert  Harper  and  wife,  Joseph, 
Benjamin,  William  and  Matthew  Allen,  John  Newland  and  wife, 
William  Giftbrd,  wife  of  Henry  Dillingham,  William  Newland  and 
wife,  John  Soule  of  Duxbury,  Rodolphus  Elmes  of  Scituate,  Peter 
Gaunt,  Dorothy  Butler,  Obadiah  Butler,  John  Jenkins,  Richard 
Kerbey,  sen.  and  jr.,  Joan  [?]  Swift,  John  Smith,  jr.,  and  wife, 
Deborah  and  Lydia  Hicks,  three  last  of  Plymouth.  Henry  How- 
land  is  fined  £4  for  a  Quaker  meeting  at  his  house.  James  Cud- 
worth  is  questioned  by  the  Court  for  a  letter,  sent  by  him  to  John 
Brown,  reflecting  on  their  enactments.  Christopherson,  having 
been  committed  for  coming  again  into  the  Colony,  and  behaving 
himself  "  turbulently  and  insolently  before  the  Court,"  is  sentenced 
to  be  "  laid  neck  and  heels,"  required  to  depart,  but  refusing,  is 
ordered  to  be  whipped  and  sent  out  of  the  jurisdiction. 

In  accordance  with  submission  to  Charles  II.,  the  Legislature 
order,  that  all  legal  processes  be  administered  in  his  Majesty's 
name.  Their  hope  for  institutions  so  free  in  England  as  they 
wished,  is  disappointed. 

The  Church  of  Plymouth  town  had  some  of  its  members  much 
influenced  by  the  opinions  of  the  Quakers.  But  only  one  of  its 
families  united  with  them.  Morton  records  "  how  easily  might 
these  have  ruined  this  poor  flock,  if  the  Lord  had  not  interposed ; 
improving  our  good   elder,  Cushman,  as  a  special  instrument  in 

*  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  431.  f  Baylies'  Plymouth,  vol.  ii.  p.  264,  2d  part. 


PROCLAMATION    OP   AN    OUTLAW.  847 

1658.] 

this  worthy  work,  by  teaching  the  will  of  God  every  Lord's  day, 
plainly,  powerfully  and  profitably,  and  seconding  the  same  by  b 
blameless  Life  and  conversation."  Such  service  was  rendered  in 
compliance  with  a  rule  of  this  church  in  their  first  formation,  "  to 
choose  none  for  governing  elders  but  such  as  are  able  to  teach."* 

John  Smith f  had  officiated  as  minister  at  Barnstable.  Thomas 
Hinckley,  afterwards  governor,  and  others,  did  not  harmonize 
with  him,  and  therefore  he  left  the  place.  Having  taken  his 
dismission,  he  went  to  Long  Island  and  officiated  there.  Subse- 
quently he  preached  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  left  children,  lie 
finally  came  back  to  Sandwich  and  settled  as  pastor  of  the  church. 
Here,  1675,  he  had  a  grant  of  land  at  Pinguin  Hole,  in  this 
(punter.  He  left  descendants.  Though  called  to  dispense  the 
Word  of  inspiration  in  parishes  distant  from  each  other,  he  served 
One,  able  to  accompany  him  everywhere  and  bless  his  labors 
abundantly. 


MAINE. 


1658.  May  26.  On  complaints  of  disorder  at  the  Eastward,  the 
Bay  Authorities  empower  {  Commissioners  to  take  the  people  there 
under  their  jurisdiction,  and  to  repair,  for  such  a  purpose,  to  Black 
Point,  Richmond's  Island,  and  Casco,  or  some  place  in  York 
County. 

As  John  Bonighton  endeavored  to  prevent  the  people  of  Saco 
from  coming  under  the  Government  of  Massachusetts,  and  refused 
to  do  so  himself,  the  Legislature  there  proclaim  him  a  rebel,  but 
give  him  time  for  submission  till  the  first  of  August  next ;  but  if 
he  remain  obstinate  after  this  date,  £20  are  offered  for  his  being 
brought  to  Boston,  alive  or  dead. 

July  14.  The  report  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  to  receive 
the  inhabitants  at  Casco  and  the  neighborhood,  under  Massachu- 
setts, is  now  dated.  The  submission  was  made  the  day  before,  at 
the  house  of  Robert  Jordan.  It  was  accompanied  with  the  privi- 
lege, that  all  inhabitants  who  had  not  appeared  might  become  free- 
men on  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  without  being  church  mem- 
bers as  in  the  Bay.  It  was  accepted  by  the  Bay  Authorities  in 
their  October  session.  Among  the  subscribers  to  it  is  Bonighton, 
who  had  been  outlawed.  He  receives  pardon,  under  the  amnesty 
granted  to  all  who  had  resisted  the  laws. 

October  27.  A  petition  to  Cromwell  from  the  people  of  York, 
Kittery,  Wells,  Saco,  and  Cape  Porpoise,  is   dated. §     The   peti- 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  118,  121.  f  Ibid.  1  s.  vol.  iii.  p. 

188.     Bavlies,  vol.  ii.  p.  283.  J  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  $  Hutchinson's 

Coll.  p.  314,  7. 


248  BROCK'S  FITNESS  FOR  A  MISSIONARY. 

[Me. 

doners  mention  the  claims  laid  before  him  by  some  Patentees  to 
their  soil.  They  assert  their  disinclination  for  any  change  of  their 
present  rulers.  Their  words  are :  "  Because  changes  in  these 
tymes  may  prove  dangerous,  where  discontented  spirits  wayte  for 
such  opportunity es,  which  have  not  beene  the  best  part  of  that 
small  number  amongst  us,  who  were  professed  royalists,  whose 
breathings  that  way,  since  our  subjecting  to  this  authority,  have 
beene  so  far  stifled,  as  that  the  activity  of  such  spirits  cannot  fynde 
any,  or  the  least  opportunity  of  motion.  Our  persons  and  estates 
stand  under  the  security  of  watchfull  governors,  the  fathers  of  our 
nourishment  and  peace,  whose  pyous  care  not  onely  tollerates  but 
maynetaynes  us  the  purest  institutions  for  the  encouragement  of 
godly  persons,  both  ministers  and  others,  to  reside  amongst  us,  but 
changing  it  may  throw  us  back  into  our  former  estate,  to  live  under 
negligent  masters  and  the  danger  of  a  confused  anarchy."  They 
proceed  to  say,  that,  neglected  by  the  Patentees  in  England,  they 
"  sunk  into  great  distractions,"  and  were  forced  to  seek  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Bay  Authorities.  They  add  :  "  We  conceave  the  con- 
fyrming  the  Massachusetts  pattent  in  its  due  extent,  in  respect  of 
its  antiquity,  nuls  all  after  pattents  whatsoever,  as  fully  in  titles  of 
lands  as  of  government,  from  both  which  we  expect  equal  freedome 
by  theyr  just  interests  and  our  owne  subjection."  They  refer  his 
Highness  to  John  Wheelwright,  then  in  England,  for  information 
respecting  their  character  and  condition. 

December  25.  Leverett,  the  agent  for  Massachusetts,  writes 
home  that  he  presented  this  petition  to  Richard  Cromwell,  whose 
father,  Oliver,  had  died  the  3d  of  September.  He  remarks,  that 
Godfrey  was  prosecuting  his  claim,  which  such  a  document  notices, 
and  had  obtained  a  reference  of  the  question. 

1659.  March  1.  The  General  Court  express  their  approbation 
of  some  in  Yarmouth,  who  are  ready  to  contribute  for  the  support 
of  the  Gospel ;  but,  as  others  were  not  so  benevolently  inclined, 
the  whole  town  are  to  be  collected,  and  the  matter  laid  before 
them,  and  then,  if  any  are  unwilling  to  pay,  they  shall  be  taxed 
and  have  their  property  taken  in  a  just  proportion.  They  require 
such  an  assessment  to  be  made  annually  until  differently  ordered. 

May  9.  The  Missionary  Corporation  write  *  to  the  Commis- 
sioners :  "  Because  we  are  informed  that  there  is  want  of  fit  and 
able  persons  to  carry  on  the  work  amongst  the  Indians  residing 
towards  the  East,  we  have  thought  good,  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
Edward  Godfrey,  to  recommend  unto  you  one  Mr.  John  Brock,  a 
person  unknown  to  us,  whom  he  affirms  to  be  expert  in  the  Indian 
tongue,  and  fitly  qualified  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  which  we  leave 
unto  yourselves  to  judge  and  to  do  therein,  as  you  think  good." 
On   September  7,  the  Commissioners   write   to   the  Corporation  : 

*  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  i.  p.  403. 


mim>ik\    OP  ROBERT  BUTCH.  £49 

una] 

«  We  never  understood  thai   Mr.  Brock,  the  person  recommended 

>U  by  Mr.  Godfrey,  had  any  inclination  or  opportunity  to  be 
serviceable  in  the  work  ;  yet,  upon  your  intimation,  have  desired 
Mr.  Eliot  to  speak  with  him."  Williamson  states,  that  this  min- 
ister was  an  able  ami  faithful  pastor  of  the  Isles  of  Shoals  from  1(350 
to  1662.  lie  was  horn  at  Stradhrook  ;  came  to  New  England 
1637;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1646;  ordained  November 
1.;.  L662,  at  Reading. 

June  \).  The  trade  at  Kennebeck  dull,  because  trouble  had 
existed  with  the  Indians  *  there  ;  some  of  whom  had  been  killed, 
and  others  carried  away.  This  was  adverse  to  the  proposed  mis- 
sion there. 

July  4.  The  County  Court  at  York  pass  the  ensuing  order :  f 
"  Being  informed  that  the  inhabitants  of  Falmouth  are  at  present 
destitute  of  any  public  means  of  edification  on  the  Lord's  day,  and 
by  reason  of  the  people  not  meeting  together  for  their  mutual  fur- 
therance in  the  ways  of  God,  great  advantage  is  given  unto  the 
common  enemy,  joining  with  the  corruption  of  such  as  have  no 
delight  to  sanctify  God's  holy  rest,  the  neglect  whereof  being  an 
inlet  to  all  profaneness,  and  cannot  but  be  provoking  to  the  jeal- 
ousy of  Him,  who  is  the  fountain  of  our  peace  and  welfare  ;  for 
the  prevention  whereof  these  are,  therefore,  to  require  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  place,  from  time  to  time,  in  one  or  more 
convenient  place  or  places,  to  meet  together  on  the  Lord's  day,  for 
their  mutual  edification  and  furtherance  in  the  knowledge  and  the 
fear  of  the  Lord,  by  the  reading  of  God's  Word,  and  of  the  labors 
of  known  and  orthodox  Divines,  singing  of  Psalms,  and  praying 
together,  or  such  other  way  as  the  Lord  shall  enable  them,  till  the 
favor  of  God  shall  so  far  smile  upon  them,  as  to  give  them  better 
and  more  public  means  for  their  edification." 

1660.  May  29.  Robert  Gutch,  having  purchased  lands  of 
Robinhood,  at  Bath,  immediately  settles  them.  He  joined  the 
Church  of  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1641,  and  was  made  freeman  the  next 
year.  He  was  a  preacher,  and  officiated  in  a  church  which  stood 
at  the  upper  part  of  Arrousic  or  Arrowsick  Island.  He  con- 
tinued here  till  1679,  when  he  was  drowned  while  crossing  the 
river.J 

30.  A  petition  of  Falmouth  says :  §  "  God  begun  to  answer  our 
prayers  and  send  us  a  faithful  dispenser  of  the  Word,"  which  they 
hope  will  be  continued  among  them,  if  "  these  distractions  doe  not 
discourage  him."  The  difficulties,  here  mentioned,  had  reference 
to  claims  made  by  Cleaves  and  Jordan  to  their  territory,  which 
they  pray  the  Bay  Authorities  to  have  terminated. 

31.  The  Legislature,  having  had  a  statement  laid  before  them, 

*  MS.  Plym.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Willis's  Portland,  Part  i.  p.  98. 

J  Maine  Hist.  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  204.  §  Willis's  Portland,  Part  i.  p.  99. 

32 


250  EPISCOPAL  BAPTISM   OF  JORDAN. 

[Me. 

that  part  of  the  people  of  Wells  were  disaffected  with  Mr. 
Fletcher,  jun.,*  as  their  minister,  and  had  been  so  for  two  years, 
order  the  parties  to  appear  for  the  trial  of  their  case  at  the  York 
Court.  On  October  16,  they  decide,  in  view  of  the  evidence,  that 
Mr.  Fletcher  cease  to  labor  among  them,  and  that  the  inhabitants 
"  procure  some  godly,  able  minister."  But  on  May  17,  of  the 
next  year,  his  friends  petitioned  that  he  might  continue  his  preach- 
ing amonsr  them. 

The  emigrants  from  Xewbury,  at  their  new  Plantation  on  Saco 
River,  are  exempted  from  taxes  six  years,  if  they  have  twenty 
families  and  an  approved  minister  settled  over  them,  within  four 
years. 

John  Thorpe,f  who  was  a  preacher  at  Scarborough  in  1661, 
is  complained  of  for  irregular  deportment,  to  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature,  and  is  ordered  to  answer  before  them. 

Near  this  date,  Henry  Gardner,  merchant,  publishes  a  pamphlet 
in  London.  His  motive  in  doing  it  was  to  aid  in  regaining  New 
Hampshire  and  Maine  from  Massachusetts,  for  heirs  of  the  original 
and  loyal  Patentees.  He  mentions  Godfrey,  who  had  gone  to 
England  for  a  similar  object.  In  the  expression  of  his  honest, 
though  prejudiced  views  of  the  Bay  Authorities,  he  uses  the  subse- 
quent language.  They,  "  acting  as  a  free  State,  have  by  those 
proceedings  cast  an  odium  on  all  that  vast  country.  This  may 
suffice  to  shew  the  unjust  proceedings  of  the  said  gentlemen  of  the 
Colony  of  Boston,  against  the  said  gentlemen  of  those  Eastern 
parts,  who  were  not  all  of  their  tenents,  they  being  of  a  contrary 
opinion." 

June  13.  Deputies  from  the  towns  in  Plymouth:}:  Colony,  chosen 
to  act  on  the  question  as  to  what  shall  be  done  with  their  planta- 
tion at  Kennebeck,  since  the  lessees  of  its  fur  trade  were  likely  to 
be  much  endangered,  because  the  Indians  there  were  in  a  state  of 
hostilities,  agree  to  the  ensuing  particulars.  Governor  Prince  and 
his  partners,  "  things  being  as  they  are,"  may  "  call  home  their 
estates  and  servants  there  when  they  shall  see  cause."  "The 
country  or  any  allowed  of,"  may  go  thither  when  they  please  and 
engage  in  the  trade  there.  If  the  plantation  can  bring  £500 
sterling  for  the  Colony's  interest,  it  shall  be  sold.  Thus  the 
expectation,  that  the  patent  would  be  a  nursery  for  Puritan 
religion  as  well  as  for  successful  traffic  to  strengthen  the  Colony, 
puts  on  a  dark  aspect. 

As  Robert  Jordan,  in  last  July,  "  after  exercise  was  ended  upon 
the  Lord's  day,  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Mackworth,  in  Falmouth,  did 
baptize  three  children  of  Nathaniel  Wallis  of  the  same  town," 
the  Legislature  of  the  Bay  "  judgeth  it  necessary  to  bear  witness 
against  such  irregular  practice."    They  order  Jordan  to  desist  Irom 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Ibid.  J  Plvm.  Col.  Rec. 


WHEELWRIGHT   VISITS  CROMWELL.  861 

it  and  appear  before  them,  at  their  next  session,  to  answer.  This 
revival  of  Episcopacy  by  .Ionian  and  his  friends,  was  undoubtedly 

from  the  heart,  which  they  took  as  the  Bame's  having  already 
occurred  in  England,  and  from  the  accusations  against  .Massachu- 
setts before  the  royal  authorities  in  London. 

October  2.    As  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  Plymouth* 

Colony  held  their  .settlement  at  Kennebeck,  Thomas  Atkins,  a 
resident  of  the  latter  plaee,  is  tried  before  the  General  Court  of  the 
former  at  Plymouth,  for  a  eapital  oif'encc,  but  was  cleared.  But 
for  an  assault  on  his  daughter,  committed  while  he  was  intoxicated, 
he  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  and  then  liberated  to  return 
home. 

December  19.  The  instructions  from  the  Bay  to  their  agent  in 
London,!  refer  to  the  matter  of  extending  their  bounds  in  Maine,  as 
one  of  apprehended  difficulty.  Godfrey,  an  energetic  advocate  for 
the  restoration  of  the  territory,  which  had  so  changed  hands,  to  the 
heir  of  Sir  Fernando  Gorges,  had  been  some  time  in  England  for 
such  a  purpose. 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

1658.  Joshua  Moody  is  supposed  to  have  begun  his  ministerial 
labors  at  Portsmouth,  early  in  this  year.  He  was  son  of  William 
Moody,  born  in  England  163-3,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1653.     On  March  5,  1660,  the  town  voted  to  settle  him. 

April  20.  Wheelwright  indites  a  letter  to  his  church  at  Hamp- 
ton. Hutchinson  says,*  that  he  had  been  several  years  in  England 
and  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  who  deeply 
sympathized  with  him,  when  banished  for  his  opinions,  and  who 
had  greatly  noticed  him  since  his  arrival  in  the  kingdom.  Though 
Yaiie  was  disaffected  with  Cromwell,  yet  the  latter  desired  a  visit 
from  Wheelwright,  whose  language  follows  :  "  I  have  lately  been 
at  London  about  five  weeks.  My  Lord  Protector  was  pleased  to 
send  one  of  his  guard  for  me,  with  whom  I  had  discourse  in 
private  about  the  space  of  an  hour.  All  his  speeches  seemed  to 
me  very  orthodox  and  gracious,  no  way  favoring  sectaries.  Know- 
ing what  opposition  I  met  withal  from  some,  whom  I  shall  not  name, 
he  exhorted  me  to  perseverance  in  these  very  words,  as  I  remem- 
ber,— Mr.  Wheelwright,  stand  fast  in  the  Lord,  and  you  shall  see 
that  these  notions  will  vanish  into  nothing, — or  to  that  effect. 
Many  men,  especially  the  sectaries,  exclaim  against  him  with  open 
mouth,  but  I  hope  he  is  a  gracious  man.  I  saw  the  Lord  Mayor 
and  sheriff  with  their  officers  carry  sundry  fifth-monarchy  men  to 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.       f  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  330.       J  Hutch,  vol.  i.  3  ed.  p.  178. 


252  NOTICE   OF  JOHN  COTTON. 

[R.I. 

prison,  as  Mr.  Carr,  Mr.  Day,  with  others  who  used  to  meet 
together  in  Colman  street,  to  preach  and  pray  against  the  Lord 
Protector  and  the  present  power."  Wheelwright  was  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  Cromwell  in  college.  The  latter  remarked,  that 
he  could  remember  the  time  when  he  was  more  afraid  of  meeting 
Wheelwright  at  foot-ball  than  he  had  since  been  of  meeting  an 
army  in  the  field,  for  he  was  sure  of  being  tripped  up  by  him. 

October.  William  Marston  of  Hampton,  aged  70,  for  having 
two  books,  John  Lilburn's  Resurrection  and  William  Dewsbury's 
Mighty  Day  of  the  Lord,  in  his  possession,  and  for  absence  from 
worship,  is  heavily  fined.  In  the  winter,  he  was  imprisoned  fourteen 
days,  for  carrying  provisions  to  the  Southwicks,  still  confined,  from 
their  relatives  in  Salem. 

1659.  May  4.  Seaborn,  son  of  John  Cotton,  is  ordained* 
minister  at  Hampton.  The  date  of  this  service  has  been  assigned 
to  1660,  but  Hull's  diary  gives  the  other.  Mr.  Cotton  was  born 
at  sea,  while  his  father  and  mother  were  on  their  passage  to  Boston, 
and  hence  his  Christian  name.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  1651, 
and  October  7,  1655,  he  took  a  dismission  from  the  first  church  of 
Boston  to  preach  for  the  church  of  Weathersfield.  He  married 
Dorothy,  daughter  of  Governor  Bradstreet. 

May  15.  Capt.  Thomas  Bondf  brings  two  females,  being 
Quakers,  from  Jamaica  to  Piscataqua.  19th,  on  trial,  he  pleads 
ignorance  of  the  law,  obligates  himself  to  keep  them  on  board,  and 
that  they  shall  not  converse  with  other  persons,  until  he  departs 
with  them  for  England. 

September.  William  Robinson  and  Marmaduke  Stevenson, 
though  banished  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  on  pain  of 
death,  visit  J  Piscataqua  with  Edward  Wharton  and  another,  to 
spread  the  influence  of  their  principles.  They  returned  the  next 
month  to  Boston,  and  braved  the  penalty  against  them. 

1660.  November  8.  Robert  Tufton  Mason  having  petitioned 
the  King  for  the  restoration  of  New  Hampshire,  as  heir  oi  the 
original  proprietor,  a  report  is  made  by  Sir  Geoffrey  Palmer,  the 
Attorney  General,  in  favor  of  his  plea.  This  movement  is 
encouraged  by  the  ascendency  of  the  royalists  in  the  mother 
country,  and  their  evident  purpose  to  support  the  interests  of  their 
friends  in  New  as  well  as  in  Old  England. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

1658.     March    13.    The   Assembly  write   to   the   Confederate 
Commissioners  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  them,  dated  the  25th  of 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  195.  f  Mass.  MS.  Papers.  +  Bishop,  p.  117-9. 


OPINION    OP    OlAKKKS. 

1668.] 

September.     They  mention  *  the  Quakers,  "  lately  arrived  in  these 

parts   ut*  the  world,  who  are  generally  conceived    penurious,  either 

intentionally  or  at  Leastwise  in  effect,  even  to  the  corrupting  of 

good  manners,  and  disturbing  the  Common  peace  and  societies  of 
the  plaees  where  they  arise  or  resort  unto."  They  further  remark, 
that  "  in  ease  said  people  who  are  here,  or  shall  arise  or  come 
among  us,  do  refuse  to  submit  to  the  doing  all  duties,  as  training, 
watching,  and  such  other  engagements  as  are  upon  members  of 
civil  societies,"  they  shall  have  the  matter  laid  before  the  supreme 
authority  of  England  for  direction. 

May  11.  Honed  Gardner,  the  mother  of  a  large  family  at  New- 
port, appears,f  with  her  babe,  at  Weymouth,  to  deliver  a  religious 
message.  She  was  carried  to  Boston,  whipped  and  imprisoned  for 
a  fortnight.  A  girl,  Mary  Stanton,  who  accompanied  her,  suffered 
in  like  manner. 

19.  Under  this  date,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  discharge 
William  Arnold,  William  Carpenter,  and  all  other  inhabitants  £  of 
Patuxet,  according  to  their  petition,  from  their  jurisdiction.  They, 
however,  hold  Arnold  answerable  for  proceedings  under  his  com- 
mission of  1643. 

20.  About  this  date,  Thomas  Harris,  of  Rhode  Island,  appears 
in  a  congregation  of  Boston,^  and,  after  the  minister  "  had  done, 
warned  the  people  of  the  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,  which  was 
coming  upon  that  town  and  country."  He  was  imprisoned, 
whipped  next  day,  confined  eleven  days  more,  during  which  he 
was  whipped  twice  severely,  because  he  refused  to  work. 

October  2.  Katharine  Scott,  from  Providence,  a  respectable 
woman,  and  the  mother  of  many  children,  ||  had  visited  Boston  to 
sympathize  with  Holden  and  his  two  friends  when  punished,  is 
committed  to  prison,  and  whipped  ten  stripes.  When  she  was 
told  that  a  law  was  to  be  passed  soon  for  hanging  Quakers,  she 
replied,  "  If  God  call  us,  woe  be  to  us  if  we  come  not.  And  I 
question  not  but  He  whom  we  love  will  make  us  not  to  count  our 
lives  dear  unto  ourselves,  for  the  sake  of  his  name." 

19.  The  Bay  Legislature  allow  John  Greene,  sen.,  of  Warwick, 
to  visit  his  friends  there,H  in  the  course  of  next  summer,  "  he 
behaving  himself  peaceably  and  inoffensively." 

November  5.  Thomas  Olney,  Samuel  Gorton,  John  Crandal, 
and  John  Trip,  as  a  Committee  of  the  Assembly,  prepare  a  letter 
for  Rev.  John  Clark,  in  London.  Their  words  follow  :  "  We 
have  now  a  new  occasion  given  us  by  an  old  spirit,  with  respect  to 
the  Colonies  around  us,  who  seem  to  be  offended  with  us,  because 
a  sort  of  people,  Called  by  the  name  of  Quakers,  who  are  come 
amongst  us,  who  have  raised  up   divers,  who,  at  present,  seem 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  2  s.  vol.  vii.  p.  82.  f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  184. 

X  Mass.  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 

||  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  189,  90.  IT  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


254  RICHARD   CROMWELL  PROCLAIMED. 

[R.I. 

to  be  of  their  spirit,  whereat  the  Colonies  about  us  seem  to  be 
offended  with  us,  being  the  said  people  have  their  liberty  with  us, 
are  entertained  in  our  houses  or  any  of  our  Assemblies  ;  and  for 
the  present  we  have  found  no  just  cause  to  charge  them  with  the 
breach  of  the  civil  peace.  Only  they  are  constantly  going  forth 
amongst  them  about  us,  and  vex  and  trouble  them  about  their 
religion  and  spiritual  state,  though  they  return  with  many  a  foul 
scar  in  their  bodies  for  the  same,  and  the  offence  our  neighbors 
take  against  us  is  because  we  take  not  some  course  against  the  said 
people,  either  to  repel  them  from  amongst  us,  or  take  such  courses 
against  them  as  themselves  do,  who  are  in  fear  lest  their  religion 
should  be  corrupted  by  them.  Concerning  which  displeasure,  that 
they  seem  to  take,  it  was  expressed  to  us  in  a  solemn  letter, 
written  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  at  their  sit- 
ting, as  though  they  would  either  bring  us  to  act  according  to  their 
scantling,  or  else  take  some  course  to  do  us  greater  displeasure." 
They  then  desire  the  agent  to  be  vigilant,  lest  complaint  should  be 
made  by  the  said  Colonies  to  the  Protector,  and,  as  their  language 
is,  "  plead  our  cause  in  such  sort  as  that  we  may  not  be  compelled 
to  exercise  any  civil  power  over  men's  consciences,*  so  long  as 
human  orders,  in  point  of  civility,  are  not  corrupted  and  violated." 

1659.  March  11.  The  General  Council  order  that  Proclamation 
of  his  Highness  Richard,  Lord  Protector,  be  made  f  on  next  Tues- 
day at  the  head  of  each  military  band  in  every  town,  with  the  addi- 
tion, "that  we  do  joyfully  accept  of  his  said  Highness  succeeding 
in  that  dignity  and  power  of  Protectorship." 

May  IT.  General  Court  of  Commissioners  order  a  letter  for  the 
Lord  Protector,  expressing  gratitude  to  his  deceased  father  and  to 
himself  for  favor  towards  their  Colony.  They  recommend  to  his 
notice  Mr.  Clark,  their  agent  in  England. 

They  require,  that  Indians  convicted  of  robbery,  stealing,  pil- 
fering, etc.,  to  the  value  of  20 /.,  and  unable  to  pay  all  charges 
presently,  shall  be  sold  to  "any  foreign  country  of  English  subjects ; " 
but  if  under  20/.,  they  shall  be  whipped  not  above  fifteen  stripes. 

June.  William  Robinson  and  Marmaduke  Stevenson  go  £  from 
Rhode  Island  to  Massachusetts,  where,  supposing  themselves  di- 
vinely called  to  trample  upon  the  law  of  banishment,  they  were 
executed  27th  of  October.  Soon  after  they  left  and  were  impris- 
oned at  Boston,  Patience  Scott,  of  about  eleven  years  old,  went 
thither  from  her  father's  house  at  Providence,  to  bear  witness 
against  the  persecution  of  the  Quakers.  Mary  Dyer,  leaving  her 
husband  and  children  at  Rhode  Island,  also  went  to  sympathize 
with  the  prisoners.     Both  of  these  females  were  committed  to  jail. 

July  4.  From  the  diary  of  Hull,  we  have  the  succeeding  ex- 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  313-6.  f  R.  Is.  Rec.  p.  406-7. 

$  Bishop,  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  114. 


dim  \i.  OF  CHRI8T. 

1 

tracts:  "I  went  vp  to  Pattaqoamscott  in  Narraganseti  irpon  Mon- 
day morning.  Lodged  that  night  at  Providence,  next  morning  in 
Warwick,  and,  the  boat  being  on  ground,  tarried  at  Mr.  Smith's 
most  of  that  ilav  ;  discoursed  with  Gorton,  who  denieth  the  Lord's 
Christ  At  even,  1  went  to  Rhode  Island,  lodged  at  Mr.  Wilbore'a  ; 
next  night  with  Mr.  Porter.  Ypon  tilth  day,  went  in  a  boat  to 
Pattaquamscott,  there  also  was  forced  to  spend  the  Sabbath  in  dis- 
course with  Mr.  Porter,  who  holds  that  all  shall  be  saved." 

August  !23.  General  Court  of  Commissioners  pass  the  following 
order :  "  Forasmuch  as  we  have  received  letters  from  our  agent, 
Mr.  John  Clark,  out  of  England,  that  the  present  government 
thereof  is  by  the  old  Parliament  as  it  was  six  years  since,  without 
a  single  person  or  house  of  Peers ;  it  is  ordered,  by  this  present 
Court,  that  all  warrants  and  summons  shall  be  issued  forth  in  the 
name  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England. 

The  Assembly  write  to  the  Commissioners  :  "  Wee  doubt  not 
but  vow  well  remember  about  twenty-two  yeares  since  many  of 
ourselves  had  our  aboade  with  vow,  and  because  we  could  not  com- 
ply with  vow  in  your  proceedings  in  banishment,  etc.,  and  our- 
selves beinge  desireous  of  liberty  of  conscience  for  all  conscientious 
men  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  were  such  men  as  lived  justly  and 
uprightly  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  but  this  would  not  be  granted 
nor  by  your  Courts  tolerated  :  And  soe  were  some  banished,  and 
others  forced  and  constrayned  to  departe,  and  thereby  caused  to 
cast  themselves  wholly  upon  the  Lord,  in  seekeinge  to  finde  a  rest 
in  the  wilderness."  They  go  on  to  relate,  that  the  Parliament,  in 
process  of  time,  not  only  granted  them  a  Charter  of  civil  govern- 
ment, "but  were  pleased  also  to  inlarge  our  accommodations, 
vnderstandinge  the  straytnes  of  our  confynes."  They  observe  that, 
in  this  way,  they  are  entitled  to  Narraganset  territory,  which  the 
Commissioners  considered  as  not  belonging  to  them. 

September  6.  William  Dyer  addresses  a  letter  to  the  Assist- 
ants in  Boston,  relative  to  his  wife,  Mary,  imprisoned  there  as  a 
Quaker.  He  strongly  advocates  her  cause  and  deplores  his  and 
her  sufferings,  and  warns  them  of  impending  retribution.  He 
mentions  her  as  having  returned  from  England  within  a  recent 
period.  He  refers  to  a  "  booke  lately  come  ouer  to  Mr.  Cunnigrane 
from  his  wife  in  England,  intiteled  jthe  Popish  Inquisition  erected 
in  Xew  England,  which  how  then  and  how  may  be  resented  by 
the  supream  authority  of  England  and  its  Dominions,  time  will 
declare,  and  I  beleeue  you  will  be  made  sencible  of."  He  speaks 
of  his  having  formerly  visited  Mr.  Prine,  confined  to  the  Tower, 
without  molestation,  as  an  argument  why  his  wife  should  not  be 
apprehended  for  visiting  Robinson  and  Stevenson. 

12.  Mary  Dyer,*  with  others,  is  banished  from  the  Bay,  on  pain 

*  Bishop,  p.  114. 


256  UNIVERSALISM  —  PRESBYTERIANISM. 

[R.I. 

of  death.  Patience  Scott,  being  considered  too  young  for  the  law's 
application  to  her,  was  dismissed. 

October  8.  Regardless  of  her  peril,  Mary  Dyer  again  ventured 
to  appear  in  Boston.  Hope  Clifton,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  Mary 
Scott,  daughter  to  R.  and  K.  Scott,  of  Providence,  did  the  same. 
Their  object,  on  this  occasion,  was  to  call  on  Christopher  Holder, 
imprisoned  there,  and  encourage  him  in  his  confinement. 

1660.  July  8.  Anne  Coddington,  of  Rhode  Island,  writes* 
to  Governor  Endicott,  and  protests  against  the  punishment  in- 
flicted on  Quakers. 

September  8.  R.  Williams  writes  to  Governor  Winthrop.  He 
speaks  of  the  parties  in  England.f  He  mentions  Mrs.  Scott,  a 
neighbor  of  his,  as  lately  returned  from  her  friends  in  England, 
whose  arguments  had  induced  her  to  leave  the  Quakers.  He  speaks 
of  his  brother,  that  he  "runs  strongly  to  Origen's  notion  of 
universal  mercy  at  last,  against  an  eternal  sentence." 

October  18.  The  Court  give  a  new  commission  to  John  Clark, 
now  resident  in  Westminster,  to  act  in  their  behalf.  On  the  next 
May  21,  they  order  that  £200  shall  be  raised  for  his  agency. 

They  order  that  the  King  be  proclaimed  at  eight  o'clock  to-mor- 
row morning^  and  that  on  the  21st  inst.  every  town  shall,  at  the 
head  of  the  company  of  each  train  band,  solemnize  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  Royal  Majesty,  if  the  weather  permit ;  if  not,  then  it  is 
to  be  done  on  the  next  fair  day  ;  and  that  all  children  and  servants 
shall  have  their  liberty  on  that  day.  A  commission  is  prepared 
for  Mr.  Clark,  so  that  he  may  apply  for  continuance  and  fulfillment 
of  their  Charter. 

27.  Roger  Williams  writes  §  to  his  friend,  Sir  Henry  Vane,  who 
was  perilously  situated,  for  his  favor  to  the  Commonwealth  under 
Cromwell.  Ever  since  our  banishment,  we  have  experienced  your 
kindness.  "  We  have  long  drank  of  the  cup  of  as  great  liberties 
as  any  people,  that  we  can  hear  of  under  the  whole  heaven.  We 
have  not  only  been  long  free  (together  with  Old  England)  from  the 
iron  yokes  of  Popish  Bishops  and  their  Popish  ceremonies,  but  we 
have  sitten  quiet  and  dry  from  the  streams  of  blood  spilt  in  our 
native  country.  We  have  not  felt  the  new  chains  of  Presbyterian 
tyrants  ;  nor  (in  this  Colony)  have  we  been  consumed  with  over 
zealous  fire  of  the  (so  called)  godly  and  Christian  Magistrates. 
Sir,  we  have  not  known  what  an  excise  means  ;  we  have  almost 
forgot  what  tithes  are,  yea,  or  taxes  either,  to  Church  or  Common- 
wealth." The  writer  refers  to  the  Presbyterians,  as  the  favorers  of 
monarchy  under  Charles  II.,  as  they  were  under  his  father,  and 
consequently,  as  opposers  to  a  republic.  The  Magistrates,  he  men- 
tions, were  evidently  those  of  the  United   Colonies,  who  claimed 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  207.  f  Knowles's  R.  Williams,  p.  312. 

+  Hist,  of  Providence,  p.  127,  8.  §  MS.  of  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc. 


LAXITY    OF    TAXATION 

the  right  to  punish  breaches  of  the  firsl  table  of  the  law  ai  well  as 
those  of  the  second  table.  The  laxity  of  taxation  in  his  own 
Colony,  however  generally  liked  by  the  people  for  the  time,  was 
probably  injurious  to  its  public  prosperity,  by  inducing  upon  them 
■  habit  of  aversion  to  sustaining  the  costs  01  literary  and  religious 
education. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1658.  January  7.  Theophilus  Eaton,  a  rare  specimen  of  fallen 
humanity,  dies  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the  eldest 
son  of  a  minister,  and  had  his  birth  at  Stony  Stratford,  in  Oxfordshire. 
On  the  decease  of  his  father,  he  contributed  liberally,  and  so  con- 
tinued as  long  as  need  required,  to  the  support  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters.  To  his  mother  he  was  filially  devoted,  until  her  decease  as 
a  member  of  his  family  in  New  Haven.  He  faithfully  discharged 
the  duties  of  a  merchant  apprenticeship.  Doing  business  for  him- 
self, he  soon  became  distinguished.  Made  a  freeman  of  London, 
he  engaged  in  the  East  Country  *  or  Baltic  trade.  Of  the  Com- 
pany who  carried  on  commercial  business  in  that  direction,  he  was 
made  Deputy  Governor.  Xoted  for  his  integrity  and  ability,  his 
Majesty  sent  him  as  a  Commissioner  to  the  King  of  Denmark. 
The  manner  and  result  of  his  negotiations  won  the  favor  of  both 
these  Sovereigns.  It  also  promoted  the  interests  of  the*  Company, 
so  that  they  signified  their  obligations  to  him  by  presenting  his 
wife  with  a  bason  and  ewer  of  sixty  pounds  weight,  double  gilt 
and  curiously  wrought  with  gold.  To  this  person,  of  great  excel- 
lence, thus  introduced  to  us,  he  "  first  espoused  himself  after  he 
had  spent  three  years  in  an  absence  from  her  in  the  East  Country." 
But  the  continuance  of  their  union  Avas  short.  Leaving  two  chil- 
dren with  their  deeply  afflicted  father,  she  departed,  peacefully 
resigned  to  the  will  of  God.  Mr.  Eaton  subsequently  married  the 
worthy  daughter  of  the  Bishop  of  Chester.  She  wTas  a  widow, 
Ann  Yale,  and  had  three  children  by  her  first  husband,  two  of 
them  named  David  and  Ann,  who  married  Edward  Hopkins,  and 
three  sons  and  two  daughters  by  her  second.  While  prosperously 
advancing  in  life,  they  are  admonished  of  its  uncertainty  by  the 
loss  of  two  of  their  children ;  the  last  during  the  plague.  Other 
afflictions  await  them.  Being  a  hearer  of  John  Davenport,  he  was 
deeply  interested  in  the  progress  of  Puritanism.  He  subscribed  to 
assist  the  Massachusetts  Company  in  their  colonization  purposes, 
and  was  among  its  original  and  prominent  patentees.  When  the 
strictures  of  conformity  compelled  his  pastor  to  seek  a  refuge  in 

*  Not  East  India,  as  Trumbull  supposed,  vol.  i.  p.  240. 
33 


2oS  demise  of  eatox. 

[Co>->\ 

America,  he  and  "  many  eminent  Londoners "  accompany  him. 
Having  reached  Boston  1637,  they  moved  the  next  year  to  New 
Haven  Colony.  In  the  various  operations  of  settling  this  territory, 
accompanied  with  unusual  anxiety,  peril  and  hardship,  Mr.  Eaton 
was  the  principal  leader.  By  the  grateful  settlers,  he  was  chosen 
their  Governor,  and  was  so  continued  till  his  decease.  Thus  enter- 
ed on  a  new  theatre  of  action,  he  was  influenced  by  the  principles 
of  heavenly  wisdom,  always  the  surest  of  usefulness  and  heart-felt 
happiness.  Though  comely  in  person  and  dignified  in  manners, 
he  sought  the  inner  qualifications,  on  which  the  light  of  Omnis- 
cience rested  amid  all  the  shadows  of  earth.  In  his  private 
deportment,  his  example  was  eminently  worthy  of  imitation. 
Though  his  family  was  large,  he,  being  careful  of  secret  communion 
with  God,  was  exact  to  lead  them  in  the  morning  and  evening 
duties  of  reading  the  Scriptures  and  devotional  services.  On  the 
Sabbath  and  other  days  of  public  worship,  he  spent  an  hour  or  two 
with  the  members  of  his  household  in  impressing  on  them  the  obli- 
gations of  faith  and  conduct,  and  also  in  praise  and  prayer.  The 
faithfulness,  thus  manifest,  was  no  less  noticeable  in  his  official 
relations.  The  wisdom,  equity  and  beneficence  of  his  administra- 
tion "  were  viewed  with  universal  admiration."  Thus  favored  in 
his  wishes  and  exertions,  his  crown  was  not  without  thorns.  Among 
the  trials  for  his  spiritual  purification,  was  the  death  of  his  loved 
son,  Samuel,  who  bid  fair  to  sustain  the  well-earned  reputation  of  his 
father.  This  occurred  a  few  years  before  his  own  departure,  and 
contributed  to  weaken  the  ties  which  held  him  to  earth. 

About  to  close  his  earthly  pilgrimage,  he  conducted  worship  in 
the  evening,  and  charged  the  family  to  treat  his  wife,  who  was 
dangerously  sick,  with  the  greatest  attention,  but  who  *  recovered 
and  went  back  to  England,  with  his  daughter  Hannah ;  he  took 
another  chamber  after  bidding  her  good  night,  and  there  died 
before  morning.  It  was  supposed  that  a  cancerous  humor,  which 
had  long  troubled  him,  was  the  occasion  of  so  sudden  a  decease. 
The  Colony  bore  the  charges  of  his  funeral  and  had  a  respectable 
monument  erected  over  his  remains.  On  this  memento  the  subse- 
quent lines  were  inscribed : 

"  Eaton,  so  meek,  so  "wise,  so  fam'd,  so  just, 
The  Phoenix  of  our  world  here  hides  his  dust, 
His  name  forget,  New  England  never  must." 

February.  Humphrey  Xorton,  of  the  Friends,f  being  on  his 
way  to  the  Dutch,  is  apprehended  at  Southold,  sent  and  imprisoned 
at  Xew  Haven.  He  was  confined  twenty  days.  In  March,  he 
was  tried,  in  presence  of  Davenport,   and  sentenced  to   receive 


*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  136-41  of  1820  Ed.     Hubbard's  X.  E.  p.  329, 
t  Whiting's  Defence,  p.  18. 


30, 


CHUBGB    MlTli  l  l.Tll>. 
1658.] 

thirty-six  stripes,  and  be  branded  on  one  of  bis  bandi  with  the 
letter  II,  for  heresy,  to  pay  charges  and  be  excluded  from  the 
jurisdiction. 

March.  Soon  after  this,  William  Brend,  Mary  Weatherhead  and 
Mary  Dyer,  visited  the  same  Colony,*  but  were  forced  to  leave 
immediately.  When  the  last  was  put  on  a  horse,  the  said,  "  Woe 
be  unto  you,  for  Humphrey  Norton's  Bake  I"  Of  the  other  female, 
Bishop  remarks,  she  "  finished  her  work  in  the  sea." 

11.  The  Legislature  pass  the  ensuing  orders :  That  no  Church 
shall  be  formed  without  the  consent  of  the  General  Court,  and  the 
approval  of  the  adjacent  Churches.  That  there  shall  be  no  meet- 
ings for  religious  worship,  except  what  are  allowed  by  "  the  settled 
and  approved  minister  of  the  place,"  or  of  the  said  Court  and 
Churches,  provided  that  this  does  "  not  hinder  any  private  meetings 
of  godly  persons  to  attend  any  duties  that  Christianity  or  religion 
call  for,  as  fasts  or  conference,  nor  take  place  vpon  such  as  are 
hindered  by  any  just  impediments  on  the  Sabbath  day,  from  the 
publicke  assemblies,  by  weather  or  water  and  the  like."  That  the 
Elders  be  invited  to  attend  the  next  session  of  the  Court,  "  to  advise 
and  consider  what  way  may  bee  most  requisite  to  issue  the  differ- 
ences that  are  amongst  vs."  That  "  in  refference  to  the  sad  differ- 
ences y*  are  broken  out  in  the  seuerall  Churches  in  this  Collony, 
and  in  spetiall  betwixt  the  Church  at  Hartford  and  the  withdraw- 
ers,"  these  two  parties  cease  from  the  prosecution  of  their  purposes, 
so  that  the  former  proceed  no  further  in  discipline  of  the  latter, 
and  these  pause  in  their  endeavor  to  unite  with  the  Church  at 
Weathersfield,  until  the  matters  of  controversy  be  brought  to  an 
issue  as  the  Court  shall  decide.  On  the  24th,  the  Court  desire  Mr. 
Stone  and  the  Hartford  Church  to  meet  with  the  withdrawn  mem- 
bers, to  compromise  their  dissensions,  and  if  they  cannot  do  this, 
that  letters  be  sent  to  the  Elders  here,  in  New  Haven  and  the  Bay, 
for  advice  as  to  the  course  which  the  Court  should  pursue  in  the 
premises. 

On  the  25th,  the  following  is  presented  to  the  Legislature  by 
Mr.  Stone.f  "  My  humble  request  is,  that  the  questions  here  pre- 
sented may  be  syllogistically  reasoned  before  this  honoured  Court. 
I  hope  that  some  of  our  withdrawn  Brethren,  or  some  other  whom 
they  shal  provide,  wil  reason  with  me,  face  to  face :  Question  1. 
The  former  Council  at  Hartford,  June,  '56,  is  vtterly  cancild  and 
of  no  force.  2.  There  is  no  violation  of  the  last  agreement,  (made 
when  the  Reverend  Elders  of  Massachusetts  were  here,)  either  by 
the  Church  of  Christ  at  Hartford  or  their  Teacher.  3.  The  with- 
drawen  brethren  haue  offered  great  violence  to  ye  formentioneel 
agreement.  4.  The  withdrawen  brethren  are  members  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  at  Hartford.     5.  Their  withdrawing   from  the 

*  Bishop,  p.  205.     Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  196.  .  f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  320. 


£60  QUAKER  ENACTMENTS. 

[Conn. 

Church  is  a  sin  exceding  scandalous  and  dreadful,  and  of  its  owne 
nature  destructive  to  this  and  other  Churches.  6.  The  controversy 
between  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Hartford  and  the  withdrawen  per- 
sons is  not  in  the  hands  of  the  Churches  to  be  determined  by  them." 

March  19.  The  wife  of  Joseph  Garlick,  of  Eastham,  L.  I.,  is 
ordered  for  Connecticut,  so  that  she  may  be  tried  on  the  charge  of 
witchcraft. 

April  30.  From  a  letter  of  the  Missionary  Corporation  to  the 
Commissioners,  we  have  the  passage.*  "  As  for  Mr.  Pierson,  we 
concur  with  you  concerning  his  fitness  and  ability  for  the  Indians' 
spiritual  good ;  and  for  the  catechisms  mentioned  in  your  letter  of 
his  composing  for  their  use  and  instruction,  which  we  should  have 
taken  care  to  have  printed,  according  to  your  desire,  and  should 
have  sent  over  the  number  mentioned  in  your  letter,  but  we  fear  it 
is  miscarried,  being  sent,  as  we  understand,  in  Mr.  Garrett's  ship, 
which  is  yet  missing  ;  and,  therefore,  we  entreat  you  send  it  over 
by  the  first  opportunity."  A  reply  is  prepared,  September  16,  as 
follows  :  u  Mr.  Pierson,  we  hear,  is  preparing  his  Catechism  for 
the  press,  and  is  expected  here  (Boston)  every  day.  We  hope  to 
send  it  you  by  the  next,  with  his  year's  acts." 

May  16.  New  Haven  Legislature  take  the  subsequent  order 
relative  to  the  Quakers.f  "  Whereas  there  is  a  cursed  Sect  of 
Hereticks  lately  risen  up  in  the  world,  which  are  commonly  called 
Quakers,  who  take  upon  them  that  they  are  immediately  sent  of 
God,  and  infallibly  assisted  by  the  Spirit,  who  yet  speak  and  write 
blasphemous  opinions,  despise  government  and  the  order  of  God, 
in  Church  and  Commonwealth,  speaking  evil  of  dignities,  reproach- 
ing and  reviling  magistrates  and  ministers,  seeking  to  turn  the 
people  from  the  faith  and  to  gain  proselytes  to  their  pernicious 
ways  :  this  Court  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  premises 
and  to  prevent  (as  much  as  in  them  lies)  the  like  mischief  as  by 
their  means,  is  wrought  in  our  native  Country,  do  hereby  order 
and  declare "  that  whoever  wittingly  introduces  Quakers  into 
New  Haven  Colony  shall  pay  £50,  be  imprisoned,  and  so  remain 
till  he  give  security,  and  also  bonds  to  carry  them  back  to  the 
place  whence  he  brought  them.  If  any  Quakers  come  on  busi- 
ness into  the  Colony,  they  must  depart  with  quick  dispatch ;  if 
they  endeavor  to  spread  their  doctrines,  they  shall  be  committed  to 
prison,  severely  whipped,  kept  to  work,  and  not  suffered  to  converse 
with  others  while  confined  till  sent  away  at  their  own  charge.  If 
they  come  the  second  time,  every  male  of  them  shall  be  branded 
on  the  hand  with  the  letter  H,  be  imprisoned,  kept  to  work,  till  he 
can  be  sent  away  at  his  own  expense  ;  for  the  third  offence,  he 
shall  be  branded  on  the  other  hand,  imprisoned  and  required  to 
work.     JEvery  female  of  them,  for  the  second  offence,  shall  be 

*  Com'rs  MS.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  389,  90-2.        f  MS.  N.  H.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


MANNI.K   OF   PREACHING.  Wl 

1658.] 

leverely  whipped,  imprisoned,  and  worked  till  sent  away  at  her 
own  charge  ;  and  shall  be  bo  treated  for  the  third  offence.  For  the 
fourth  offence,  male  and  female  shall  have  their  tongues  bored 
through  with  a  hot  iron  ;  be  Imprisoned  and  work  till  sent  away  at 
their  own  charge.  All  Quakers  rising  up  in  the  Colony  shall  be 
dealt  with  as  foreign  Quakers. 

Every  person  who  shall  bring  Quaker  hooks,  papers  or  writings 
into  the  Colony,  shall  pay  £5  tor  each  of  them,  and  whoever 
deposes  or  conceals  them,  shall  pay  for  each  £5. 

Whoever  entertains  a  Quaker  shall  pay  20/.,  defends  them  or 
their  books,  etc.,  shall  be  fined,  for  the  first  time,  40/.  ;  the  second, 
£4  ;  and,  the  third  time,  be  imprisoned,  till  banished.  Whoever 
reviles  magistrates  or  ministers,  as  Quakers  do,  shall  forfeit  £5  or 
be  severely  whipped.  On  May  30  of  1660,  the  same  Colony  order, 
that,  at  the  discretion  of  magistrates,  who  have  persons  of  this 
denomination  arraigned  before  them,  they  may  fine  each  of  them 
for  the  first  violation  of  the  law,  £5,  and  for  the  second  violation, 
£10.  Thus  the  legal  severity  against  offending  Quakers  is  greatly 
diminished. 

May  20.  The  General  Court  of  Connecticut  assemble.*  They 
commend  "  the  pious  care  of  Fairfield  in  procuring  help  for  Mr. 
Joanes  by  his  own  consent,"  and  desire  that  a  "  comfortable  main- 
tenance "  may  be  continued  to  him  in  his  advanced  years,  whether 
sick  or  well. 

This  clergyman,!  having  left  the  national  church  to  enjoy  the 
reformation  of  Puritanism,  came  to  the  Bay  in  1635,  was  settled 
at  Concord,  whence  he  removed  about  1639  to  Fairfield.  Owing 
to  the  loss  of  this  town's  records,  neither  the  date  of  his  installa- 
tion nor  of  his  death  has  been  ascertained.  He  had  a  son  John, 
who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  1643,  and  to  whom  Farmer 
applied  the  passage,  immediately  succeeding  his  name  in  Johnson's 
Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  165  :  "  Another  of  the  first  fruits 
of  this  College  is  employed  in  these  Western  parts  in  Mevis,  one 
of  the  Somer  Islands."  From  the  tone  of  the  Legislature's  order, 
that  he  be  kindly  cared  for,  he  had  labored  faithfully  in  the 
vineyard  of  his  Lord. 

August  18.  A  large  number  of  the  Church  at  Weathersfield, 
under  Mr.  Russell,  being  dissatisfied  with  him,  petition  the  Legis- 
lature that  they  may  be  released  from  their  contract  with  him  and 
procure  another  minister.  The  body,  so  addressed,  answer,  that 
they  perceive'  no  sufficient  cause  for  such  a  separation.  They 
advise  that  "  Mr.  Russell  should  speak  more  playnly  for  ye  future, 
to  ye  capacity  of  the  hearers,  espetially  in  way  of  testimony  ;  and 
yl  the  Petitioners  should  carefully  avoid  all  vnnecessary  strayneing 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  This  work,  vol.  i.  p.  238.     Trumbull,  vol.  i. 

p.  522. 


262  OCCASIONS   OF  FASTING. 

[Conn. 

of  words  or  expressions  fyl  are  in  yeir  nature  dubious)  to  such  a 
perticuler  sense  as  may  occasion  trouble."  They  give  leave  to  the 
Church  of  Hartford  and  the  withdrawers  from  it,  to  debate  the 
questions  between  themselves.  But  as  this  is  not  accepted,  nor 
the  proposal  that  each  party  choose  three  Elders  as  umpires,  the 
Court  appoint  Messrs.  Cobbet,  Mitchel,  Danforth,  and,  for  a 
reserve,  Browne,  and  Mr.  Street  as  a  reserve  for  the  Withdrawers, 
who  select  Messrs.  Davenport,  Norton  and  Fitch.  This  conformed 
with  the  mutual  agreement,  that  the  Court  should  choose  referees 
for  the  party,  which  declined  to  select  them.  The  persons  thus 
appointed,  are  invited  to  meet  in  Hartford,  17th  of  September. 
The  parties  are  requested  to  have  all  their  questions  clearly  and 
fully  prepared  for  the  Council,  but,  as  Trumbull  states,  this 
designated  body  did  not  convene,  because  the  Church  declined  to 
send  for  them. 

23.  The  Court  appoint  the  8th  of  September,  "  for  solemne 
humiliation  to  implore  the  favour  of  God  towards  his  people,  in 
regard  of  the  intemperate  season,  thin  harvest,  sore  visitation  by 
sickness  in  several  Plantations,  and  the  sad  prolonged  differences 
yl  yet  remaine  vnreconciled  in  Churches  and  Plantations  ;  that  God 
would  succeed  such  meanes  as  are  appoynted  to  be  attended  for 
the  healing  of  the  foresayd  differences." 

October  7.  The  Connecticut  Legislature  pass  the  following 
order  :  "  This  Court  haveing  considered  the  former  order  about 
Quakers  and  such  like  Heretiques,  doe  now  see  cause  to  leaue  it 
vnto  ye  discretion  of  the  Magistrates  or  Assistants,  within  this 
Jurisdiction,  where  any  such  persons  shalbe  found  fomenting  their 
wicked  tenets  and  shalbe  legally  convicted  to  be  disturbeing  to  ye 
publique  peace,  to  punish  the  sayd  Heretiques,  by  fine  or  banish- 
ment or  corporeal  punishment,  as  they  shall  iudge  meete.  And 
the  same  to  be  inflicted  vppon  any  person  or  persons,  that  shalbe 
instrumental  to  bring  any  such  persons,  viz.,  Heretiques,  by  sea  or 
land,  into  any  Plantation  of  this  Collony,  provided  the  fine  for  a 
particular  default  exceed  not  the  sum  of  ten  pounds."  It  will  be 
perceived,  that  this  law,  which  leaves  the  banishment  of  Quakers 
to  the  Assistants,  so  that  they  might  decide  whether  it  should  be 
on  the  penalty  of  death  or  not,  is  less  explicit  than  that  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Winthrop  was  not  disposed  to  go  the  length  of  the  Bay 
Authorities,  in  this  direction,  as  the  major  part  of  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Union  recommended. 

1659.  March  9.  Having  considered  the  request  of  Lt.  Hol- 
lister  for  a  list  of  charges,  on  which  he  had  been  cut  off  from  the 
Weathersfield  Church,*  the  Court  "  iudgeth  it  agreeable  to  ye 
general  practice  of  the  churches  amongst  vs  to  deliver  vnto  ye  de- 
linquent the  particulars  of  his  offence  in  writeing,  (if  he  desire  it,) 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


TR0UBLB8  OX   HABTFOBD   CHURCH. 
16S9.] 

before  they  proceed  to  excommunication,  or  else  they,  by  the 
Elders,  seasonabl)  after  the  sentence,  doe  give  in  the  charges  for  \' 
delinquent's  benefit  and  conviction."  They,  therefore,  conclude 
that  the  Weathersfield  Church  should  have  dour  so,  but  as  they 
have  not,  they  ought  to  furnish  Hoilister  with  the  number  and 
nature  of  the  accusations  against  him,  and  require  them  to  conform 
as  the  premises  dictate.  The  Court  also  propose,  at  the  desire  of 
Hoilister  and  others,  to  the  Church,  that  they  would  consent,  to  lay 
their  difficulties  before  some  Council. 

Besides  previous  qualifications  for  freemanship  in  the  Colony, 
it  is  required,  as  an  addition,  that  none  shall  have  it  conferred  on 
them  till  they  are  21  years  old,  and  possess  £30  of  personal 
estate,  or  have  borne  office  in  the  Commonwealth. 

Perceiving  that  the  troubles  between  Hartford  Church  and  the 
withdrawers  are  not  settled,  the  Court  of  Connecticut  order  that  a 
Council  convene,  ("  leaueing  each  party  to  yre  liberty,  whether 
they  will  send  or  noe,)  to  be  helpful  in  issueing  the  questions  in 
controllers}*  ;  that  those  churches  (whose  Elders  were  requested  to 
come  hither)  should  be  desired  by  letters  from  ye  Secretary,  in  the 
name  of  the  Court,  to  send  vs  one  from  each  church  of  their  ablest 
instruments,  to  be  present  at  Hartford,  by  the  third  of  June  next, 
to  assist  in  heareing  and  issueing  these  differences.  It  is  alsoe 
ordered,  that  the  questions  in  controversy  shalbe  publiquely  dis- 
puted in  the  presence  of  the  Council,  according  to  former  order. 
And  y*  each  party,  both  ye  church  at  Hartford  and  yc  withdrawers, 
shal  ioyntly  concur  in  bearing  the  charges  of  the  former  Council, 
and  in  prepareing  and  provideing  for  this  yl  is  now  to  be  called." 

April  18.  An  agreement  is  made  by  a  portion  of  Mr.  RusselFs 
people  to  move  from  Weathersfield  and  settle  at  Woronoke,  after- 
wards liadley.* 

May  25.  The  Legislature  of  New  Haven  grant  £40  a  year  for 
a  grammar  school,  and  £8  more  for  books  of  Mr.  Blinman,  as 
approved  by  Messrs.  Davenport  and  Pierson.  They  leave  the 
place  and  instructors  of  the  school  to  the  decision  of  a  committee. 

June  3.  A  Council  of  Elders  and  Messengers  from  churches  of 
Boston,  Cambridge,  Charlestown,  Ipswich,  Dedham,  and  Sudbury, 
convene  at  Hartford. f  Though  they  did  not  i)ring  about  a  recon- 
ciliation of  the  parties,  yet,  through  abundant  exertions,  they  left 
the  church  and  town  in  a  much  less  divided  condition  than  it  had 
been  for  years.  k 

"  Wednesday,  the  29th  of  this  instant,  is  appointed  to  be  kept  a 
solemn  Humiliation,:}:  partly  for  England  and  partly  for  our  owne 
selues,  in  regard  of  -the  vnsettlednes  of  their  and  our  peace,  partly 
for  the  season,  yt  God  would  prevent  euills  y*  may  be  feared,  and 
respecting  ye  Council,  that  God  would  bless  their  labours  to  effect 
a  good  issue,  if  they  come  vp." 

*  Holland,  vol.  i.  p.  54.     f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  321.     J  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


264  RESULT   OF  THE   COUNCIL. 

[Conn. 

The  Court,  encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  Council  at  Hart- 
ford, require  that  its  Elders  and  Messengers,  and  also  those  of  Dor- 
chester and  Watertown  Churches,  be  invited  to  assemble  at  Hart- 
ford on  the  19th  of  August.  "  Seauen  whereof  the  withdrawers 
consented  to  ;  the  Court  and  Church  assenting  to  and  desiringe 
all  or  as  many  as  the  Lord  shall  incline  or  enable  to  attend  the 
worke  ;  vnto  whose  decisiue  power,  the  withdrawen  partie  is 
required,  the  Church  at  Hartford  freely  engaging  to  submit  accord- 
ing to  ye  order  of  ye  Gosple."  The  Court  order  "  that  the  general 
heads  of  the  charges  against  the  withdrawers  shall  be  sent  to  them, 
and  that  they  appear"  before  them  in  October,  and  answer  accord- 
ingly. Hull  relates  in  his  diary,  that  the  parties  appeared  before 
the  same  Council,  in  Boston,  September  26,  and  that  they  were 
reconciled  and  manifested  it  before  their  departure.  The  result  of 
the  Council  gives  the  grievances  of  the  withdrawers  :  "  1.  Mr. 
Stone's  non-administration  of  the  Sacrament ;  2.  Concerning  his 
sending  for  a  dismission ;  o.  His  propositions  ;  4.  Rigid  handling 
of  divers  brethren  ;  5.  Mr.  Stone's  nullifying  the  instrument  of 
pacification ;  6.  The  Church's  separating  carriages."  It  then  pre- 
sents "  the  grievances  of  Mr.  Stone  and  the  brethren  of  the  Church 
with  him.  1.  The  withdrawers  offer  violence  to  the  pacifica- 
tion ;  2,  3.  Their  separating  and  rending  from  the  Church  in  a 
schismatical  way.  Their  sin  therein  is  exceedingly  scandalous  ;  4. 
The  withdrawers  are  still  members  of  the  Church  at  Hartford  ;  5. 
They  transgress  in  publishing  their  papers  ;  and  6.  Their  joining 
another  church."  Cotton  Mather  and  others  have  remarked,  that 
it  was  difficult  to  ascertain  the  particular  points  at  issue  in  this  con- 
troversy. It  is,  however,  conceded,  that  the  trouble  originated  in 
questions  relative  to  "  qualifications  for  baptism,  church  member- 
ship, and  the  rights  of  the  brotherhood."  Such  schism  was 
remarkable  in  this  period  for  its  nature  and  continuance.  Its  in- 
jurious influence  spread  through  the  Colony.  It  was  deplored  by 
most  of  the  people  in  the  Union.  It  was  still  more  remarkable  as 
having  commenced  in  one  of  the  most  exemplary  churches.  Ex- 
traordinary measures  were  employed  to  have  it  arrested  and 
terminated.  "  Behold  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth." 
The  repeated  journeys  and  pains,  which  ministers  and  brethren  of 
Massachusetts  took  to  close  the  dissensions,  show  forth  their  deep 
Christian  principles,  and  their  strong  desire  for  the  prosperity  of 
New  England.  Referring  to  the  last  Council  on  this  controversy, 
Hubbard  remarks  :  "  They  made  a  reconciliation  between  them, 
and  those  that  irregularly  departed  away,  being  convinced  of  their 
mistake,  freely  acknowledged  it,  which  made  the  closure  of  that 
breach  more  cordial  and  real." 

July  12.  Shortly  after  this  date,  Richard  Blinman  leaves  New 
England.     Three  months  before,*  he  gave  a  piece  of  land  to  Wil- 

*  Caulkins's  New  London,  p.  115-7. 


DEATH  OP  MR.  r.i.iN man.  265 

1000.] 

Ham  Thomson,  a  missionary  among  Indians.  In  March  of  1658, 
beseem8to  have  moved  recently  from  New  London  to  New  Haven. 
He  left  his  eldest  Bon,  Jeremiah,  in  this  country.    He  bad  a  second 

ion,  Ezekiel.      Hi>  wife,  Mary,  ami  family,  accompanied  him.     On 

his  way,  he  wrote  at  Newfoundland,  August  2$,  to  John  Daven- 
port, who  said  to  John  Winthrop,  1  understand  by  his  letter  that 
"  his  ministry  is  acceptable  to  all  the  people  there,  except  some 
Quakers,"  and  that  he  is  "  much  desired  and  flocked  unto  ;  has 
made  choice  of  a  ship  for  Barnstaple,  to  his  content,  the  master 
being  godly."  He  and  his  wile,  who  had  faithfully  been  a  support 
to  him  in  his  various  trials  here  and  in  England,  resided  in  Bristol 
1671,  and  his  abode  was  there  eight  years  afterwards.  The  Mag- 
nalia  *  remarks  of  him :  "  Living  to  a  good  old  age,  he  who, 
wherever  he  came,  did  set  himself  to  do  good,  concluded  his  life 
at  the  city  of  Bristol,  where  one  of  the  last  things  he  did  was  to 
defend  in  print  the  cause  of  infant  baptism." 

September  7.  The  Governor  of  New  Haven  had  distributed,*  at 
the  request  of  the  Commissioners,  £5  of  the  missionary  funds, 
among  Christian  Indians. 

October  6.  In  view  of  the  protracted  differences  between  Mr. 
Russell  and  some  members  of  his  Church  at  Weathersfield,  partic- 
ularly Lt.  Hollister,  the  Court  requestf  the  churches  at  Hartford 
and  Windsor  to  send  two  or  three  members  apiece  to  examine  the 
case  and  endeavor  to  heal  the  breach.  The  time  of  the  messen- 
gers' session  at  Weathersfield  is  the  first  Tuesday  of  November. 
If  their  attendance  on  the  subject  should  be  ineffectual,  they  were 
to  inform  the  Legislature. 

November  9.  "  In  consideration  of  God's  goodness  to  this 
Collony,  in  ye  fruitful  and  seasonable  haruest,  the  general  restora- 
tion of  health  to  ye  Plantations,  and  the  success  of  ye  indeauours 
of  ye  Reuerend  Elders  of  ye  last  Councill,  for  ye  composeing  the 
sad  differences  at  Hartford,"  a  public  thanksgiving  is  appointed,  in 
three  weeks,  throughout  the  Colony. 

A  Committee  are  appointed  to  visit  Middletown,  inquire  into 
the  troubles  there,  and  use  means  to  compose  them,  but,  if  without 
effect,  to  report  at  the  next  session  of  the  Court. 

David,  the  Jew,  for  entering  houses  and  trading  with  children 
for  provisions,  when  their  parents  were  absent,  is  fined  20/. 

1660.  May  17.  The  Connecticut  Legislature  order,  that  no 
person,  who  has  a  husband  or  wife  in  foreign  parts,  shall  reside  in 
their  jurisdiction  above  two  years,  on  penalty  of  40/.  a  month  ;  and 
that,  if  any  such  have  been  in  it  more  than  three  years  already, 
they  shall  continue  here  no  longer  than  one  year,  on  the  like 
penalty,  except  with  leave  of  the  Governor. 

They  order,  "  yl  none  shalbe  receaued  as  inhabitant  into  any 

*  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  406.  f  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  p.  342,  3. 

34 


266  HOPKINS'S  BENEFICENCE. 

[Conn. 

Towne  in  the  Collony,  but  such  as  are  knowne  to  be  of  an  honest 
conversation,  and  accepted  by  a  maior  part  of  the  Towne." 

30.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  Colony  desire  *  Messrs. 
Davenport  and  Pierson  to  visit  Stamford  and  counsel  Rev.  Mr. 
Bishop  and  his  people  there.  If  Mr.  Davenport  is  unable  to 
attend,  he  may  nominate  one  in  his  stead. 

June  4.  John  Davenport  having  resigned,  on  the  30th  ult.,  the 
will,  etc.,  of  Governor  Hopkins  to  the  General  Court  of  New 
Haven,  offers  several  requests :  f  "  That  the  £40  per  annum  for- 
merly agreed  upon,  to  be  paid  by  the  several  Plantations,  for  a 
common  Grammar  school,  be  now  settled  in  one  of  the  Plantations, 
which  they  shall  judge  fittest,  and  that  a  schoolmaster  may 
forthwith  be  provided  to  teach  the  three  languages,  Latin,  Greek 
and  Hebrew,  so  far  as  shall  be  necessary  to  prepare  them  for  the 
College.  That  certain  orders  be  speedily  made  for  the  school,  and 
when  the  College  shall  proceed,  for  it  also  ;  that  the  education  of 
youth  may  be  carried  on  suitably  to  Christ's  ends,  by  the  counsel 
of  the  teaching  Elders  in  this  Colony,  and  that  what  they  shall 
conclude  with  consent,  being  approved  by  the  honored  Magistrates, 
be  ratified  by  the  General  Court."  The  interest  bequeathed  by 
Hopkins  and  lying  in  New  England,  for  the  cause  of  education, 
was  estimated  at  about  £1,000  sterling. 

July  25.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  Colony  inform  the 
town  of  the  same  name,  that  the  Grammar  school  is  to  be  located 
in  the  last  place ;  that  Mr.  Peck,  now  at  Guildford,  is  to  be  the 
Instructor,  beginning  October  next,  "  when  his  half  year  expires 
there,"  and  teach  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and  fit  his  pupils  for 
College,  for  £50  a  year,  a  house,  school-house,  benefit  of  scholars 
not  of  the  Colony,  and  commonage.* 

August  11.  John  Davenport  writes  to  John  Winthrop:  "Sir,  I 
mistook  in  my  letter,§  when  I  said  Col.  Whalley  was  one  of  the 
gentlemen,  etc.  It  is  Commissary  General  Whalley,  sister  Hooke's 
brother,  and  his  son-in-law  who  is  with  him,  is  Col.  Goffe.  Both 
godly  men  and  escaped  pursuit  in  England  narrowly." 

22.  Roger  Newton,  having  moved  from  Farmington,  is  in- 
stalled ||  at  Milford.  Hands  are  imposed  on  him  by  Zechariah 
Whitman,  Ruling  Elder,  Deacon  John  Astwood  and  Robert  Treat, 
who  were  chosen  by  the  Church  to  perform  the  duty. 

This  year,  Mr.  Russell  moved  from  Weathersfield,  with  warm 
friends,  belonging  to  this  town  and  Hartford,  and  settled  at  Had- 
ley.H  The  Legislature  of  Connecticut,  at  their  session  of  March 
14,  1661,  say,  that  as  their  body  of  former  date  had  fully  con- 
sented with  the  adjacent  Churches  to  the  gathering  of  the  Weath- 
ersfield Church ;  as  some  of  its  members  had  gone  away  without 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Trumbull,  Appendix,  vol.  i.  p.  566-71. 

X  N.  Haven  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  $  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  vol.  x.  p.  39. 

||  Lambert's  N.  Haven,  p.  102.       II  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  324. 


IONISTKB  ORDAINED   BY   i.avmi.x.  :JC,7 

1000.] 

any  Qotice  to  the  Genera]  Court,  or  any  permission  from  them  or 
from  any  churches  of  the  jurisdiction,  *o  thai  the  Weaihersfield 
(Munch  is  diminished  and  individuals  have  called  in  question  its 
regular  standing,  though  no  one  has  charged  it  with  irregularity  ; 
as  the  Legislature  had  ascertained  "the  reality  and  truth  of"  its 
"continuance  in  the  same  membership,  church  estate  and  .station 
as  formerly," — the  "Court  doth  therefore  declare,  that  the  said 
Church  is  the  true  and  undoubted  Church  of  Weathersfield,  and 
so  to  be  accounted  and  esteemed,  for  any  thing  doth  yet  appear." 
They  at  the  same  time  give  notice  that,  if  charges  to  the  contrary 
of  such  a  conclusion,  can  be  brought  forward  before  the  14th  of 
May  following,  they  Mill  attend  to  them  and  make  up  their  judg- 
ment accordingly. 

September  10.  Mr.  James,  of  Easthampton,  is  engaged  by  the 
Missionary  Society,  to  instruct  the  Indians  on  Long  Island.*  He 
was  settled  in  that  town  f  in  1650.  He  is  supposed  to  be  the  son 
of  the  Charlestown  James,  who  had  gone  to  England,  and  is  re- 
ferred to  by  Johnson.^: 

"  Thy  son,  youn<r  student,  may  such  blessing  be, 
Thy  loss  repair." 

Mr.  Sampson  is  allowed  £10  for  teaching  Indians  about  New 
London  and  Pequod  Country.  Mr.  Pierson,  of  Branford,  is  paid 
£20  salary  for  similar  labors.  Mention  is  made  of  payment,  last 
year,  to  Mr.  Green  "  for  printing  Mr.  Pierson's  Catechism  and  the 
Psalms." 

Six  chiefs  are  granted  a  coat  apiece,  by  the  Commissioners,  for 
their  encouragement,  in  superintending  and  persuading  the  Pequods 
"  to  attend  to  such  means,  as  shall  be  used  to  gain  them  to  the 
knowledge  of  God." 

This  year,  Mr.  Fitch  and  the  most  of  his  Church  settle  at  Norwich. § 
He  is  succeeded  at  Saybrook  by  Thomas  Buckingham.  At  the 
ordination  of  the  latter  there  is  a  Council  from  Churches,  but  the 
imposition  of  hands  is  performed  by  lay-brethren,  as  it  had  been 
in  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Fitch.  The  Council  consider  this  as 
irregular,  but  the  brethren  are  so  tenacious  of  what  they  consider 
their  right,  they  are  allowed  in  its  exercise.  Zechariah  Brigden, 
a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1657,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  same 
Institution,  begins  to  preach  at  Stonington. 

October  4.  The  Connecticut  Legislature  order,  that,  owing,  to 
the  unsuitable  disposition,  manifested  at  Middletown,  they  continue 
to  hear  Mr.  Stow  preach  and  allow  him  his  salary,  until  they  can 
provide  for  themselves  "  another  able,  orthodox  and  pious  minister, 
as  soon  as  they  can,"  with  the  advice  of  Messrs.  Warham,  Stone, 
Whiting,  Willis  and  Winthrop.     When  this  is  done,  Mr.   Stow 

*  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  431,  2,  5.  t  Wood's  Hist.  Sketch,  p.  32-42. 

X  "Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  54.         §  Miss  Caulking'  of  Norwich,  p.  85. 


268  PASTORAL  RELATION  DISSOLVED. 

[Conn. 

"  is  to  lay  downe  his  preaching  there,"  and  his  parish  to  give  him 
"  Testimoniall  Letters,  such  as  the  Gentlemen  forenduced  iudge 
fit."  Under  the  next  March  14,  the  Court  decide  that,  having 
reconsidered  the  statements  of  both  sides  in  Middletown,  the  pas- 
toral relation  between  the  people  there  and  Mr.  Stow  is  dissolved, 
on  the  terms  as  already  expressed. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

MASSACHUSETTS.     Quakers.  —  Baptists.  —  Ezekiel  Rogers.  —  Charter  in  Peril. 

—  Regal  Encouragement.  —  Kalph  Smith.  —  Regicides.  —  Quakers.  —  Exe- 
cution of  Leddra.  —  Eliot's  Commonwealth.  —  Charges  against  New  Eng- 
land. —  John  Eliot.  —  Means  for  Union.  —  Agents.  —  Thomas  Gilbert.  — 
Proclamation  of  the  King.  — French  Protestants.  —  Appeal  Granted  to  Qua- 
kers. —  Missionary  Charter.  —  Denominations.  —  Publications.  —  Synod.  — 
Instructions.  —  Fast.  —  Half-way  Covenant.  —  Consociation.  —  Restrictions 
of  the  King.  — Protestant  for  Puritan.  —  General  Governor.  —  Ejected  min- 
isters. —  Indian  Missions.  —  Result  of  Synod.  —  Huguenots.  —  William  Wor- 
cester. —  John  Norton.  —  Judicial  against  Ecclesiastical.  —  Political  Peril.  — 
John  Owen.  —  Indian  Bible.  —  Efforts  of  Enemies.  —  Anti-Synodalia.  Plym- 
outh. Illicit  Marriage.  —  Quakers.  —  Kennebeck.  —  Excommunication.  — 
Ministry.  —  Sabbath.  —  Treaty.  —  Earthquake.  —  Plantations  Assisted.  — 
Timothy  Thornton.  —  Parochial.  —  Baptists.    Maine.    Ministry.  —  Baptism. 

—  Opposition.  —  Quakers.  —  Church  Troubles.  —  Gookin's  Letter.  —  Prose- 
cutions. —  Episcopacy.  New  Hampshire.  Commissioners.  —  Dalton. —  Qua- 
kers.—  John  Brock.  Rhode  Island.  Quakers. —  Clark.  —  Controverted 
Lands.  —  Conscience.  —  Education.  —  Charter.  Connecticut.  Regicides.  — 
Address  to  the  King.  —  Lord  Say  and  Seal.  —  Gershom  Bulkley.  —  Charter. 

—  New  Haven  United  with  Connecticut.  —  Freemen.  —  Samuel  Stone. — 
Fast.  — Deaths. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

1661.  January  4.  As  an  indication  of  opinion  and  feeling, 
entertained  by  persons  who  opposed  the  course  of  the  Quakers,  we 
have  the  following.*  Some  Quakers,  "  that  by  law  deserved 
death,"  are  allowed  to  depart  for  England  in  Mr.  Gillam's  ship  ; 
but  they  are  wind-bound  at  Nantasket  till  the  12th,  when  they 
sailed.  "  The  rest  of  the  Quakers  had  liberty,  if  they  pleased  to 
use  it,  to  depart  the  jurisdiction,  though  some  of  them  capitally 
guilty.  The  good  Lord  pardon  this  timidity  of  spirit  to  execute 
the  sentence  of  God's  holy  law  vpon  such  blasphemous  persons." 

20.  Relative  to  the  first  Boston  church.  When  the  children 
of  parents  who  were  of  its  members  owned  the  covenant,  Mr. 
Edward  Hutchinson,f  though  he  had  promised  to  rest  silent  on 
this  occasion,  rose  and  turned  his  back  on  such  confirmation.  He 
desired  a  dismission  from  the  church. 

23.  Ezekiel  Rogers  +  of  Rowley  dies,  after  a  lingering  sickness, 

*  Hull,  MS.  Diary.  f  Ibid.  +  History  of  Rowley. 


270  UPRIGHT  MAGISTRACY. 

[Mass. 

aged  70.  While  in  England  he  studied  medicine.  He  was  greatly- 
afflicted  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  lost  three  wives  and  all 
his  children.  The  very  night  of  his  third  marriage,  July  16,  1651, 
his  dwelling  was  burnt  down,  with  an  excellent  library,  which  he 
had  brought  from  England.  By  falling  from  a  horse,  his  right 
hand  was  disabled.  But  he  bore  these  trials  as  a  part  of  his  dis- 
cipline for  heaven.  His  widow  was  Mary,*  who  had  been  pre- 
viously married  to  Thomas  Barker,  deceased,  of  Kowley.  He  left 
Latin  and  some  English  books  to  Harvard  College  ;  his  house  and 
lands  for  the  support  of  the  ministry  in  his  parish,  except  they 
failed  for  four  years  to  support  two  teaching  Elders,  and  then 
such  property  should  be  assigned  to  the  same  Institution.  After 
1696,  an  exigency  of  this  kind  occurred,  and  the  College  Corpora- 
tion took  possession  of  the  estate  which  was  left,  and,  after  several 
judicial  trials,  their  claim  was  confirmed.  The  property,  so  ac- 
quired, was  disposed  of  in  1735,  and  vested  in  an  estate  at  Wal- 
tham,  which  had  been  recently  sold,  in  1836,  for  $5,000. 

Mr.  Rogers  left  a  long  and  curious  will.  Among  its  passages, 
one  follows  :  "  I  do  protest  against  all  the  evil  fashions  and  devices 
of  this  age,  both  in  apparel  and  that  general  disguisement  of  long, 
ruffian-like  hair,"  a  custom  most  generally  taken  up  at  that  time 
when  the  grave  and  modest  wearing  of  hair  was  a  part  of  the 
reproach  of  Christ,  as  appeared  by  the  term,  '  round  head,'  and 
was  carried  on  with  a  high  hand,  notwithstanding  its  known  offence 
to  so  many  godly  persons. 

We  have  an  extract  from  one  of  his  letters  to  a  brother  clergy- 
man, dated  6th  of  February,  1658 :  "  I  beseech  all  the  Bay-min- 
isters to  call  earnestly  upon  magistrates,  (that  are  often  among 
them,)  tell  them  that  their  godliness  will  be  our  protection.  I  am 
hastening  home,  and  grow  very  asthmatical  and  short-breathed. 
Oh,  the  weight  of  glory  that  is  ready  waiting  for  us,  God's  poor 
exiles !  We  shall  sit  next  to  the  martyrs  and  confessors.  Let  us 
be  zealous  for  our  God  and  Christ.  The  Lord  bring  us  well 
through  our* poor  pilgrimage." 

He  was  eminent  for  his  talents,  attainments,  oratory  and  piety ; 
an  "  ascension  gift,"  indeed,  to  his  people  and  the  Colony. 

February  15.  Charles  II.  addresses  an  epistle  f  to  Endicott. 
"  We  have  made  it  our  care  to  extend  our  thoughts  to  increase  the 
trade  and  advantages  of  our  Colonies  abroad.  Amongst  which  we 
consider  New  England  to  be  one  of  the  chiefest.  Neither  shall 
we  forget  to  make  you  and  all  our  good  people  in  those  parts, 
equal  partakers  of  those  promises  of  liberty  and  moderation  to 
tender  consciences,  expressed  in  our  gracious  declarations ;  which, 

*  Mather's  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  408-13.  MS.  Essex  Prob.  Rec.  Cotton 
Mather  says  that  the  second  wife  of  Rogers  was  the  daughter  of  Rev.  John 
Wilson. 

f  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  333. 


ICABSACHU8BTT8   ACCUSED   IN    001  vii..  -7  1 

mi.] 

though  some  persona  in  this  our  kingdom,  of  desperate,  disloyal 

and  unchristian  principles,  haw  lately  abused  to  the  public  dis- 
turbance and  their  own  destruction,  yet  we  are  confident  our  good 
subjects  in  New  England,  will  make  a  right  use  of  it,  to  the  glory 
of  God,  their  own  spiritual  comfort  ami  edification."  The  tone  of 
this  royal  communication  came  to  our  ancestors  as  a  restorer  of 
their  hopes. 

87.  Fast  is  observed.  Reasons  for  it  are,*  that  "amongst  our- 
selves, this  great  question  about  the  right  and  priviledge  of  the 
children  in  our  churches  and  the  duty  of  each  church  toward  them 
might  be  now  fully  vnderstood  and  embraced ;  "  that  the  address 
to  the  King  may  be  favored  by  him  so  as  to  continue  our  liberties, 
civil  and  ecclesiastical ;  that  our  Rulers  may  be  directed  how  to 
deal  with  Whalley  and  Goffe,  whether  to  seize  and  send  them  back 
to  England,  or  let  them  go  at  large. 

March  1.  After  preaching  the  gospel  from  his  coming  over  with 
Higginson  and  Skelton,  in  Plymouth  and  other  places,  and  sustain- 
ing the  reputation  of  living  usefully  in  accordance  with  his  oppor- 
tunities, Ralph  Smith  finishes  his  earthly  course  in  Boston.  Nath- 
aniel Masterson,  f  his  late  wife's  son,  who  had  been  useful  to  him, 
administered  on  his  estate. 

4.  The  Council  for  Plantations  bring  up  the  concerns  of  New 
England.  They  intend  +  to  consult  with  Capt.  Bredan,  Messrs. 
Godfrey,  GifFord  and  Maverick.  These  four  were  complainants  of 
our  authorities,  especially  those  of  Massachusetts,  who,  as  the 
stronger  and  more  influential  through  their  constituents,  were  made 
responsible  for  acts  which  crossed  the  path  of  royalty  and  episco- 
pacy. Bredan  on  the  11th  made  the  subsequent  declaration.  § 
Holding  the  Massachusetts  laws  in  his  hand,  he  remarks  :  H  What 
Laws  are  not  mentioned  in  this  book,  are  in  the  Magistrates'  breasts 
to  be  understood ;  the  distinction  between  Freemen  and  non-Free- 
men, members  and  non-members,  is  as  famous  as  Cavaliers  and 
Roundheads  was  in  England,  and  will  shortly  become  as  odious  and  I 
hope  abandoned.  The  grievances  of  the  non-Freemen,  who  are  for 
the  King,  are  many.  They  (of  Massachusetts)  apprehended  a  gen- 
tleman not  many  years  ago,  (supposing  him  to  be  the  King,)  resolv- 
ing to  send  him  for  England,  had  not  Sir  Henry  Moody  and  others 
better  known  his  Majesty.  It  is  not  unknown  to  you,  that  they 
look  on  themselves  as  a  free  State,  and  how  they  sat  in  Council  in 
December  last,  a  wreek  before  they  could  agree  in  writing  to  his 
Majesty,  there  being  so  many  against  owning  the  King  or  their 
having  any  dependence  on  England."  Bredan  then  says,  that  he 
understands  the  petition  from  them  owns  allegiance  to  the  King. 
But  he  asks,  why  they  do  not  proclaim  him ;  why  not  act  and  give 

*  Hull's  MS.  Diary.  t  N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.  vol.  x.  p.  219. 

%  MS.  Council  Rec.  §  Com.  for  Plantations,  MS. 


212  EXECUTION   OF  LEDDRA. 

[Mass. 

oaths  in  his  name  instead  of  requiring  oaths  of  fidelity  to  themselves 
and  their  Governor.  He  states,  that  Whalley  and  Goffe  came  to 
New  England  under  the  names  of  Richardson  and  Stephenson ; 
"  I  knew  them  and  tried  to  have  them  apprehended.  I  was  abused. 
Many  called  me  a  malignant."  Some  desire  a  Governor  from  the 
King ;  "  others  fear  it  and  say  they  will  die  before  they  will  loose 
their  liberties  and  privileges."  It  is  a  difficult  matter  to  settle  the 
country  in  due  obedience  to  his  Majesty.  Whalley  and  Goffe  are 
daily  buzzing  in  their  ears  a  change  of  Government  in  England, 
and  also  by  multitudes  of  discontented  persons  of  their  gauge,  send- 
ing thither.  A  speedy  course  must  be  taken  with  them,  "  they 
being  the  key  of  the  Indies,  without  which  Jamaica,  Barbadoes 
and  Carribee  Islands  are  not  able  to  subsist.  There  are  many  ships 
and  persons  bound  for  New  England  suddenly  upon  account  of 
liberty  and  to  secure  estates." 

6.  A  Fast  is  kept  in  Salem.  The  occasions  *  of  it  are,  general 
sickness  of  the  past  winter ;  prevalence  of  seducers ;  renewal  of 
covenant  and  adding  to  it  a  clause,  which  contains  the  words, 
"  therefore  we  do  covenant  by  the  help  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  take 
heed  and  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Quakers." 

9.  At  the  Court  of  Assistants,  Win.  Leddra,  Edward  Wharton, 
John  Chamberlain,  Robert  Harper  and  wife,  the  two  latter  from 
Sandwich,  are  arraigned,  f  Bradstreet  asks  Leddra  if  he  will  leave 
the  country  for  England,  provided  he  can  have  the  liberty.  He 
declines  to  engage.  He  is  sentenced  to  death  for  having  returned 
from  banishment  without  permission.  He  appeals  to  the  Laws  of 
England,  which  is  not  allowed.  The  day  prior  to  his  execution, 
he  addresses  a  letter  to  those  of  his  denomination.  He  expresses 
himself  as  certain  of  having  acted  righteously  and  as  persecuted  for 
a  holy  cause.  He  encourages  his  friends  to  remain  steadfast  in 
their  profession. 

14.  The  time  for  Leddra's  execution  being  come,  and  a  guard  of 
soldiers  ready  to  convey  him  from  prison  to  the  gallows,  he  takes 
leave  of  Wenlock  Cbristopherson  and  other  prisoners.  Brought  to 
the  foot  of  the  ladder,  he  bids  farewell  to  Wharton  and  says,  "  All 
that  will  be  Christ's  disciples,  must  take  up  the  Cross."  Standing 
on  the  ladder,  a  voice  asks,  "  William,  have  you  anything  to  say  to 
the  people  ?  "  On  this,  he  replies,  "  For  the  testimony  of  Jesus, 
and  for  testifying  against  deceivers  and  the  deceived,  I  am 
brought  here  to  suffer."  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  remarks  to  the  spectators, 
"  You  read,  that  some  should  be  given  up  to  strong  delusions." 
As  Leddra  is  turned  off,  he  cries,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit." 
His  body  being  cut  down,  Wharton,  Chamberlain  and  others  catch 
it  in  their  arms.  After  it  is  stripped  by  the  hangman,  they  put  it 
in  a  coffin  and  see  to  its  burial. 

*  MS.  First  Ch.  Rec.  f  Sewel,  vol.  i.  p.  340,  1. 


ELIOT'S  ni.MMiiNW  l.M/ni.  8?fl 

1661.] 

While  Leddra  was  on  trial,  Christopherson  appeared  id  the 
membly.4     He  was  ordered  before  the  bar*     The  Governor  aaked 

him,  **  Wast  thou  iu)t  banished  upon  the  pain  of  death?"  He 
answered,  ,k  Yea,  I  was."  The  former  then  said,  "That  be  waa 
come  to  warn  them,  that  they  should  shed  no  more  innocent  blood  :  " 
and  added,  "  For  the  blood  you  have  shed  already,  cries  to  the 
Lord  for  vengeance  to  come  upon  you."  Then  he  was  taken  to 
prison.  Near  this  date,  Elizabeth  Nicholson  and  her  two  sons, 
Christopher  and  Joseph  of  Marblehead,  were  prosecuted f  on  sus- 
picion of  causing  the  death  of  her  husband,  Edmund,  who  was 
found  dead  in  the  sea.  They  were  imprisoned,  sentenced  to  pay  a 
fine,  stand  under  the  gallows  with  ropes  round  their  necks,  and  be 
whipped  in  the  market  place  in  Boston.  They  were  also  whipped 
at  Salem.  Bishop  signifies  that  all  this  severity  was  used  towards 
them  because  they  sympathized  with  the  Quakers. 

18.  The  Governor  and  Council  hold  a  session  with  regard  to  a 
production  +  of  John  Eliot,  known  as  the  Christian  Commonwealth, 
and  which  had  been  published,  for  years,  in  England.  This  book 
was  issued  there,  as  a  means  to  encourage  and  sustain  Republican 
principles,  when  the  friends  of  Cromwell  had  strong  hope  that 
regal  authority  would  not  be  restored  in  that  kingdom.  The 
Council  decide  that  it  is  opposed  to  governments  in  the  Christian 
world,  and  particularly  to  that  in  their  native  country.  They  con- 
clude to  leave  the  matter  for  the  General  Court,  so  "  that  Mr. 
Eliot  may  have  an  opportunity,  in  the  mean  time,  of  making  a 
public  recantation." 

27.  Mr.  Tompson,  of  Braintree,  having  been  earnestly  solicited 
to  preach,  it  being  a  public  FastJ  conformed  with  the  application. 
Before  this  he  had  relinquished  all  ministerial  duties,  and  family- 
worship  of  late,  because  he  imagined  himself  to  be  a  reprobate. 

28.  John  Eliot  writes  ||  to  John  Endicott,  stating  that  the  bearer 
is  a  Sachem,  whose  name  was  Ousamequin,  but  now  changed  to 
Matchippa,  and  who  formerly  submitted  to  Massachusetts,  for 
protection,  with  others.  He  says  that  some  of  these  Indians  were 
lately  attacked  by  men  of  Uncas,  and  lost  three  killed  and  five 
carried  away  captives,  as  retaliation  for  the  conquest  of  the  Pequods. 
He  prays  in  their  behalf,  that  justice  may  be  demanded  by  the 
Colony,  for  the  leader  of  the  aggressors  is  son-in-law  of  Uncas, 
and  "  beginneth  with  your  skirts  first." 

April  8.  A  petition  is  laid  before  the  King,H  by  Thomas  Coveny, 
Thomas  Moore,  Giles  Silvester  and  Ellis  Hooker,  of  England, 
against  the  United  Colonies.  This  was  in  reply  to  a  petition  of 
Massachusetts  to  Charles  II.,  dated  the  11th  of  February.    It  gives 

*  Bishop's  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  299-335.       Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  219.       Sewel,  p. 
263-9.     Friends'  Library,  vol.  vii.  p.  478-80.         f  Bishop,  p.  403.         J  Hutch- 
inson, 3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  195.  §  Hull's  MS.  Diary.  ||  Belknap's  Papers. 
II  MS.  Com.  for  F.  Plantations. 
35 


274  SUSPENSION  OF  MISSION. 

[Mass. 

a  particular  account  of  the  damages  and  sufferings  which  persons 
of  their  denomination  experienced  in  that  jurisdiction. 

Samuel  and  Josiah  Shattuck  and  Nicholas  Phelps  represent  to 
the  King  that  they  were  banished,  have  been  separated  from  their 
families  two  years,  desire  to  return  home,  but  no  shipmaster  dares 
take  them  as  passengers,  and  petition  that  the  law  of  Massachusetts, 
which  thus  hinders  them,  may  be  repealed. 

12.  Leverett  writes  that  complaints  are  multiplied  against  this 
Colony.  He  had  been  accused  falsely  with  saying,  that  sooner 
than  they  would  admit  appeals  to  the  King,  they  would  sell  them- 
selves to  the  Spaniards.  One  of  a  Royal  Committee  had  asked 
him,  whether  Massachusetts,  if  they  dared,  would  not  cast  off  their 
subjection  to  the  Crown.  He  replied,  that  their  address  to  his 
Majesty  held  different  language,  and  that  should  be  the  rule  of 
his  opinion.  He  was  inquired  of  relative  to  debates  in  their 
General  Court  about  proclaiming  the  King,  and  of  some  speeches 
there  against  such  a  service.  He  answered,  that  remarks  made  in 
a  deliberative  assembly  by  individuals,  should  not  be  judged  as  the 
opinion  of  the  whole,  but  their  final  conclusions. 

20.  The  Council  for  New  England,  having  considered  various 
charges  against  them,  by  which  terms  they  meant  chiefly  and 
particularly  Massachusetts,  proceed  as  follows.*  They  have  "  in- 
formed themselves  by  sundry  other  waies  and  meanes  of  the  former 
and  later  constitution  and  alteration  of  ye  Governments  of  New 
England,  as  well  by  such  as  have  been  antiently  upon  ye  place 
and  are  still  related  thereunto,  as  by  the  view  of  the  Patents  of  ye 
Massachusetts  and  other  Plantations  from  severall  other  persons." 
In  this  connection,  they  assert,  that  New  England  has  wronged 
other  adjacent  governments,  transgressed  their  Patents  and  made 
laws  in  opposition  to  those  of  England.  Such  a  conclusion  was  an 
earnest  of  the  severe  course  intended  to  be  pursued  by  the  Royal- 
ists as  to  the  Colonists,  who  differed  from  them  in  political  and 
ecclesiastical  concerns. 

May  18.  The  Corporation  in  England  write  to  the  Commission- 
ers, f  who  had  charge  of  their  missionary  affairs,  that  their  official 
relations  to  them  have  ceased,  through  the  restoration  of  the  King. 
Though  they  are  uncertain  whether  he  will  renew  the  Society,  they 
have  hope  that  he  will.  Still  they  would  not  advise  that  the 
printing  of  the  Indian  Bible  should  be  suspended. 

22.  The  General  Court  commenced  their  session.  Speaking  of 
this,  Hull  remarks  :  J  "  The  Quakers  had  given  out  such  speeches, 
as  gave  cause  to  think  they  intended  mischief  vnto  our  magistrates 
and  ministers,  and  threatened  fire  and  sword  to  be  our  speedy 
portion.     But  it  pleased  God  we  had  no  disturbance  from  any." 

Norton  preaches  the  Election  sermon  at  this  period,  when  our 

*  MS.  Council  Records.         f  Hazard,  rol.  ii.  p.  438,  9.         J  MS.  Diary. 


CHUBGH  AM)  STATE.  176 

Authorities  were  in  very  anxious  suspense.  Hi^  subjeel  is,  "Sion 
the  out-east  healed  of  her  wounds,"  as  applicable  to  the  Common* 
wealth,  from  Jeremiah  \xx.  17.     It  advocates  fidelity  to  the  royal 

Qovemment     4t  En  matters  of  the  Suite,  civil,  and  of  the  Church, 

let  it  he  shown,  that  wc  are  His  disciples,  who  Said,  'Give  unto 
pSTsar  the  things  that  are  Csesar'a,  and  unto  (iod  the  things  that 
lie  God's.1     in  matters  of  Religion,  let  it  he  known  that  wo  are  for 

Reformation  and  not  fol  Separation.  Take  care  that  the  order  of 
the  Gospel  may  have  a  tree  passage  in  the  churehes  ;  I  mean,  that 
3ur  practice  may  effectually  answer  our  doctrine,  in  that  book 
intituled  '  The  Platform  of  Church  Discipline.'  "Lis  that  for 
which  we  are  outcasts  this  day  ;  that,  for  the  substance  of  it,  is  it 
that  she  wet  h  what  New  England  is.  I  would  I  might  say  that 
there  are  none  among  ourselves  that  are  against  it.  A  more  yield- 
ing ministry  unto  the  people,  I  believe  is  not  in  the  world.  I 
beseech  you  let  not  Caesar  be  killed  in  the  Senate,  alter  he  hath 
fought  it  out  and  conquered  in  the  field.  Let  U6  acknowledge  the 
order  of  the  Eldership  in  our  Churches  in  their  way,  and  the  order 
of  Councils  in  their  way,  duly  backed  and  encouraged  ;  without 
which,  experience  will  witness  that  these  Churches  cannot  long 
:onsist.  It  being  a  day  wherein  after  so  many  attempts  and  feares, 
jFOU  are  betrusted  with  your  Liberties  for  another  year." 

"  The  Court  being  desirous  to  try  all  means,*  with  as  much 
lenity  as  may  consist  with  our  safety,  to  prevent  the  intrusions  of 
;he  Quakers,  who,  besides  absurd  and  blasphemous  doctrine,  do 
like  rogues  and  vagabonds  come  upon  us,  and  have  not  been 
restrained  by  the  laws  already  provided  ;  have  ordered  that  every 
such  vagabond  Quaker,  found  within  any  part  of  this  Jurisdiction, 
mall  be  apprehended,"  and  being  adjudged  to  be  "  one  that  hath 
aot  any  dwelling  or  orderly  allowance  as  an  inhabitant  of  this  Ju- 
risdiction, and  not  giving  civil  respect  by  the  usual  gestures  thereof; 
Dr  by  any  other  way  or  means  manifesting  himself  a  Quaker,  shall, 
by  warrant  directed  to  the  constable  of  the  town  wherein  he  or 
she  is  taken,  or  in  absence  of  the  constable,  to  any  other  meet 
person,  be  stripped  naked  from  the  middle  upwards,  and  tied  to  a 
mart's  tail  and  whipped  through  the  town,  and  from  thence  imme- 
diately conveyed  to  the  constable  of  the  next  town  towards  the 
borders  of  our  Jurisdiction,  as  their  warrant  shall  direct,  and  so 
from  constable  to  constable,  till  they  be  conveyed  through  any  the 
Dutwardmost  towns  of  our  Jurisdiction.  And  if  any  such  vaga- 
bond Quakers  shall  return  again,  then  to  be  in  like  manner  appre- 
hended and  conveyed,  as  often  as  they  shall  be  found  within  the 
limits  of  our  Jurisdiction ;  provided  every  such  wandering  Quaker, 
having  been  thrice  convicted  and  sent  away,  as  above  said,  and 
returning  again  into  this  Jurisdiction,  shall  be  apprehended  and 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Court  Rec. 


276  APOLOGY  OF  ELIOT. 

[Mass. 

committed  by  any  magistrate  or  commissioner  as  aforesaid,  unto 
the  House  of  Correction  within  that  County  wherein  he  or  she 
is  found,  until  the  next  Court  of  that  County,  where,  if  the  Court 
judge  meet  to  release  them,  they  shall  be  branded  with  the  letter 
ft,  on  their  left  shoulder,  and  be  severely  whipped  and  sent  away 
in  manner  as  before.  And  if  after  this,  he  or  she  shall  return 
again,  then  to  be  proceeded  against  as  incorrigible  rogues  and 
enemies  to  the  common  peace,  and  shall  be  immediately  appre- 
hended and  committed  to  the  common  jail  of  the  Country,  and  at 
the  next  Court  of  Assistants  shall  be  brought  to  their  trial,  and 
proceeded  against  according  to  law,  made  anno  1658,  for  their 
banishment  on  pain  of  death.  And  for  such  Quakers  as  shall 
arise  from  among  ourselves,  they  shall  be  proceeded  against  as  the 
former  law  of  anno  1658  doth  provide,  until  they  have  been  con- 
victed by  a  Court  of  Assistants  ;  and  being  so  convicted,  he  or  she 
shall  then  be  banished  this  Jurisdiction ;  and  if,  after  that,  they 
shall  be  found  in  any  part  of  this  Jurisdiction,  then  he  or  she,  so 
sentenced  to  banishment,  shall  be  proceeded  against  as  those  that 
are  stranger  and  vagabond  Quakers,  in  manner  as  is  above  ex- 
pressed. And  further,  that  the  constables  of  the  several  towns 
are  hereby  impowered,  from  time  to  time,  as  necessity  shall  require, 
to  impress  carts,  oxen,  and  other  assistance  for  the  execution  of 
this  order." 

24.  "  This  Court,  taking  notice  of  a  book,  entitled  the  Chris- 
tian Commonwealth,  written,  as  is  expressed  in  said  book,  by  Mr. 
John  Eliot,  of  Eoxbury,  which,  in  sundry  passages  and  expres- 
sions thereof,  is  justly  offensive,  and,  in  special,  relating  to  Kingly 
Government  in  England.  The  which  the  said  Eliot  freely  and 
fully  acknowledged  to  this  Court.  It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  the 
said  book  be  totally  suppressed,  and  the  author's  acknowledgment 
recorded,  and  that  all  persons  whatsoever  in  this  Jurisdiction, 
that  have  any  of  the  said  books  in  their  custody,  shall,  on  their 
peril,  within  fourteen  days  after  the  publication  hereof,  either  can- 
cel or  deface  the  same,  or  deliver  them  unto  the  next  Magistrate 
or  to  the  Secretary,  whereby  all  further  divulgement  or  improve- 
ment of  said  offensive  book  may  be  prevented.  And  it  is  further 
ordered,  that  Mr.  Eliot's  acknowledgment  and  the  Court's  order 
for  the  calling  in  of  these  books,  be  forthwith  transcribed  by  the 
Secretary,  and  caused  to  be  posted  up  in  Boston,  Charlestown, 
Cambridge,  Salem  and  Ipswich,  that  so  all  persons,  concerned 
therein,  may  take  notice  of  their  duties  and  act  accordingly." 
Then  follows  the  apology  of  Eliot.  "  Understanding  by  an  act  of 
the  Convened  Council,  that  there  is  offence  taken  at  a  book,  pub- 
lished in  England  by  others,  the  copy  whereof  was  sent  over  by 
myself  about  nine  or  ten  years  since,  and  that  the  further  consid- 
eration thereof  is  commended  to  this  honoured  General  Court, 
now  sitting  in  Boston  ;  upon  perusal  thereof,  I  do  judge  to  have 


PROFESSION  RETRACTED.  277 

1061.] 

offended,  and,  in  way  of  satisfaction,  not  only  to  the  authority  of 
this  Jurisdiction,  but,  also,  to  any  others  that  shall  take  notice 
thereof;  1  do  hereby  acknowledge  to  this  Honoured  Court,  Mich 
expressions  as  do  too  manifestly  scandalize  the  Government  of 
England  by  King,  Lords  and  Commons,  as  anti-Christian,  and 
justify  the  late  Innovators  ;  1  do  sincerely  hear  testimony  against, 
and  acknowledge  it  to  be  not  only  a  lawful  hut  eminent  form  of 
government.  2.  All  forms  of  civil  government,  deduced  from 
Scripture,  either  expressly  or  by  just  consequence,  I  acknowledge 
to  he  of  God,  and  to  be  subjected  to  for  conscience'  sake.  And 
whatsoever  is  in  the  whole  epistle  or  book,  inconsisting  herewith, 
I  do  at  once  for  all  cordially  disown.     John  Eliot." 

As  William  King,*  banished  last  March,  had  "declared  how 
much  he,  by  the  rich  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  was  now  brought  to 
loathe  and  abhor  himself  for  his  sinful  and  shameful  practices  against 
authority  here  established;  the  Court  judgeth  it  meet,  for  the 
encouragement  of  such  that  shall  turn  from  those  principles  and 
ways  of  Satan  and  death,"  to  remit  his  trial  before  them,  and 
restore  him  to  his  former  privileges  as  an  inhabitant. 

Essex  County  Court  having  referred  the  question,  "  whether  the 
town  of  Ipswich  might  not  dispose  "  of  Henry  Bachelor  and  "  his 
farm,  so  as  he  may  live  in  the  town  and  enjoy  his  estate  and  the 
public  worship  of  God,"  from  which  he  and  his  wife  absented 
themselves,  the  Legislature  impower  that  Court  to  dispose  of  said 
persons  and  their  farm,  "  as  they  shall  judge  most  conducive  to 
their  present  and  future  good." 

28.  Quaker  prisoners  numbered  twenty-seven,  f  Among  them 
were  John  Chamberlain,  John  Smith  and  his  wife  Margaret,  Mary 
Trask,  Judah  Brown,  Peter  Pierson,  George  Wilson,  John  Bur- 
stow,  Elizabeth  Hooton,  Joan  Brokesup,  Mary  Malins,  Catharine 
Chattam  ;  the  last  four  came  into  Boston  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  ; 
Mary  and  Hannah  Wright,  Sarah  Burden,  Sarah  Coleman  and 
three  or  four  of  her  children,  Ralph  and  William  Allin,  Richard 
Kerby. 

June  6.  Ordered  that  all  the  Quakers*  in  prison  be  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  new  law  concerning  them,  and  be  sent  from 
constable  to  constable,  out  of  the  Jurisdiction.  Two  of  them, 
Peter  Pierson  and  Judah  Brown,  are  excepted  as  to  departing 
without  punishment.  For  standing  mute  at  the  last  Court  of 
Assistants,  they  are  ordered  to  be  taken  from  prison,  stripped  from 
their  girdle  upward,  tied  to  a  cart's  tail,  and  whipped  twenty 
stripes  each  in  Boston  ;  to  suffer  the  same  at  Roxbury  and  Ded- 
ham,  with  the  reduction  of  their  stripes  to  ten  in  these  two  places. 
If  any  of  them  are  found  within  the  Colony  twelve  hours  after 
being  released,  they  are  to  be  proceeded  with  according  to  law. 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  223,  4. 

X  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  and  Papers. 


278  SENTENCES  OF  BANISHMENT. 

[Mass. 

Having  considered  the  appeal  of  Christopherson  from  the 
Court  of  Assistants,  in  March  last,  to  the  Crown,  the  Legislature 
decide  that  the  Governor  pronounce  the  sentence  of  death  on  him 
to  be  executed  13th  of  June,  presently  after  the  Lecture,  unless  he 
will  leave  the  Colony  and  give  a  written  obligation  not  to  return 
without  due  authority.  He  is  immediately  informed  of  this.  He 
agrees  on  the  7th  to  depart,  and  is  released. 

Bishop  relates,*  that,  while  Christopherson  was  on  trial,  Edward 
"Wharton,  of  Salem,  who  had  been  ordered  to  leave  the  jurisdic- 
tion on  pain  of  death,  wrote  to  the  Court,  that  he  was  at  home  and 
"  could  not  go  away."  This  accorded  with  the  declaration  of 
Wharton  when  he  received  his  sentence. 

At  this  date,  John  Chamberlain  of  Boston  is  sentenced  to  ban- 
ishment. He  had  children  and  a  trade.  His  father  and  brother, 
Henry  Chamberlain,  sen.  and  jun.,  petition  that  he  may  remain  in 
piison  and  labor  at  his  business.  Their  request  is  granted,  so  that 
he  be  confined  at  the  Castle,  and  there  support  himself.  This 
John,  as  related  by  Bishop,  afterwards  married  Catharine  Chat- 
tam. 

Informed  that  Nicholas  Upshall,f  confined  in  the  Boston  prison, 
drew  many  persons  to  him,  the  Legislature  order  him,  on  the  10th, 
to  be  kept  at  the  Castle,  and  none  to  visit  him  but  members  of  his 
family  with  supplies  for  his  wants.  On  petition  of  Dorothy,  his 
wife,  he  is  allowed  to  dwell  in  the  house  of  John  Capen  at  Dor- 
chester, provided  he  "  do  not  corrupt  any  with  his  pernicious  opin- 
ions, or  admit  Quakers  or  other  heretical  persons  to  have  recourse 
to  him."  In  breaking  this  condition,  he  must  be  put  on  the 
Castle. 

In  view  of  the  King's  favorable  answer  to  the  Court's  address, 
the  continuance  of  their  civil  and  ecclesiastical  privileges,  health, 
and  prospect  of  a  good  harvest,  they  appoint  the  10th  of  July  for 
thanksgiving. 

June.  While  the  Court  warn  Uncas  not  to  commit  any  more 
aggressions  on  the  people  of  Sagamore  Wassamegin  of  Quabacooke, 
they  desire  the  latter  to  "  let  the  English  have  the  bringing  up  of 
those  captives,  now  to  be  released,  and  of  some  of  their  sons  also, 
by  means  whereof  they  may  the  better  know  and  serve  God,  and  be 
more  helpful  to  their  own  kinsfolk,  friends  and  countrymen  after- 
ward, and  that  Mr.  Eliot  be  desired  to  second  and  forward  the 
motion  to  Wassamegin  and  his  subjects." 

This  year,  according  to  the  reference  of  the  King  on  the  petition 
of  Robert  Mason,  Edward  Godfrey  and  others,  about  their  claims  to 
New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  a  Committee  of  Parliament  make  a 
report.  J     This  document,  evidently  drawn  up  by  unfriendly  hands, 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  223.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers. 

J  Farmer's  N.  H.  by  Belknap. 


PURPOSE  01  ENDBPENDENCB.  879 

1061.] 

contains  the  ensuing  paragraph:  u  It  appears  further  by  the  wit- 
■esses,  that  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  have,  for  these  many  yeari 
put, endeavored  to  model  and  contrive  themselves  into  a  free  State, 
without  any  relation  to  the  Crown  of  England,  assuming  on  them- 
selves the  name  ami  .style  of  a  Commonwealth,  issuing  of  writs  in 
their  own  name.  Imposing  of  oaths  to  be  true  unto  themselves  con- 
trary to  that  of  allegiance,  coining  of  money  with  their  own  stamps 
and  signatures,  exercising  an  arbitrary  power  over  the  estates  and 
persons  of  all  such  as  submit  not  unto  their  government,  allowing 
them  no  appeals  to  England,  and  some  have  been  so  bold  as  pub- 
licly to  affirm,  that  if  his  Majesty  should  send  them  a  governor, 
that  the  several  towns  and  churches  throughout  the  whole  country, 
under  their  government,  did  resolve  to  oppose  him,  and  others  have 
said,  that,  before  they  of  New  England  would  or  should  submit  to 
any  appeal  to  England,  they  would  sell  that  Country  or  Plantation 
to  the  King  of  Spain." 

Keports  of  unfriendly  designs  *  by  the  Court  against  New  Eng- 
land had  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  were  commonly  circulated. 
They  stated  that  the  Colonists  were  to  be  cut  off  from  commercial 
intercourse  with  Virginia  and  the  West  India  islands ;  that  three 
frigates  were  fitting  out  to  impose  a  Governor  General  on  the  North 
American  plantations,  and  other  accompanying  features  of  arbitrary- 
power.  Circumstances  of  this  kind  induced  our  Legislature  to 
pass  the  following  resolve. 

"  Forasmuch  as  the  present  condition  of  our  affairs  in  highest 
concernments  call  for  diligent  and  speedy  use  of  the  best  means 
seriously  to  discuss  and  rightly  to  understand  our  Liberty  and  Duty, 
to  beget  unity  among  ourselves  in  the  due  observance  of  obedience 
and  fidelity  to  the  authority  of  England  and  our  own  privileges, " 
a  committee  are  accordingly  appointed  to  make  a  report.  The 
clerical  members  of  this  committee  are  Mather,  Norton,  Cobbet 
and  Mitchel. 

10.  The  report  appointed  to  be  made,  is  laid  before  the  Legisla- 
ture, f  It  has  two  heads,  first,  duties  to  the  Colony  ;  second,  duties 
to  the  King.  Under  the  former,  it  is  stated  that  our  authorities 
have  full  power  "  for  the  government  of  all  people  here,  whether 
inhabitants  or  strangers,  both  concerning  ecclesiastical  and  civil, 
without  appeals,  excepting  law  or  laws,  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
England."  Under  the  latter,  it  is  declared  the  obligation  of  the 
Colonists  to  approve  and  maintain  the  rule  of  their  Sovereign,  by 
"  propagating  the  Gospell,  defending  and  upholding  the  true  Chris- 
tian or  Protestant  religion,  according  to  the  faith  given  by  our  Lord 
Christ  in  his  Word,  our  dread  Sovereign  being  styled  Defender  of 
the  Faith,  etc."  It  is  allowed  that  Whalley  and  Goffe,  and  such 
others  as  flee  hither  from  justice  in  England,  should  be  arrested. 
The  report  is  accepted. 

*  Graham,  2d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  316.  t  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Ree. 


280  FUNDS   FOR  FOREIGN   AGENCY. 

[Mass. 

Having  considered  several  petitions  from  inhabitants  of  Ipswich, 
Newbury  and  Sudbury,  as  to  the  relations  of  the  Colony  to  England, 
the  Court  desire  the  petitioners  to  rest  satisfied  that  they  "  will  not 
be  wanting  in  the  prosecution  of  such  further  means,  as  may  be 
most  conducible  to  our  own  peace."  Boston  petitioners  are  re- 
ferred to  the  same  answer. 

19.  Before  they  adjourn,*  the  Legislature  appoint  a  committee, 
of  whom  are  Norton,  and  Mitchel,  to  prepare  letters  for  his  Majesty, 
the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  Saltonstall,  Leverett 
and  Ashurst.  They  are  also  to  consider  means  of  raising  four  or 
five  hundred  pounds,  for  public  use  in  England.  The  Governor 
is  desired,  if  an  opportunity  offer,  to  inform  the  King  or  the  Secre- 
taries of  State,  of  his  compliance  with  the  royal  injunction  for  the 
pursuit  of  Whalley  and  GofFe. 

25.  The  Quakers  of  Salem  f  are  fined  about .£40.  Among  them 
is  the  wife  of  Nicholas  Phelps.  She  is  sentenced  to  pay  £5,  or  be 
whipped,  for  asserting  that  Mr.  Higginson  "  sent  abroad  his  wolves 
and  blood-hounds  among  the  sheep  and  lambs."  On  the  2d  of 
the  next  month  such  persons  of  the  same  Town  are  fined  £10  for 
absence  from  parish  worship. 

July  10.  Lord  Say  and  Seal  wrote  to  the  Governor  J  of  Massa- 
chusetts, that  though  John  Crown,  who  boarded  with  John  Norton 
of  Boston,  and  was  a  member  of  Harvard  College  when  Whalley 
and  GofFe  arrived,  represented  before  the  Royal  Council  that  these 
two  persons  were  received  with  marked  respect  by  the  authorities 
and  all  others,  yet  he  spoke  favorably  of  the  Government  here  and 
allayed  the  prejudice  against  them  for  severity  to  the  Quakers.  He 
recommended  that  Crown  have  some  compensation  for  his  discre- 
tion. 

16.  Thomas  Gilbert,  §  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  his  wife  Sarah, 
arrive  at  Charlestown.  In  a  communication  of  September  12,  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Colonies  say  to  gentlemen  in  London,  "  We 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Gilbert,  recommended  to  us  by  some  of 
the  Corporation,  who  hath  met  with  suitable  employment  at  Row- 
ley."   He  was  settled,  November,  1663,  in  the  ministry  at  Topsfield. 

30.  The  first  Church  at  Salem  ||  pass  a  vote  that  the  children  of 
persons,  who  had  been  covenant  children,  should  be  entitled  to 
baptism. 

August  T.  The  General  Court  assemble  H  by  summons  from  the 
Governor,  who,  to  lessen  the  force  of  complaints  against  the  Colony, 
thought  it  best  to  have  the  King  proclaimed.  They  order  that 
this  service  shall  be  performed  on  the  morrow  in  Boston,  immedi- 
ately after  the  Lecture,  by  Secretary  Rawson.  This  was  done  in 
the  presence  of  the  several  branches  of  the  Legislature,  Col.  Tem- 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  and  Papers.       f  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 

%  Chalmers'  Polit.  Annals,  p.  264.  §  Cleaveland's  Topsfield,  p.  33. 

II  MS.  First  Ch.  Rec.  IT  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


CHARLES   II.    PROCLAIMED,  281 

1001.] 

pie,  the  Elders,  multitude*  of  people,  tour  foot  companies,  one  of 

cavalry,  and  masters  of  -hips  in  the  harbor.  All  drunkenness,  de- 
bauchery and  profaneness  were  forbidden,  according  to  the  royal 

injunction.  Under  such  a  clause,  the  notice  of  the  occasion,  posted 
up  publicly,  required  "  in  a  particular  manner,  that  uo  man  bhould 
presume  to  drink  his  Majesty's  health." 

9.  A  petition  is  presented  by  James  Pepin,  Jr.  An  extract 
follows.*  "  Whereas  your  petitioner  hath  for  these  two  preceding 
Tears,  to  his  loss,  voyaged  into  these  parts,  and  the  last  year,  upon 
the  relation  which  he  had  made  at  home  of  your  estate  of  the 
churches  and  country  of  New  England,  being  ordered  by  his 
father,  who  is  an  elder  of  the  Protestant  Church  at  Rochelle  in 
France,  to  make  propositions' to  your  Honoured  Governor,  Col. 
Temple  and  some  others,  in  relation  to  transporting  himself  and 
some  others  of  the  Protestant  Religion  and  their  estates,  into  these 
parts,  in  case  of  a  storm.  And  a  letter  then  passing  unto  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Norton  from  a  pastor  of  the  church,  conducing  that  way, 
who  then  found  such  encouragement  as  moved  his  father  to  send 
him  now  over  with  an  estate  to  settle  in  these  parts,  as  by  two 
letters,  which  he  hath  now  brought  unto  the  said  Rev.  Mr.  Norton 
from  two  of  the  pastors,  and  by  one  to  Joshua  Scottow  from  your 
said  petitioner's  father,  will  more  fully  appear.  Your  said  peti- 
tioner doth  most  humbly  crave,  that  he  may  be  received  under 
your  protection  as  an  inhabitant  of  this  jurisdiction  ;  and  have  lib- 
erty to  land  the  estate  he  hath  brought  over  to  that  purpose  :  and 
so  far  negotiate  as  to  dispatch  his  ship  home  unto  the  port  where- 
unto  she  doth  belong."     The  request  is  granted. 

10.  An  address  is  prepared  for  the  King,  but  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  sent,  f  A  few  of  its  items  are  cited.  "  Gospel  libertie, 
truely  so  called,  is  sweeter  than  life."  Referring  to  the  insurrec- 
tion of  the  fifth  monarchy  men  under  their  leader,  it  says  of  the 
last,  "  Venner  wrent  out  from-  us,  because  he  was  not  of  us.  May 
New  England,  under  your  royal  protection,  be  permitted  still  to 
sing  the  Lord's  song  in  this  strange  land." 

September  9.  The  Court  of  Assistants  sentence  J  Josiah  South- 
wick,  who  had  returned  from  banishment,  to  be  stripped  from  his 
girdle  upward,  as  thejast  law  against  the  Quakers  required,  tied  to 
a  cart's  tail  and  whipped  ten  stripes  in  each  of  the  towns,  Boston, 
Roxbury  and  Dedham.  Thus  turned  out  of  the  jurisdiction,  he 
came  back  next  day  but  one,  to  his  house  in  Salem. 

Edward  Burrough  and  other  leading  Quakers  in  England  had 
earnestly  interceded  with  the  King  to  arrest  proceedings  against 
those  of  their  denomination  in  our  country.  §  His  Majesty  had  told 
Burrough,  that  if  he  and  his  friends  would  dispatch  a  ship,  he 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers,     f  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  341-3.     J  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 
§  Fox's  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  243.     Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  225. 
36 


L 


282  ROYAL  MANDAMUS. 

[Mas  9. 

would  have  a  mandamus  drawn  up  immediately.  It  appears  that 
this  proposition  was  accepted,  and  Samuel  Shattuck  of  Salem,  who 
had  been  banished,  was  appointed  to  bring  the  document  of  the 
last  preceding  date,  addressed  to  all  the  Governors  of  New 
England.  This  runs  as  follows  :  "  Charles  R. — Trusty  and  well- 
beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  Having  been  informed  that  several 
of  our  subjects  amongst  you,  called  Quakers,  have  been,  and  are 
imprisoned  by  you,  whereof  some  have  been  executed,  and  others 
(as  hath  been  represented  unto  us)  are  in  danger  to  undergo  the 
like.  We  have  thought  fit  to  signifie  our  pleasure  in  that  behalf 
for  the  future  ;  and  do  hereby  require,  that  if  there  be  any  of  those 
people,  called  Quakers,  amongst  you,  now  already  condemned  to 
suffer  death,  or  other  corporal  punishment,  or  that  are  imprisoned, 
and  are  obnoxious  to  the  like  condemnation,  you  are  to  forbear  to 
proceed  any  farther  therein ;  but  that  you  forthwith  send  the  said 
persons  (whether  condemned  or  imprisoned)  over  into  our  King- 
dom of  England,  together  with  the  respective  crimes  or  offences, 
laid  to  their  charge,  to  the  end  that  such  course  may  be  taken  with 
them  here,  as  shall  be  agreeable  to  our  laws  and  their  demerits." 

12.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union*  having  been  encouraged 
to  expect  that  the  King  would  revive  the  Missionary  Corporation, 
address  him  on  this  subject.  They  speak  of  their  Confederation  as 
brought  about  by  the  need  of  mutual  defense  in  their  exposed 
situation.  They  then  proceed  to  relate  the  particular  effects  of  the 
labor  for  evangelizing  the  Indians.  Many  of  their  adults  have 
learned  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  with  much  affection  for  their 
missionaries.  Large  numbers  of  their  children  read  and  write. 
Some  have  advanced  "  further,  so  as  to  attain  the  knowledge  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  tongues,  and  are  brought  up  with  our  English 
youth  in  learning." 

"  There  are  divers  of  them,  that  can  and  do  read  some  part  of 
the  Scripture  and  some  Catechisms,  which  formerly  have  been 
translated  into  their  own  language,  which  hath  occasioned  the 
undertaking  of  this  great  work,  viz. :  the  printing  of  the  whole 
Bible ;  which  being  translated  by  a  painful  laborer  amongst  them, 
who  was  desirous  to  see  the  work  accomplished  in  his  days,  hath 
already  proceeded  to  finish  the  New  Testament,  which  we  here 
have  presented  to  your  Majesty,  as  the  first  fruit  and  accomplish- 
ment of  the  pious  design  of  your  Royal  Ancestors.  The  Old 
Testament  is  now  under  the  press,  waiting  and  craving  for  your 
Royal  favor  and  assistance  for  the  perfecting  thereof.  We  may 
not  conceal,  though  this  work  hath  been  begun  and  prosecuted  by 
such  instruments  as  God  hath  raised  up  here,  yet  the  chief  charge 
that  hath  supported  and  carried  on  these,  hath  been  from  the 
charity  and  piety  of  our  well-affected  countrymen  in  England,  who, 

*  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.      Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  439-47. 


REVIVAL  Of  THE  mission.  f8S 

M61.] 

being  sensible  of  our  unability  in  that  respect  and  being  studious  to 
promote  so  good  a  work,  contributed  large  sums  of  money." 
They  add:  "  We  do  most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty,  that  a 
Batter  of  so  much  devotion  and  piety  to  the  honor  of  God,  may 
sutler  no  disappointment  through  any  Legal  default,  without  the 
default  of  the  donors  or  poor  Indians,  who  only  receive  the  benefit; 
but  that  your  Majesty  be  graciously  pleased  to  establish  and  confirm 
the  same." 

The  Commissioners  address  Richard  Hutchinson  and  Wm. 
Ashur>t  in  London.  "  The  New  Testament  is  already  finished, 
and  of  all  the  Old,  the  five  Books  of  Moses.  We  have  herewith 
sent  you  twenty  of  the  New  Testament,  which  we  desire  may  be 
thus  disposed  of,  viz. :  that  two  of  the  special,  being  very  well 
bound,  the  one  may  be  presented  to  his  Majesty  in  the  first  place, 
the  other  to  the  Lord  Chancellor ;  and  that  live  more  may  be  pre- 
sented to  Doctor  Reynolds,  Mr.  Carrill,  Mr.  Baxter  and  the  two 
Vice-Chancellors  of  the  Universities,  who,  we  understand,  have 
greatly  encouraged  the  work.  The  rest  we  leave  to  be  disposed, 
as  you  shall  see  cause."  They  conclude :  "  By  the  account,  you 
will  find  we  have  remaining  £414  4s.  4d.  stock,  a  great  part 
whereof  will  be  expended  in  printing  the  Bible  and  a  new  im- 
pression of  a  Catechism,  and  little  or  nothing  will  remain  to 
discharge  the  charges  of  the  Indian  youths  at  the  University  and 
such  as  have  put  themselves  wholly  upon  the  work,  which,  for 
want  of  means,  necessitated  to  betake  themselves  to  other  employ- 
ments, to  the  great  hindrance,  if  not  utter  ruining  of  the  work. 
We  doubt  not  of  your  readiness,  and  improvement  of  your  utmost 
interest  and  every  argument  to  procure  his  Majesty's  favor  and 
furtherance  of  this  work,  so  much  tending  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
salvation  of  poor  blind  Heathen,  wherein  you  have  been  and  we 
hope  shall  yet  be  continued  fellow-laborers  with  your  friends,  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies." 

The  accounts  of  the  missions  furnish  various  items  of  informa- 
tion. Mrs.  Bland  is  still  paid  for  services  among  the  Indians  at  the 
Vineyard,  and  especially  for  C(  physic  and  surgery."  Books  were 
delivered  to  Indian  scholars  and  Matthew  Mayhew,  son  of  the 
deceased  missionary,  who  was  being  educated  to  follow  the  profes- 
sion of  his  father.  Wheels,  cards  and  cotton  wool,  as  a  common 
stock,  had  been  provided  for  Indian  women  in  the  same  quarter. 
Among  those  who  labored  with  the  Indians  were  Messrs.  WTilliam 
Tompson  and  Bourne,  at  Sandwich. 

13.  Mr.  Usher  has  instructions  from  the  Commissioners,  to 
receive  the  whole  impression  of  the  New  Testament  in  Indian,  from 
the  printer,  Mr.  Green  ;  to  have  two  hundred  of  them  bound 
strongly  in  leather  for  the  use  of  the  Indians  ;  to  have  one  thou- 
sand copies  of  Mr.  Eliot's  Catechism  printed,  "  which  are  much 
wanting  among  the  Indians." 


284:  ROYAL  MANDAMUS. 

[Mass. 

October.  On  petition  of  John  Eliot,*  Daniel  Gookin  is  appoint- 
ed by  the  Legislature,  instead  of  Gen.  Atherton,  deceased,  to  keep 
Courts  among  the  Indians,  who  are  in  favor  of  the  gospel. 

Six  persons  of  the  Church  f  in  Salem  are  recorded  as  absenting 
themselves  from  its  ordinances.  They  had  united  with  the  Qua- 
kers. 

November  24.  Being  Sabbath,J  Ralph  Goldsmith,  Quaker,  and 
master  of  a  ship,  chartered  by  those  of  his  denomination  to  bring 
over  the  Royal  Mandamus,  intrusted  to  Samuel  Shattuck,  arrives 
in  Boston  harbor.  Some  men  boarded  his  vessel  and  asked  for 
letters  ;  he  replied,  No,  not  to-day.  They  went  ashore  and  report- 
ed, that  the  ship  was  full  of  Quakers,  and  Shattuck  among  them. 
The  next  day,  this  person  and  Goldsmith  waited  on  Endicott,  the 
Governor,  who,  after  consulting  the  Deputy  Governor,  said  to 
them:  "We  shall  obey  his  Majesty's  command."  Goldsmith  let 
his  passengers  leave  the  vessel,  who  "  met  together  with  their 
friends  of  the  Town,  to  offer  up  praises  to  God  for  this  wonderful 
deliverance." 

27.  The  General  Court  assemble  to  consider  the  King's  letter  of 
September  9,  respecting  the  Quakers.  §  The  Elders,  being  invited 
to  attend  and  advise  about  this  subject,  present  a  report  on  the 
29th,  through  Mr.  Mather,  as  follows :  Q.  Shall  the  laws  against 
the  Quakers,  continue  to  be  executed  ?  A.  "  Upon  his  Majesty's 
letters,  we  conceive  it  expedient,  that  the  execution  of  death  or 
corporal  punishment,  according  as  is  expressed  therein,  be  sus- 
pended pro  tern.,  provided  that  some  effectual  course  be  also  taken 
in  the  interim,  for  the  restraint  of  turbulence  in  Church  or  State, 
which  the  King's  warrant,  to  our  apprehension,  no  ways  inhibits, 
but  rather  encouraged*  thereunto."  Q.  Whether  those  in  prison 
be  sent  to  England  with  the  charges  against  them,  or  released  and 
suffered  to  go  at  large  here  ?  A.  It  is  better  that  they  be  sent  to 
England.  Q.  "  Whether  this  Court  is  called  to  make  an  humble 
address,  by  petition,  to  his  Majesty  in  answer  to  his  letter,  now 
brought  concerning  the  said  Quakers  ?  "  A.  Affirmative.  Q. 
WThether  agents  should  be  sent  to  London  for  attending  to  the 
Colony's  interests  ?  A.  Affirmative.  Q.  Whether  funds  should 
be  raised  for  this  purpose  ?  A.  Affirmative.  In  reference  to  the 
second  question,  the  Deputies  vote  against  it,  but  the  Magistrate! 
were  in  its  favor. 

The  Court  pass  the  subsequent  declaration :  "  The  just  and 
necessary  rules  of  our  government  and  condition  for  preservation  of 
religion,  order  and  peace,  have  induced  the  Authority  here  estab- 
lished, from  time  to  time,  to  make  and  sharpen  laws  against  Qua- 
kers in  reference  to  their  restless  intrusions  and  impetuous   dis- 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Kec.  f  MS.  First  Ch.  Rec. 

X  Geo.  Fox's  Journal,  vol.  i,  p.  242,  3.     Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  226. 
§  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers. 


DISORDER,   NOT  CUBED,    PI  NISHED. 
1661.] 

turbances,  and  not  any  inclination  in  ns  to  punish  them  in  person 
or  estate,  as  la  evident  by  our  gradual  proceedings  with  them, 
releasing  some  condemned,  and  others  Liable  to  condemnation,  and 

all  imprisoned  and  sent  out  of  our  borders  ;  all  which,  notwith- 
standing, their  restless  spirits    have  moved  some   of  them  to  return 

ami  others  to  till  the  Royal  ear  of  our  Sovereign  Lord,  the  King, 

with  complaints  against  us,  and  have  by  their  unwearied  solicita- 
tions in  our  absence,  so  far  prevailed  as  to  obtain  a  letter  from  his 
Majesty  to  forbear  their  corporal  punishment  and  death  ;  although 
we  hope  and  doubt  not  but  that  if  his  Majesty  were  rightly  inform- 
ed, he  would  be  far  from  giving  them  such  favor  or  weakening  his 
authority  here,  so  long  and  orderly  settled  ;  yet  that  we  may  not 
in  the  least  offend  his  Majesty,  this  Court  doth  hereby  order  and 
declare,  that  the  execution  of  the  laws  in  force  against  Quakers,  as 
such,  so  far  as  they  respect  corporal  punishment  or  death,  be  sus- 
pended until  this  Court  take  further  order." 

Considering  the  ignorance  and  dissipation  of  youth,  neglect  of 
domestic  government,  pride  and  excess  in  apparel ;  "  the  impetu- 
ous and  restless  intrusions  of  heretics  and  enemies  to  the  way,  wor- 
ship and  ordinances  of  God ;  the  enemies  and  underminers,"  who 
"  multiply  complaints  against  us  to  our  Sovereign ;  the  cursed 
combination  of  Antichrist  and  his  adherents  to  ruin  and  trample  on 
all  the  sincere  servants  of  God  the  world  throughout,"  the  Court 
appoint  the  2d  of  January  for  a  public  Fast. 

With  respect  to  the  regal  order,  Neal  says*  "  this  put  an  effec- 
tual stop  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Quakers,  on  account  of  their 
principles."  He  evidently  implies,  as  many  others  have,  that  our 
fathers  punished  this  denomination  for  the  profession  of  their 
religious  doctrines  as  well  as  actions.  But  this  was  contrary  to 
the  repeated  declaration  of  such  Massachusetts  authorities.  While 
they  considered  and  represented  these  principles,  as  exerting  a 
ruinous  influence  on  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Colony,  they 
asserted  that  their  hard  dealing  with  the  professors  of  them  was 
not  that  their  religion  wras  wrong,  but  that  the  manner  in  which 
they  professed  and  exhibited  it  tended  to  the  subversion  of  all  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  order,  and  thus  threatened  the  overthrow  of  the 
Commonwealth.  Shortly  after  the  King's  interdict  came  to  their 
hands,  the  Legislature  observed,  that  their  necessary  "  laws  against 
the  Quakers  were  in  reference  to  their  restless  intrusions  and  im- 
petuous disturbances."  In  their  reply  to  his  Majesty,  on  this  sub- 
ject, they  remarked,  "  that  after  all  other  means,  for  a  long  time 
used  in  vain,  they  were  at  last  constrained,  for  their  own  safety,  to 
pass  a  sentence  of  banishment  against  them,  on  pain  of  death; 
such  was  their  dangerous,  impetuous  and  desperate  turbulency  in 
religion,  as  that  how  unwilling  soever,  could  it  be  avoided,  the 

*  Neal's  N.  E.  vol.  i.  p.  335. 


286  QUAKER    OPINIONS. 

[Mass. 

magistrate  judged  himself  called  for  the  defence  of  all,  to  keep 
the  passage  with  the  point  of  the  sword  held  towards  them. 
Their  willingly  rushing  themselves  thereupon  was  their  own  act." 

This  accords  with  a  passage  in  Winthrop's  Christian  Charity. 
u  The  care  of  the  public  must  oversway  all  private  respects.  Par- 
ticular estates  cannot  subsist  in  the  ruin  of  the  public."  So  be- 
lieved Cotton,  when  he  declared  that  the  banishment  of  Roger 
Williams  was  no  persecution,  because  it  was  for  acting  out  his 
principles  against  the  common  peace,  and  not  for  the  orderly 
belief  of  them.  Such  was  the  rule,  professed  by  the  authorities  of 
Massachusetts  in  all  their  collisions  with  the  different  individuals 
and  sects,  whom  they  felt  themselves  bound  to  resist,  as  subverters 
of  the  Commonwealth.  When  charged  with  persecution  for  con- 
science' sake,  as  they  were  repeatedly,  they  avowed  it,  as  pre- 
viously intimated,  to  be  at  variance  with  the  fact.  It  has  always 
been  the  natural  inclination  with  denominations,  suffering  from 
rulers  for  their  irregular  and  injurious  courses,  to  assume  the 
position  that  their  trouble  was  for  their  creed  and  not  for  their 
conduct.  Even  the  Mormons  of  Utah  have  bitterly  complained 
that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  lately  sending  forces  to 
prevent  their  notorious  violation  of  the  national  laws,  were  perse- 
cuting them  for  their  religion. 

Opinions  embraced  by  the  Quakers.*  "  They  denied  the  Holy 
Scriptures  to  be  the  only  rule  of  the  faith  and  manners,  and  ad- 
vanced their  light  within,  in  the  place  of  it.  They  denied  the 
received  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity  ;  the  morality  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  that  there  was  no  particular  day  set  apart  by  God  for 
divine  worship.  They  denied  the  two  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  ;  condemned  the  prayers  and  preachings  of  the 
public  ministers  ;  called  them  priests  of  Baal,  hirelings,  deceivers 
of  the  people,  and  exhorted  them  to  desert  their  market  houses,  as 
they  called  their  meeting  places,  on  pain  of  the  severest  judgments 
of  Almighty  God."  As  "to  the  person  of  Christ,"  they  called 
u  him  a  certain  heavenly  divine  body,  constituted  of  invisible  flesh, 
blood  and  bones,  in  which  he  came  down  from  heaven  ;  and  they 
directed  the  people  not  to  look  so  much  to  Christ  without  them,  as 
to  Christ  within  them." 

This  year,  the  subsequent  workf  was  published  in  London,  by 
Benjamin  Woodbridge,  Rector  of  Newbury,  in  the  County  of 
Berks.  It  was  left  by  Nicholas  Noyes,  of  Newbury,  among  his 
MSS.  It  has  two  Epistles  dedicatory,  by  Thomas  Parker,  colleague 
with  the  deceased.  One  of  them  is  to  King  Charles  II.,  and  the 
other  to  the  reader.  They  are  both  dated  at  Newbury,  in  New 
England,  August  6,  1660.     The  title  of  the  book  follows. 

"  Moses  and  Aaron,  or  the  Rights  of  Church  and  State,  contain- 

*  Neal's  N.  E.  vol.  i.  p.  341,  2.  f  Calamy,  vol.  i.  p.  132. 


BYKOB   i'i:ni'DM;i).  887 

1661.] 

ing  two  Disputations.  The  former  concerning  the  Church,  in 
which  arc  examined  the  Principles  of  Separation,  and  their  incon- 
listency  with  truth  and  peace  demonstrated  :  and  the  Government 
ot*  the  ('lunch  vindicated  into  the  bands  of  hex  proper  Rulers." 
The  Latter  asserts  the  sacredness  of  the  persons  and  authority  of 
Kings,  and  against  sacrilegious  usurpation  and  King-killing. 

Under  the  first  subject,  are  the  following  propositions:  "That 
the  whole  visible  Church  is  one  integral  body.  Right  to  ordi- 
nances depends  not  on  consociation  with  particular  churches.  One 
particular  church  may  consist  of  many  particular  congregations. 
Elders  are  essential  to  the  being  of  particular  churches.  Election 
by  the  Church  not  essential  to  the  constitution  of  Elders.  Ordina- 
tion of  Elders  by  common  members  unlawful.  Common  members 
may  not  govern  by  suffrage  together  with  their  Elders.  Elders 
preach  the  Gospel  by  way  of  office.  And  that  unto  all  the  world, 
as  occasion  serves.  And  are  also  Elders  unto  all  Churches,  as 
occasion  serves.  Private  men  may  not  preach  in  the  church. 
Bishops  according  to  Christ's  institution.  The  subordination  of 
ecclesiastical  power  to  civil.  The  subordination  of  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical power  to  Christ.  The  rule  of  admission  into  the  Church. 
All  Elders  are  teaching  Elders." 

Under  the  second  subject,  the  following  proposition  is  presented 
and  then  discussed  by  way  of  objections  and  replies.  "  Subordi- 
nate power  may  not  offensively  resist  supreme  power  in  an  hostile 
way  for  its  own  defense,  except  the  laws  of  the  place  do  so 
permit." 

December  3.  The  General  Court  agree  on  an  address  to  the 
King  in  reply  to  his  mandamus. 

4.  The  Council  "of  the  Common  Weale,*  do  judge  meet  to 
commend  vnto  the  Reverend  Elders  of  the  Churches  in  our  neigh- 
bouring Collonyes,  the  act  of  the  General  Court  "  for  a  "  Sinod- 
icall  meeting  to  be  held  in  March  next,  at  Boston,  by  the  mes- 
sengers of  all  the  Churches  of  this  Jurisdiction,  with  their  desires, 
if  they  shall  see  meet  to  afford  their  presence  and  help  in  the 
discussions  of  such  questions,  refering  to  the  order  and  practice  of 
these  Churches  in  the  things  of  God." 

9.  The  Legislature  order  Mr.  Salter,  prison  keeper  of  Boston, 
to  release  the  Quakers  in  his  custody. 

Besse  informs  us  that  of  the  Quakers  f  so  discharged,  were 
Elizabeth  Hooton  and  Joane  Brooksup ;  that  each  of  them  was 
about  sixty  years  of  age ;  that  they  came  from  England  this  year, 
by  the  way  of  Virginia,  and  through  many  difficulties  reached 
Boston ;  that,  when  discharged,  they  with  others,  were  carried 
"  two  days'  journey,"  that  is,  out  of  the  jurisdiction,  and  they 
reached  Rhode  Island  ;  that,  after  tarrying  here  a  few  days,  they 

*  Hutchinson  MS.  p.  240.  f  Vol.  ii.  p.  228,  9. 


288  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  AGENTS. 

[Mass. 

sailed  for  Barbadoes,  and  "  from  thence,  not  long  after,  they  came 
back  to  New  England."  On  arriving  at  Boston,  they  were  im- 
prisoned, and  immediately  put  on  board  of  a  ship  for  Virginia. 
After  suffering  here  for  her  religion,  Elizabeth  Hooton  "  went 
back  again  to  her  habitation  in  Old  England." 

Soon  after  such  a  release,  Edward  Wharton  comes  from  Rhode 
Island  and  stops  at  Taunton.*  When  the  constable  threatened  to 
whip  him  out  of  town,  he  replied,  "  Take  heed  what  thou  dost, 
for  the  King  hath  lately  sent  over  to  the  Rulers  in  New  England, 
to  charge  them  that  they  inflict  no  more  sufferings  upon  such  as  I 
am." 

10.  Persons  of  this  denomination  in  Salem  f  are  fined  from  £1 
to  £10  each.  John  Burton,  of  their  order,  declared  to  the  Jus- 
tices that  they  were  robbers  and  destroyers  of  the  widows  and 
fatherless,  and  that  their  priests  divined  for  money,  and  that  their 
worship  was  not  the  worship  of  God.  Being  commanded  silence, 
he  commanded  the  Court  to  be  silent.  He  continued  speaking  in 
this  manner  till  he  was  ordered  to  the  stocks. 

31.  Special  Court  convenes.  £  They  appoint  Simon  Bradstreet 
and  John  Norton  as  agents  to  present  their  address  to  the  King, 
and  negotiate  for  the  welfare  of  the  Colony.  A  reason  for  such  an 
appointment  is  that  information  had  come  from  London  of  further 
complaints  against  our  Rulers,  and  the  King  had  required  persons 
to  be  sent  thither  and  make  answer.  The  individuals  selected  for 
this  difficult  mission  are  loth  to  consent,  and  especially  Mr.  Nor- 
ton. Their  instructions  are  to  represent  the  Colonists  as  loyal 
subjects  ;  to  remove  the  "  scandalous  objections  "  to  them ;  to  ob- 
tain a  knowledge  of  what  the  King  and  his  Council  think  of  them, 
and  endeavor  to  establish  their  rights  and  privileges ;  to  make  no 
engagement  which  may  invalidate  their  charter  standing ;  and  to 
send  an  account  of  their  transactions  and  whatever  else  may  con- 
cern them. 

A  letter  is  ordered  for  the  "  Church  of  Christ  in  Boston  to  stir 
up  their  willing  mind  to  part  with  Mr.  Norton  to  further  the  service 
and  occasions  of  the  Country." 

"  The  Court  having  taken  into  consideration  that  there  are 
several  questions  and  doubts  yet  depending  in  the  Churches  of 
this  Jurisdiction,  do  therefore  order  and  hereby  desire  that  the 
Churches  aforesaid  do  send  their  Elders  and  Messengers  to  Boston 
£  Tuesday  of  1  mo. ;  "  that  they  "  make  due  provision  for  the  mes- 
sengers by  them  sent ;  that  the  neighboring  Elders,  with  as  much 
convenient  speed  as  may  be,  do  meet  together  and  consider  of 
such  questions,  besides  what  is  hereunder  proposed,  as  they  shall 
judge  necessary  to  be  then  and  there  discussed  for  the  settling  of 

*  Bishop,  p.  395.  f  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 

%  MS.  Mass,  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.     Chalmers'  Pol.  Annals,  p.  264-8. 


ST  BJBCTS   FOR   BT  NOD, 

MOB.] 

peace  and  truth  in  the  Churches  of  Christ,  and  make  their  return 
with  as  much  convenient  speed  as  may  he  to  the  Governor  or  Sec- 
retary : 

"  1.  Who  are  the  subjects  of  Baptism  I 

"2.  Whether  according  to  the  Word  of  God  there  ought  to  he  a 
Consociation  of  Churches,  and  what  should  he  the  manner  of  it  ?" 
This  last  question  was  returned  to  the  Secretary  by  the  Elders. 

1662.  January  4.  A  matter  which  excites  much  thought  and 
remark*  is  the  mission  to  London,  as  laid  on  Messrs.  Bradstreet 
and  Norton.  These  persons  thought,  from  the  opposition  exhibited 
there  to  Massachusetts,  they,  if  going  thither,  might  be  detained 
long  as  prisoners.  Though  the  Governor  and  his  Deputy  had 
been  designated  to  unite  with  others  of  the  General  Court,  to 
dispatch  the  Agents,  they  were  not  favorable  to  the  enterprise, 
and  therefore  declined.  The  Committee  now  hold  a  session  at  the 
Anchor  Tavern  in  Boston.  They  converse  with  the  Elders  of  the 
first  Church  in  the  town,  about  Mr.  Norton's  being  one  of  the  mes- 
sengers. Expecting  that  old  and  recent  difficulties  will  be  brought 
up,  they  order  copies  of  them,  in  relation  to  Rhode  Island,  Dr. 
Child  and  his  friends,  Gorton  and  company,  Quakers,  etc. 

18.  They  reply  to  objections  presented  by  the  Agents.  They 
observe :  "  The  Committee,  taking  the  premises  into  their  serious 
consideration,  cannot  but  look  upon  it  as  a  humbling  providence  of 
God  towards  his  poor  people,  that  whilst  they  are  endeavoring  to 
wait  on  God  in  the  use  of  all  lawful  means  left  unto  them  for  the 
preservation  of  such  high  favors  as,  in  sundry  respects,  he  hath 
been  pleased  to  trust  us  withall,  that  so  many  clouds  should  hover 
over  our  heads  for  the  darkening  our  paths." 

24.  After  several  other  communications  between  the  Committee 
and  the  Agents,  the  former  prepare  for  the  latter,  various  docu- 
ments. The  instructions  require  the  Agents  to  use  endeavors  for 
removing  objections  from  the  Colony,  and  retaining  the  Charter. 
An  address  to  the  King  states  that,  as  he  ordered,  the  corporal 
punishment  and  death  of  Quakers  had  been  suspended.  It  men- 
tions that  so  uncertain  are  affairs  here,  the  Rulers  are  continually 
in  dread  of  some  great  evil,  and  that  they  will  be  so  until  he  shall 
please  to  give  them  some  security.  A  letter  is  addressed  to  Lord 
Say,  as  a  tried  friend  of  Puritan  plantations,  entreating  him  to  use 
his  influence  in  favor  of  the  agency.  Another  is  sent  to  Lord 
Clarendon,  of  similar  import.  It  says  that  the  Quakers  so  abuse 
their  indulgence,  that  "  unless  his  Majesty  strengthen  our  hands  in 
application  to  some  suitable  remedy  to  suppress  these  and  others 
ill-affected  to  our  tranquillity,  this  hopeful  plantation  is  likely  in  all 
probability  to  be  destroyed." 

25.  Fifteen  gentlemen  raised,  as   a  loan  to  the  Colony,  over 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  345-74. 
37 


L 


290  FEARS   OF  THE    EMBASSY. 

[Mass. 

£300  for  the  Agents  to  carry  with  them.  A  letter  is  prepared  for 
Herbert  Pelham,  Francis  Willoqghby  and  others,  who  had  lived 
in  this  country,  desiring  them  to  grant  help  to  the  Agents,  if 
needed. 

28.  The  Committee  send  a  note  to  Governor  Endicott,  desiring 
him  to  give  his  official  sanction  to  the  papers  for  the  Agents.  Their 
words  are,  "  Which  if  you  refuse,  the  whole  business  will  be  frus- 
trated, and  we  fear  his  Majesty  greatly  incensed,  our  enemies 
advantaged,  our  friends  discouraged,  the  chief  power  of  this  Col- 
ony disappointed,  many  of  its  eminent  servants  grieved,  and  above 
all,  our  God  dishonored,  which  we  pray  may  be  avoided."  Endi- 
cott  complies.  But  on  account  of  Mr.  Norton's  illness,  the  Com- 
missioners did  not  sail  till  the  1 1th  of  February.  Four  days  pre- 
vious to  their  embarkation,  when  there  was  little  hope  that  they 
would  go,  the  Committee  prepared  letters  for  Richard  Saltonstall, 
Henry  Ashurst,  John  Leverett  and  Thomas  Temple,  and  besought 
them  to  speak  in  behalf  of  Massachusetts  as  need  should  require. 

As  an  expression  of  prevalent  opinion,*  respecting  this  embassy, 
we  quote  from  a  letter  of  John  Pynchon  to  Mr.  Davenport,  of 
New  Haven,  under  the  next  March  26  :  "  Our  General  Court, 
after  much  agitation  and  opposition,  have  at  last  sent  two  messen- 
gers to  England.  I  pray  God,  it  may  be  for  the  best.  The  event 
is  doubtful  to  me,  seeing  we  have  so  many  false  friends  and  open 
enemies."  The  fears  of  the  people  about  Messrs.  Norton  and 
Bradstreet,  while  absent,  were  denoted  by  reports  in  many  letters, 
stating  that  they  were  detained,  and  that  the  former  was  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower. 

February  7.  Though  many  in  England  would  have  had  the 
King  utterly  disannul  the  Act,  which  provided  Christian  instruc- 
tion for  the  Indians  of  our  country,  because,  as  they  urged,  it  was 
granted  without  any  royal  assent,  he  still  declined  to  comply  with 
their  wishes,  f  He  renews  the  document,  which  styles  those, 
who  are  so  privileged,  "  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  heathen  natives  of  New  England  and  the  parts 
adjacent."  This  was  a  favor,  welcome  to  our  fathers,  who  desired 
and  sought  the  religious  improvement  of  the  original  inhabitants. 
"The  Act  mentions  that  several  ministers  had  learnt  the  language  of 
the  natives,  and  had  been  instrumental  of  bringing  many  of  them 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  the  profession  of  the  Pro- 
testant religion.  It  incorporates  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  the 
Lord  Chancellor  and  others,  and  empowers  them  to  purchase  and 
take  lands,  etc.  to  the  value  of  £2,000  per  annum,  and  goods,  etc. 
to  any  value."  It  provides  for  the  appointment  of  Commissioners 
in  New  England    who  may  contract  with  ministers  and  school- 

*  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  202.  f  Humphrey's  Hist.  p.  6.     Mather's 

MS.  Papers.     Bireh's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  319-35. 


OPINION   OF   DISSEH  n  us.  291 

1669.] 

masters,  and  with  others  for  Btipplies,  for  teaching  the  Indians  qo! 

only  in  ch  ili/ation  and  religion  ;  "  in  the  knowledge  of  the  English 
tongue,  libera]  arts  and  sciences;"  but  "for  educating  them  01 
their  children  in  some  trade,  mistery  or  lawful  calling." 

10.   William  Pynchon  dates  the  preface  of  his  reply  to  John 

Norton,  at  Wraisbury,  England,  denominated  "  The  Covenant  of 
Nature  with  Adam  described  and  cleared  from  sundry  mistakes." 

li).  Three  members  of  the  Salem  Church  arc  excommunicated 
for  neglect  of  its  ordinances.  Three  more  are  admonished  and 
were  cut  off  on  the  26th,  for  a  like  offense.     They  were  Quakers. 

26.  The  Council  of  the  King  order  all  persons,*  who  have  com- 
missions  from  New  England  and  who  can  give  account  of  these 
parts,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Crown,  to  attend  the  Board,  on  March 
6,  at  3  o'clock,  P.  M.,  "  particularly  Col.  Thomas  Temple  and  Mr. 
Winthrop." 

March  10.  The  Synod  having  assembled  in  Boston,f  the  opinion 
of  dissenting  brethren  is  laid  before  them.  It  is  signed  by«Charles 
Chauncy,  as  messenger  from  the  church  of  Cambridge,  John 
Mayo,  from  North  Church  of  Boston,  Eleazer  Mather  from  that  of 
Northampton,  and  Increase  Mather  from  that  of  Dorchester,  "  with 
the  consent  of  several  others  "  in  the  Synod. 

As  the  members  perceive,  on  the  11th,  that  the  questions  before 
them  require  more  time  for  deliberation  than  they  can  give,  they 
adjourn  to  the  10th  of  June.  They  agreed  to  discuss  the  topics 
proposed  to  them  by  the  General  Court  at  their  next  meeeting,  viz., 
subjects  of  baptism  and  association  of  churches. 

30.  Samuel  Haugh,  or  Hough,  the  second  minister  of  Reading, 
dies  at  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  Hezekiah  Usher,  Boston. 
He  was  son  to  Atherton  Haugh,  who  came  in  1633,  from  Boston, 
England,  where  he  had  been  Mayor,  and  settled  with  Mr.  Cotton 
in  the  place  named  after  that  city. 

The  Magnalia  represents  him  as  among  the  young  scholars  who 
had  not  finished  their  education  when  emigrating  to  our  Colony, 
but  did  so  here  before  Harvard  bestowed  its  degrees.  Circum- 
stances indicate,  that  Cotton  was  his  spiritual  guide,  and  that  he 
followed  this  eminent  teacher  while  he  lived,  and  became  a  partaker 
with  him  in  perfect  wisdom,  when  he  died.  His  widow,  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Zechariah  Symmes,  married  John  Brock,  the 
successor  of  her  first  husband.  He  left  three  daughters,  who  had 
divisions  of  his  property  in  1682,  and  a  son,  Samuel,  who  inherited 
his  father's  estate  at  Cambridge. 

May  7.  The  General  Court  assemble.  J  They  pass  various 
orders.  "  Whereas  there  is  excess  in  apparel  among  us,  unbecom- 
ing a  wilderness  condition  and  the  profession  of  the  gospel,  where- 
by the  rising  generation  are  in   danger  to   be   corrupted,"   it  is 

*  MS.  Council  Rec.         f  Mather's  MS.  Papers.        J  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


292  RENEWAL  OF  THE  MISSION. 

[Mass. 

required,  that  all  persons,  who  wear  clothes  above  their  "qualit 
and  condition,"  shall  be  admonished  for  the  first  offense,  fined  foi 
the  second,  and  increasingly  so  for  subsequent  violations. 

With  reference  to  Quakers,  it  is  ordered,  that  all  straDgers  anc 
foreigners,  who  go  from  one  town  to  another,  drawing  away  younj 
and  old,  shall  be  prosecuted  and  punished  as  vagrants. 

In  view  of  sickness,  disunion,  drought,  depression  on  account 
the  public  affairs,  and  the  Synod,  soon  to  convene,  Fast  day 
assigned  to  the  5th  of  June. 

One  thousand  acres  of  land  are  granted  to  Maiden  for  the  su] 
port  of  their  ministry. 

On  petition  of  Jane  Harwocd,  her  daughter  is  allowed  to  retui 
from  banishment,  and  submit  to  the  discretion  of  the  Court. 

As   Nicholas   Upshall    had  not  complied  with  the   restrictioi 
imposed  on  him,  he  is  again  confined  to  the  house  of  John  Oapei 
at  Dorchester. 

Benjamin  Gillam's  wife,  fined  for  non-attendance  on  public  wor- 
ship and  imprisoned,  is  discharged,  if  she  keep  at  home  and  attenc 
meeting,  as  the  law  requires. 

Robert  Lord,  captain  of  the  ship  St.  George,  relates  the  manner 
in  which  he  received  Ann  Coleman  on  board  of  his  vessel,  not 
being  aware  that  she  was  a  Quaker,  when  she  paid  her  passage 
money.  After  her  arrival,  she  hact  actively  circulated  books,  whicl 
treated  on  the  doctrines  of  her  denomination.  She  said  her  errand 
here  was  to  bear  her  testimony  against  the  authorities,  for  the  deatl 
of  such  as  had  been  executed.  He  agrees  to  keep  her  in  the  shij 
until  he  sails.  He  is  released  from  the  £100  fine,  and  requirec 
to  pav  only  one  barrel  of  powder. 

15.  The  Missionary  Corporation  write*  to  the  Commissioners. 
They  state,  that  his  Majesty  and  Council  had  granted  them 
charter  for  the  continuation  of  their  work,  having  added  to  theii 
number  "many  of  the  nobilitie  and  other  persons  of  qualitie." 
They  mention,  that  no  small  part  of  their  landed  property  he 
been  taken  from  them  by  unjust  lawsuits. 

21.  President  Boyle  writes  to  Michael  Boyle,f  bishop  of  Corl 
respecting  forfeited  impropriations  in  Ireland,  committed  to 
care.  He  remarks :  "  And  I  should  possibly  employ  the  other 
third  part  also  the  same  way,  but  that  his  Majesty  has  been  pleased 
to  appoint  me  Governor  to  a  Corporation  for  the  propagating  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  heathen  natives  in  New  England  and  other  parts 
of  America.  And  this  Corporation,  being  at  great  charges  for 
necessary  works,  and  especially  for  the  translating  and  printing  of 
the  Bible  in  the  Indian  tongue,  above  one  half  of  their  revenue  is 
injuriously  detained  from  them  by  a  person,  who  had  sold  it  to  a 
Corporation,  erected  for  the  same  purposes  with  ours,  under  the 

*  MS.  Com.  Rec.   Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  4-53,  4.       f  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  136. 


SUBJECTS  Of  BAPTISM. 
1689.] 

late  Usurping  powers,  ami  now  lias  repossessed  himself  of  his  land, 
because  those,  that  we  Bold  it  to,  were  do!  legally  qualified  to  have 
■  sale  made  to  them.  l>y  which  means  so  pious  a  design,  as  is 
pursued  by  this  Corporation,  is  now  ID  danger  to  miscarry  for  want, 
of  maintenance  ;    so  that  the  work  being  SO  charitable,  and  I  having 

a  peculiar  call  to  promote  it,  1  think,  after  having  advised  with  the 
bishop  o(  Lincoln  in  the  case,  that  it  becomes  me,  on  such  a  junc- 
ture of  circumstances,  to  apply  the  one  third  part,  or  thereabouts, 
of  what  the  King's  grant  will  yield  me,  for  six  or  seven  years  at 
.  to  the  carrying  on  of  so  unquestionably  good  a  work;  so 
that  the  main  benefit  I  intend  to  derive  from  the  King's  bounty,  is 
the  opportunity  of  doing  some  good  with  what,  if  my  friends  had 
not  obtained  it,  might  have  been  begged  by  others,  who  would 
have  otherwise  employed  it."  On  August  13,  Bishop  Boyle  replies 
and  objects  to  any  appropriation  of  such  funds  to  New  England. 

June  10.  The  adjourned  Synod  meet.  A  reply  of  John  Dav- 
enport to  the  seven  propositions,  concluded  on  by  them,  and  an- 
other from  his  colleague,  Mr.  Street,  are  laid  before  them  by 
Increase  Mather. 

On  July  4,  the  Synod  having  adjourned,  Eleazer  Mather  of 
Northampton  writes  to  Mr.  Davenport :  "  There  was  scarce  any  of 
the  Congregational  principles  but  what  were  layen  at  by  some  or 
other  of  the  assembly  ;  as  relations  of  the  work  of  grace,  power  of 
voting  of  the  fraternity  in  admission,  etc.,  profession  of  faith  and 
repentance  not  to  be  required  of  such  as  were  baptized  in  the 
church,  in  reference  to  the  baptism  of  their  children.*  Mr.  Parker 
of  Newbury  was  one  of  the  great  antagonists  of  the  Congrega- 
tional way  and  order,  though  it  not  being  the  work  of  the  present 
Synod,  his  many  motions  to  consider  whether  we  were  in  the  right 
ecclesiastical  order,  were  not  attended."  This  writer  was  the 
senior  brother  of  Increase  Mather,  and  both  of  them  felt  morally 
constrained  to  differ  from  their  father  on  the  decision  of  the  Synod, 
as  to  baptism. 

This  Body,  on  the  9th  of  September,!  reassemble  in  Boston. 
Their  number  consisted  of  above  seventy  elders  and  messengers. 
The  following  comes  before  them.  First.  "  Who  are  the  subjects 
of  Baptism  ?  "  The  answrer  may  be  given  in  the  seven  propositions, 
briefly  confirmed  from  the  Scriptures. 

1.  They  that  according  to  Scripture,  are  members  of  the  visible 
church,  are  the  subjects  of  baptism. 

2.  The  members  of  the  visible  church,  according  to  Scripture, 
are  confederate  visible  believers,  in  particular  churches,  and  their 
infant-seed,  i.  e.  children  in  minority,  whose  next  parents,  one  or 
both,  are  in  covenant. 

3.  The  infant-seed  of  confederate  visible  believers,  are  members 

*  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  205. 

f  Hubbard's  New  Eng.  p.  287-90.     Magnalia,  2d  ed.  vol.  ii.  p.  239-58. 


294  APOLOGETICAL  PREFACE. 

[Mass. 

of  the  same  church  with  their  parents,  and  when  grown  up,  are 
personally  under  the  watch,  discipline  and  government  of  that 
church. 

4.  These  adult  persons  are  not  therefore  to  be  admitted  into  full 
communion,  merely  because  they  are  and  continue  members,  with- 
out such  further  qualifications,  as  the  Word  of  God  requireth 
thereunto. 

5.  Church  members  who  are  admitted  in  minority,  understand- 
ing the  doctrine  of  faith,  and  publicly  professing  their  assent 
thereto  ;  not  scandalous  in  life,  and  solemnly  owning  the  covenant 
before  the  church,  wherein  they  give  up  themselves  and  their 
children  to  the  Lord,  and  subject  themselves  to  the  government  of 
Christ  in  the  church,  their  children  are  to  be  baptized. 

6.  Such  church  members,  who  either  by  death  or  some  other 
extraordinary  providence,  have  been  inevitably  hindered  from 
public  acting  as  aforesaid,  yet  have  given  the  church  cause  in 
judgment  of  charity,  to  look  at  them  as  so  qualified,  and  such  as, 
had  they  been  called  thereunto,  would  have  so  acted,  their  children 
are  to  be  baptized. 

7.  The  members  of  orthodox  churches,  being  sound  in  the 
faith  and  not  scandalous  in  life,  and  presenting  due  testimony 
thereof;  these  occasionally  coming  from  one  church  to  another, 
may  have  their  children  baptized  in  the  church  whither  they  come, 
by  virtue  of  communion  of  churches  ;  but  if  they  remove  their 
habitation,  they  ought  orderly  to  covenant  and  subject  themselves 
to  the  government  of  Christ  in  the  church  where  they  settle  their 
abode,  and  so  their  children  to  be  baptized.  It  being  the  churches' 
duty  to  receive  such  into  communion  so  far  as  they  are  regularly 
fit  for  the  same. 

The  reply  to  the  Apologetical  Preface,  p.  3,  says  as  to  members, 
who  did  not  agree  with  the  large  majority  on  the  first  topic,  "  We 
suppose  there  were  not  five  twice-told,  that  did  in  anything  vote 
on  the  negative.  In  the  third  proposition,  which  some  think  carries 
the  whole  cause,  there  appeared  not  above  three  that  dissented. 
The  conclusion  of  the  rest,  after  they  had  heard  and  considered  all 
that  the  Dissenters  had  to  say,  or  were  pleased  to  say,  both  by  way 
of  writing  and  verbal  dispute,  may  well  pass  for  the  Synodical 
Sentence,  and  is  to  be  received  according  to  order." 

On  this  subject  we  have  the  following  observations  *  from  In- 
crease Mather :  "  There  were  multitudes  of  well-disposed  persons, 
who  professed  themselves  desirous  to  renew  their  baptismal  cove- 
nant, and  submit  unto  the  church-discipline,  and  so  have  their 
houses  also  marked  for  the  Lord's ;  but  yet  they  could  not  come 
up  to  that  experimental  account  of  their  Regeneration,  which  would 
sufficiently  embolden  their  access  unto  the  Table  of  the  Lord,  and 

*  Remarkables  of  Increase  Mather,  p,  50-2. 


CONSOCIATION   OP  CHURCHES.  295 

1062.] 

which  thi'  Churches  required  of  them."  To  make  no  distinction 
between  persona  oi'  this  character  and  others  of  leai  leriousnessj 
«  was  judged  an  unwarrantable  strictness,  which  would  quickly 
abandon  the  biggest  part  of  the  country  unto  circumstances  by  DO 
means  to  be  wished  for,  But  on  the  other  side,  it.  was  feared,  that 
it'  all  such  as  had  not  yet  exposed  themselves  by  censurable  scan- 
dals found  upon  them,  should  be  admitted  unto  all  the  privileges 
in  our  Churches,  a  worldly  generation  of  men  might,  before  we  are 
aware,  carry  things  into  such  a  course  of  proceeding,  as  would  be 
too  disagreeable  unto  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  which  the  Church 
is  to  represent  unto  the  world.  The  thing  became  u  considerable 
controversy."  Therefore,  a  Synod  is  assembled  by  order  of  the 
General  Court.  He  says  of  the  fifth  proposition,  "  This  was  most 
contested  of  all  the  subjects  presented." 

The  Synod  then  take  up  the  inquiry,  whether  there  sbould  be  a 
Consociation  of  Churches  ?  Their  reply  will  be  given  compendi- 
ou>lv  *  so  far  as  its  signification  will  allow. 

"  1.  Every  Church  or  particular  congregation  of  visible  saints 
in  gospel  order,  being  furnished  with  a  presbytery,  at  least  with  a 
teaching  elder,  and  walking  together  in  truth  and  peace,  hath  re- 
ceived from  the  Lord  Jesus  full  power  and  authority,  ecclesiastical 
within  itself,  regularly  to  administer  all  the  ordinances  of  Christ, 
and  is  not  under  any  other  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  whatever. 

"  2.  The  Churches  of  Christ  do  stand  in  a  sisterly  relation  to 
each  other. 

"  3.  Communion  of  Churches  is  the  faithful  improvement  of  the 
gifts  of  Christ,  bestowed  upon  them,  for  his  service  and  glory  and 
their  mutual  good  edification,  according  to  capacity  and  opportunity. 

"  4.  Acts  of  Communion  of  Churches  are  such  as  these  :  1,  hearty 
care  and  prayer  one  for  another;  2,  to  afford  relief,  by  communica- 
tion of  their  gifts  in  temporal  or  spiritual  necessities  ;  3,  to  main- 
tain unity  and  peace,  by  giving  an  account  one  to  another  of  their 
publick  actions,  when  it  is  orderly  desired ;  4,  to  seek  and  accept 
help  from,  and  give  help  unto  each  other,  in  case  of  divisions  and 
contentions, — in  matters  of  more  than  ordinary  importance, — in 
doubtful  and  difficult  questions  and  controversies,  doctrinal  or  prac- 
tical,— for  rectifying  mal-administrations  and  healing  errors  and 
scandals ;  5,  in  love  and  faithfulness  to  take  notice  of  the  troubles 
and  difficulties,  errors  and  scandals  of  another  church,  and  to  ad- 
minister help,. (when  the  case  necessarily  calls  for  it,)  though  they 
should  so  neglect  their  own  good  and  duty  as  not  to  seek  it ;  6,  to 
admonish  one  another,  when  there  is  need  and  cause  for  it,  and 
after  due  means  with  patience  used,  to  withdraw  from  a  church,  or 
peccant  party  therein,  obstinately  persisting  in  error  or  scandal,  as 
in  the  platform  of  discipline. 

*  Magnalia,  2d  ed.  vol.  ii.  p.  256-8. 


296  TERMS   OF   PARTAKING  THE   SACRAMENT. 

[Mass. 

"  5.  Consociation  of  Churches  is  their  mutual  and  solemn  agree- 
ment to  exercise  communion  in  such  acts  as  aforesaid. 

"  6.  The  Churches  of  Christ  in  this  country,  having  so  good  an 
opportunity  for  it,  it  is  meet  to  be  commended  to  them,  as  their 
duty  thus  to  consociate. 

"  7.  The  manner  of  the  Churches'  agreement  herein,  or  entering 
into  this  Consociation,  may  be  by  each  church's  open  consenting 
unto  the  things  here  declared  in  answer  to  the  second  proposition. 

"  8.  The  manner  of  exercising  that  communion  may  be  by  mak- 
ing: use  occasionally  of  elders  or  able  brethren  of  other  churches,  or 
by  the  more  solemn  meetings  of  both  elders  and  messengers,  in 
less  or  greater  councils,  as  the  matter  shall  require." 

With  regard  to  the  latter  subject,  the  Defence  *  of  the  Synod, 
whose  language  we  have  just  quoted,  has  the  following  sentences. 
"  Touching  Consociation  of  Churches. — there  appeared  no  dissent 
or  dissatisfaction  in  the  Synod  about  the  matter.  Our  brethren 
that  dissented  in  the  former  question,  readily  and  fully  consented 
in  this." 

In  reference  to  such  an  occasion,  the  Magnalia  observes  :  f  "  As 
the  divines  of  New  England  were  solicitous  that  the  propagation 
of  our  churches  might  hold  pace  with  that  of  our  offspring,  so  they 
were  industrious  for  the  combination  of  our  churches  into  such  a 
bundle  of  arrows,  as  might  not  be  easily  broken." 

June  28.  The  declaration  of  Charles  II.  to  this  Colony,J  presents 
several  passages  of  great  interest.  After  mentioning  the  reception 
of  an  address  from  them,  through  their  agents,  it  proceeds :  "  Wee 
are  willing  that  all  our  good  subjects  of  that  Plantation  do  know, 
that  wee  doe  receive  them  into  our  gracious  protection,  and  doe 
confirm  the  Charter,  granted  to  them  by  our  royall  father  of  blessed 
memory ;  and  wee  require,  that  they,  that  desire  to  use  the  booke 
of  common  prayer  and  perform  their  devotion  in  that  manner,  that 
is  established  here,  be  not  denyed  the  exercise  thereof;  and  that 
all  persons  of  good  and  honest  lives  and  conversation,  be  admitted 
to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  according  to  the  said  booke 
of  common  prayer,  and  their  children  to  baptisme.  Wee  cannot 
be  understood  hereby  to  direct  or  wish  that  any  indulgence  should 
be  granted  to  those  persons,  commonly  called  Quakers,  whose 
principles  being  inconsistent  with  any  kind  of  government,  wee 
have  found  it  necessary,  with  the  advise  of  our  Parliament  here,  to 
make  a  sharp  law  against  them,  and  are  well  content  you  doe  the 
like  there."  "  Wee  commanding  all  persons  concerned,  that,  in 
the  election  of  the  governor  or  assistants,  there  be  only  considera- 
tion of  the  wisdome  and  integrity  of  the  persons  to  be  chosen,  and 
not  of  any  faction  with  reference  to  their  opinion  or  profession,  and 

*  Page  99.  f  Magnalia,  vol.  ii.  p.  239. 

J  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  605-7.     Council  for  X.  E.  papers. 


PR0TE8TA1N  l    i  SED    POB    PURITAN.  Wl 

that  all  the  freeholders  of  competent  estates,  not  vicious  in  conver- 
sation, orthodox  in  religion,  (though  of  different  persuasions  con- 
cerning church-government,}  may  have  their  vote  in  the  election  of 
all  officers,  civill  or  military."  Thus  while  our  ancestors  were  re- 
lieved from  the  fears  of  losing  their  Charter,  they  were  commanded 
to  admit  usages  in  the  choice  ol'  rulers,  which  required  essential 
Changes  in  the  relations  between  their  political  and  ecclesiastical 
privileges. 

Near  this  date,  Fox  counsels*  his  friends  in  New  England  to  be 
valiant  for  the  truth  among  those  "  whose  hearts  are  dens  of 
dragons."  He  states,  that  at  a  meeting  with  Bradstreet  and  Nor- 
ton in  London,  he  questioned  them  about  the  hanging  of  Robinson 
and  other  Quakers  at  Boston ;  and  that  they,  at  first,  confessed  that 
thev  had  a  concern  in  such  execution,  but  afterwards  were  less 
willing  to  own  it.  A  good  reason  suggests  itself  for  such  conduct 
of  the  agents. 

On  account  of  the  Court  party's  opposition  to  all  dissenters  from 
the  order  of  the  national  Church,f  the  term  Puritan,  which  had 
been  applied  to  thS  Congregationalists,  is  dropped  in  England,  as 
Burnet  says,  and  that  of  Protestant  non-conformist  is  applied  to 
the  last  denomination,  and  also  to  the  Presbyterians,  Anabaptists 
and  Quakers. 

July.  A  letter  from  Eleazer  Mather  +  to  Mr.  Davenport,  showing 
the  severity  of  government  in  England,  holds  the  subsequent  lan- 
guage :  "  Here  is  come  with  Woodgreene,  one  Mr.  Davies,  a  rich 
merchant ;  and  there  came  with  him  one  Mr.  Allen,  a  young  man, 
a  very  able  teacher,  recommended  by  Mr.  Goodwin.  He  hath 
taught  here  divers  times  since  he  came.  Many  are  expected  this 
summer.  Mr.  Bartlett  of  Biddeford  and  his  son  were  shipped  for 
New  England,  but  an  oath  being  required  of  them  before  they 
could  get  out  of  the  harbor,  they  chose  to  die  in  prison  rather  than 
take  it.  Mr.  Allen  was  named  James,  and  had  been  a  fellow  of 
New  College,  Oxford." 

2.  The  Royal  Council  order  §  that  a  contribution  be  taken, 
throughout  Wales  and  England,  for  the  Society  to  Propagate  the 
Gospel  in  New  England. 

3.  A  writer  expresses  himself  as  follows  :  "There  was  a  Generall 
Governour  and  a  major  Generall  chosen  for  this  Countrie  ||  to  serve 
vpon  ye  Melitia  for  ye  King,  and  a  Bishop  and  SufFracan  for  ecclesi- 
astical government,  but  Mr.  Norton  writes  yl  they  are  not  yet  out 
of  hopes  to  prevent  it.  The  Governour's  name  is  Sir  Robert  Carr, 
a  rank  papist."  This  shows  that  our  fathers  scarcely  escaped  going 
over  a  political  precipice.    "  There  are  great  thoughts  of  heart  among 

*  Fox's  Work,  vol.  ii.  p.  178,  243.  f  Neal,  vol.  ii.  p.  524. 

1  Hutch.  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  207.     Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  75. 
§  MS.  Council  Records.  §  Mather,  MS.  Papers. 

38 


298  ACT  REQUIRING  UNIFORMITY. 

[Mass. 

ye  godly  about  vs,  what  imposicons  wilbe  laid  vpon  N.  E.  The 
Episcopal  Government  is  by  act  of  Parliament  proclaimed  through- 
out England.  There  is  great  talke  of  many  ministers  with  theire 
Congregacons  comeing  ouer  the  next  yeare,  if  roome  can  be  found 

for  y\" 

7.  John  Bushrod  of  Dorchester,  England,  writes  to  Increase 
Mather  of  Boston  :  "  I  presume  you  heare  what  a  dread  full  day 
24  Aug.  next  is  like  to  be  with  us ;  exact  conformity  being  then 
enjoined,  to  which  few  good  men  can  come  up.  The  Lord  fit  us 
for  that  trvall." 

August  24.  The  Act  requiring  uniformity*  with  the  Episcopal 
forms  and  doctrines  of  worship  in  England,  goes  into  effect  and 
occasions  the  ejection  of  two  thousand  ministers.  Many  of  them 
and  their  families  must  have  starved,  had  not  their  sympathizing 
countrymen  contributed  to  their  necessities.  Part  of  them  intend 
to  embark  for  this  country. 

September  10.  The  Commissioners  write  f  to  the  Missionary 
Corporation  in  London.  They  speak  in  grateful  terms  for  the  favor 
shown  by  the  King  in  continuing  "  the  wonfed  liberties  "  of  the 
Colony  and  the  Indian  missions.  They  relate,  "  The  Bible  is  now 
about  half  done.  The  other  half  is  like  to  be  finished  in  a  year." 
Of  the  various  Indian  scholars  under  their  patronage,  are  two  at 
the  College. 

They  invite  Mr.  Peirson  to  take  up  his  residence  at  Southertown, 
[Stonington,]  and  preach  to  the  Pequots,  who  dwell  thereabouts. 
They  advise  John  Stanton  to  improve  in  his  preparation  for  preach- 
ing among  the  natives,  and  "in  the  presence  of  his  father  com- 
municate the  Catechism  and  some  part  of  Scripture  to  them,  teach- 
ing their  children  to  read  and  write."  They  request  Matthew 
Mayhew,  "  devoted  by  his  parents  to  the  work,"  while  attending 
to  other  studies,  also  to  learn  the  Indian  language,  now  he  has  a 
convenient  opportunity. 

October  8.  The  General  Court  assemble. J  The  Royal  letter 
brought  by  Bradstreet  and  Norton,  is  read  to  them.  As  a  guaran- 
tee to  them  of  their  Charter,  they  have  ground  for  encouragement, 
though  it  restrains  their  previous  freedom. 

They  appoint  public  Thanksgiving  for  fruits  of  the  earth,  for  safe 
and  speedy  return  of  the  agents  from  England,  for  continued  peace, 
liberties  and  the  Gospel,  to  be  the  first  Wednesday  of  November. 

They  revive  the  law  of  May,  1661,  for  inflicting  corporal  pun- 
ishments on  Quakers,  except  that  they  shall  be  whipped  only  in 
three  towns. 

They  order  a  Fast  to  be  observed  on  the  first  Wednesday  of 
December,  because  of  the  "  low  state  of  the  cause  and  people  of 

*  Neal,  vol.  ii.  p.  516-22.  f  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  457,  8. 

J  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


v>  pRnrrnra  unless  licensed.  899 

God  universally,  with  the  prevailing  power  of  Antichrist  over  the 
Reformed  Churches,  beyond  the  seas,  together  with  some  public 
rebukes  of  ( rod  among  ours<  Ives." 

Rev.  John  Wilson,  Sen.,  Richard  Mather,  John  Allen  and 
Zechariah  Symmes  enter  the  Court  and  present  the  result  of  the 
late  Synod.*  When  the  Court  had  heard  it,  they  commended  it 
to  "  all  the  churches  and  people  of  this  jurisdiction,"  and  ordered 
it  to  be  printed.  They  recommend  that  it  have  a  preface  pre- 
pared by  Mr.  Mitchel.  The  work  was  accordingly  issued  from 
thr  press,  accompanied  with  the  Anti-Synodalia,  or  judgment  of 
the  dissenting  messengers,  from  the  pen  of  President  Chauncy. 

In  the  Preface  of  Norton's  Letter  to  Dury,  we  have  the  ensuing 
passage  as  to  the  Synod's  result.  "It  will  be  found  most  evident 
to  any,  that  shall  survey  the  constitution  and  state  of  the  churches, 
that  the  principal,  if  not  the  sole  reason,  why  the  same  things,  then 
agreed  upon,  were  not  long  before  set  afoot  and  practised,  was  not 
any  doubt  or  scruple  about  the  duty  of  the  things  themselves,  but 
the  want  of  agreement  about  the  way  and  manner,  how  they  might 
most  conveniently  and  safely  be  put  in  practice ;  which  being  now 
fully  cleared  up  in  the  Propositions  of  the  said  Synod,  the  asper- 
sion cast  upon  their  former  church-administrations,  as  too  much 
favouring  the  way  of  the  Separation,  is  not  only  now  removed,  but 
an  expedient  found  out  for  the  holding  communion  with  other 
Orthodox  Churches,  in  things  lawful  and  necessary,  without  any 
prejudice  to  the  purity  of  their  worship."  This  was  the  expression 
of  most  of  the  ministers  in  New  England. 

Mr.  Mitchel,  who  was  one  of  the  principal  composers  of  the 
Result,  remarked,  as  his  Life  states :  *'  We  make  account  that  if 
we  keep  baptism  within  the  non-excommunicable,  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  within  the  compass  of  those  that  have  (unto  charity)  some- 
what of  the  poiver  of  godliness,  or  grace  in  exercise,  we  shall  be 
near  about  the  right  middle- way  of  church-reformation."  This 
middle-way  has  ever  since  been  called  the  half-way  covenant, 
which  was  long  observed  by  most  of  the  orthodox  Congrega- 
tion alists. 

To  prevent  abuses  by  the  printing  press,  the  Court  order  that 
no  copy  shall  be  printed  unless  first  licensed  by  Daniel  Gookin  and 
Jonathan  Mitchel. 

15.  A  petition  of  John  Touton,  Chirurgeon  of  Rochelle,f 
France,  that  he  and  many  other  Protestauts,  living  in  that  city,  but 
ordered  to  leave  their  homes  on  account  of  religion,  may  dwell  in 
Massachusetts,  is  granted. 

Capt.  Thomas  Breedan  or  Breden,  who  had  taken  a  strong  stand 
in  London  adversely  to  the  politics  and  religion  of  this  Colony,  and 
been  appointed  to  govern  Nova  Scotia  and  Acadie,  appears  before 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers. 


300  DISSENTERS  IX  THE   SYNOD. 

[Mass. 

the  Legislature.  He  has  leave  to  raise  troops  for  protecting  Indian 
traders  there  against  the  Mohawks.  But  assuming  authoritative 
airs  over  our  Kulers,  they  have  him  committed  to  prison,  fined 
£200,  and  obligated  in  an  equal  sum  more  to  keep  the  peace.  The 
fine  was  remitted  next  year,  at  the  request  of  Sir  Thomas  Temple. 
He  seemed  to  imagine,  that  because  our  authorities  were  unpopular 
with  the  royal  functionaries  at  home,  he  could  intrude  on  their 
rights  here  as  Englishmen.  But  he  found,  that  though  they  had 
made  concessions  to  preserve  the  Commonwealth,  there  was  a  limit 
beyond  which  they  would  not  be  driven.  On  the  other  hand, 
individuals  who  spoke  against  royal  authority,  were  called  to  ac- 
count. 

21.  Increase  Mather  writes  to  John  Davenport  :*  "I  have  your 
writings  still  in  my  hands.  I  offered  the  Synod  to  read  them, 
but  Mr.  Norton  advised  them  not  to  suffer  me,  whereupon  I  let 
them  have  a  copy  of  them,  which  was  generally  transcribed.  I 
have  given  in  yours  and  Mr.  Street's  testimony  unto  the  General 
Court,  with  a  preface  subscribed  by  Mr.  Chauncy,  Mr.  Mayo,  my 
brother  and  myself,  in  the  name  of  others  of  the  dissenting  breth- 
ren in  the  Synod,  wherein  we  declare,  that  we  fully  concur  with 
what  is  inserted  by  yourself  in  those  papers.  Some  of  the  Court 
would  fain  have  thrown  them  out  without  reading,  but  the  major 
part  were  not  so  violent.  It  was  moved  they  might  be  printed. 
All  the  answer  we  could  get  was,  that  we  might  do  as  we  would. 
We  count  it  a  favour,  we  were  not  commanded  to  be  silent.  You 
may  see  which  way  things  are  like  to  be  carried." 

To  the  reply  of  Davenport,  which  was  printed,  Increase  Mather 
wrote  an  Apologetical  Preface. 

28.  William  Worcester  dies.f  He  emigrated  to  New  England 
about  1637.  The  next  year  he  seems  to  have  become  pastor  of 
the  Salisbury  Church.  He  was  accepted  as  a  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Company,  or  as  a  freeman,  1640.  He  was  held  in 
high  estimation  by  the  principal  colonists.  On  the  submission  of 
his  parish  concerns  to  the  decision  of  the  General  Court  in  165S, 
then  a  reference  of  propriety  and  frequency,  they  remarked  as  to 
his  eminent  labors,  "  They  of  New  Town  should  forbear  to  content 
themselves  with  private  help,  whilst  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  continue 
so  bright  a  star  in  their  candlestick."  His  wife  Sarah  died  April, 
1650,  and  left  several  children.  He  next  married  one  of  his 
parishioners,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Hall,  a  lady  of  education,  wealth  and 
piety.  She  survived  him  and  took  for  her  fourth  husband,  Deputy 
Governor  Samuel  Symonds.  Mr.  Worcester,  after  a  ministry  of 
devotedness  to  Christ,  deceased  at  an  advanced  age. 

November  25.    A  considerable  amount  of  money,:}:  as  fines  on 

*  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  205,  6.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Life 

o*  Samuel  Worcester,  D.  D.  vol.  i.  p.  6-24.  ;  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 


BYNODIOAL   DECISION,  801 

nm.} 

Balem Quakers,  ;.-  assessed  for  absence  from  public  worship.  John 
Hitchen  is  displaced  from  his  office,  as  Bergeant,  accused  of  "un- 
worthy and  malignant  speeches  and  carriages  in  open  Court"  The 
wife  of  Robert  Wilson,  for  going  through  Salem  without  any 
clothes  on,  as  a  sign  of  spiritual  nakedness  in  town  and  colony,  is 
sentenced  to  be  tied  to  a  cart's  tail,  uncovered  to  hoi-  waist,  and  bo 
whipped  from  Mi-.  Gedney's  gate  to  her  own  house,  not  exceeding 
thirty  stripes.  Her  mother,  Tamison  Bufrum,  and  sister,  Margaret 
Smith,  being  abettors  of  her  conduct,  are  sentenced  to  be  tied  on 
each  >ide  of  her,  with  nothing  on  to  their  waists,  but  an  under 
garb,  and  to  accompany  her  the  distance  mentioned.  This  was  an 
exhibition  of  zeal  beyond  discretion,  attributable  to  its  actors  and 
approvers. 

After  some  time,  Elizabeth  Hooton,*  having  returned  to  Eng- 
land, obtained  from  the  King  a  license  to  purchase  a  house  and 
land  in  any  of  his  Plantations.  She  and  her  daughter  of  the  same 
name  directly  took  passage,  this  year,  for  Boston.  On  her  arrival 
here,  the  Magistrates  were  about  to  fine  the  Captain  £100  for 
bringing  them,  but  they  desisted  when  assured  that  she  had  a 
royal  permit  to  buy  an  estate  in  this  country.  She  repeatedly  ap- 
plied to  the  General  Court  for  leave  to  make  such  a  purchase  in 
Boston,  particularly  a  house  for  her  family  and  where  "  her  Friends  " 
might  assemble,  and  "  a  piece  of  ground  to  bury  their  dead."  She 
claimed  this  privilege  as  an  English  woman,  and  especially  by  the 
license  she  had  from  his  Majesty.  Still  the  Court  did  not  grant 
her  application.  Of  course,  their  principal  objection  to  her  becom- 
ing a  freeholder  among  them  was,  that  it  would  be  the  advance- 
ment of  her  denomination,  which  they  considered  a  great  evil. 

Katharine  Chattam,  from  London,  came  again  to  Boston,  where 
she  publicly  appeared,  clad  in  sackcloth,  "  as  a  sign  of  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  Lord  against  that  oppressing  and  tyrannical  spirit  which 
bore  rule  in  the  magistracy  of  that  place." 

1663.  January  12.  As  an  indication  f  how  the  result  of  the  last 
Synod  was  disposed  of,  one  of  them,  printed  and  recommended  by 
the  General  Court,  is  received  by  the  first  Church  of  Salem. 

February  4.  The  Church,  of  like  rank,  in  Charlestown,  have 
the  subsequent  entry  on  their  records:  "The  decision  of  the  late 
Synod  about  Baptism  and  Consociation,  was  read  by  the  Elders,  at 
a  church  meeting  (except  the  preface  of  the  book,  containing  that 
decisive  act,  which  had  been  read  before  at  a  church  meeting,  Jan- 
uary 7,  and  generally  approved,)  and  liberty  given  to  the  brethren 
to  express  their  objections  (if  they  had  any)  against  any  part 
thereof;  and  after  some  discourse,  the  brethren  did  generally  ex- 
press themselves,  (at  least  three-fourths  of  them  by  word  of  mouth,) 
that  they  did  consent  to  the  whole  book  for  the  substance  thereof, 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  229,  31.  f  First  Ch.  Rcc. 


302  MISSION  PROPERTY  LITIGATED. 

[Mass. 

and  desired  that  the  will  of  God  therein  might  be  attended ;  and 
upon  a  vote  silentiary  propounded,  it  was  so  carried,  nemine  con- 
tradicente,  in  the  affirmative." 

March  5.  Col.  Temple  addresses  *  the  authorities  of  Massachu- 
setts. The  Royalists  are  much  incensed,  that  Whalley  and  Goffe 
are  at  the  head  of  an  army  in  New  England.  Such  a  rumor, 
though  false,  indicates  the  jealousy  with  which  the  movements  of 
the  Colonists  were  watched.  He  proceeds :  "  The  Chancellor 
commanded  me  to  assure  you  of  his  true  love  and  friendship  to  the 
Country,  and  that  neither  in  your  privileges,  Charter,  Government 
nor  Church  discipline,  should  you  receive  any  prejudice.  Neither 
did  the  King  nor  Council  intend,  in  the  Quakers'  letter,  that  you 
should  not  punish  them,  but  only  not  put  any  to  death  without 
their  knowledge." 

27.  Complaint  is  made  to  the  Council,  that  Quakers  have  meet- 
ings by  day  and  night,  week  days  and  Sabbaths.  Order  is  issued, 
that  they  be  prosecuted. 

April  5.  John  Norton,  ae  57,  suddenly  finishes  his  ministry  on 
earth.  When  called  to  part  with  his  first  wife,  it  is  unknown. 
He  married  Mary  Mason  of  Boston,  July  23,  1656,  who  survived 
him.  She  died  January  17,  1678,  and  was  buried  in  the  tomb 
which  contained  his  remains.  It  is  not  known  that  he  left  any 
children  to  sit  beneath  the  light  of  his  wide-spread  and  well-earned 
fame.  Having  his  faith  based  on  Christian  principles,  he  passed 
through  an  eventful  life  with  extensive  usefulness  to  his  fellow 
beings,  and  great  honor  to  the  cause  of  his  Maker.  Thus  prepared, 
he  met  death  with  the  true  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality.  The 
chief  production  of  his  pen  was  a  system  of  divinity,  delivered  in 
sermons,  but  not  published.  The  substance  of  them  is  contained 
in  his  Orthodox  Evangelist. 

9.  A  letter  from  the  Missionary  Corporation  f  is  addressed  to 
the  Commissioners.  They  desire  the  latter  to  contract  their  charges, 
because  the  income  was  reduced  to  £320  a  year.  They  relate, 
that  they  are  engaged  in  an  expensive  law-suit  for  an  estate  at  an 
annual  income  of  above  £500.  They  give  order  for  the  Psalms  of 
David  in  metre,  to  be  printed  in  the  Indian  tongue.  They  observe : 
"  It  is  matter  of  great  joy  to  us  to  hear  of  the  Lord's  effectual  work 
upon  the  hearts  of  so  many  of  the  natives  of  those  two  Plantations, 
you  mention  in  your  letters,  which  doth  not  only  affect  our  hearts, 
but  we  hope,  also,  will  quicken  our  endeavors  so  that  nothing 
shall  be  wanting  to  further  so  truly  desirable  a  work." 

10.  As  as  event,  ominous  of  trial  to  the  liberties  of  New  Eng- 
land, the  King  in  Council  remarks,J  that  he  intends  to  send  Com- 
missioners hither  to  see  how  they  (of  Massachusetts)  observed 
their  charter  and  "reconcile  differences  at  present  amongst  them." 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers,     f  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  470,  1. 
f  MS.  Council  Rec. 


OBJECT  OF   EMIGRATION.  80S 

1063.] 

May  t.  The  Lynn  Church  had  called  two  of  their  members  to 

account,*  who  were  suspected  to  have  sworn  falsely  on  a  case 
before  the  County  Court.  'This  Body  interposed.  The  pastor, 
Samuel  Whiting,  addresses  them  a  letter.  M  Seeing  by  what  we 
have  done,  Nse  have  gone  in  our  own  way  as  a  church  in  the  search 

alter  sin,  we  hope  the  Court  will  he  tender  of  US  and  of  him,  who 
complained  to  us  on  that  account,  and  if  not,  we  humbly  crave 
that  it  be  not  grievous  to  you,  that  we  humbly  tell  you,  that  in 
our  judgment  the  discipline  of  these  churches  must  fall,  and  if  so, 
of  what  sad  consequence  it  will  be,  we  leave  it  to  those  that  are 
wiser  than  ourselves  to  judge  ;  for  this  case,  being  new  and  never 
acted  before  in  tiiis  country,  doth  not  only  reflect  on  our  church, 
but  on  all  the  churches  of  the  country  ;  for  if  delinquents  that  are 
censured  in  churches  shall  be  countenanced  by  authority  against 
the  church  in  their  acting  in  a  just  way,  we  humbly  put  it  to  the 
consideration  of  the  Court  whether  there  will  not  be  a  wide  door 
opened  to  Erastianism,  which  we  hope  all  of  us  do  abhor  from  our 
hearts." 

7.  John  Emery  of  Newbury  is  presented  for  entertaining  Qua- 
kers.    He  is  fined  £4. 

May  11.  The  Deputies  of  Salem  f  are  instructed  by  their  con- 
stituents to  vote  in  General  Court  for  enlargement  of  political 
franchise,  as  the  late  royal  letter  required. 

S$7.  The  Legislature  assemble.  John  Higginson,  of  Salem, 
preaches  the  election  sermon.  His  text  is  1  Kings  viii.  57,  8,  9. 
His  subject,  "  The  Cause  of  God  and  his  People  in  New  Eng- 
land." In  their  recommendation  to  this  discourse,  Messrs.  Wil- 
son of  Boston,  and  Whiting  of  Lynn,  observe  :  "  The  sermon 
when  preached  was  acceptable  to  all,  and  found  general  appro- 
bation among  all  the  wise-hearted  and  godly  so  far  as  we  have 
heard."     Several  extracts  follow  : 

"  New  England  is  originally  a  Plantation  of  Religion,  not  a 
Plantation  of  Trade.  If  any  man  amongst  us  make  Religion  as 
twelve,  and  the  world  as  thirteen,  let  such  an  one  know  he  hath 
neither  the  spirit  of  a  true  New  England  man,  nor  yet  of  a  sincere 
Christian.  The  end  of  our  coming  hither  was  not  a  toleration  of 
all  Religions,  or  of  the  heresies  and  idolatries  of  the  age  we  live 
in.  The  Gospel  hath  a  right  paramount  to  be  received  in  every 
nation,  and  the  knee  of  Magistracie  is  to  bow  at  the  name  of  Jesus. 
This  right  carryes  liberty  along  with  it  for  all  such  as  profess  the 
Gospel,  to  walk  according  to  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Gospel. 
That  which  is  contrary  to  the  Gospel  hath  no  right,  and  therefore 
should  have  no  liberty."  He  then  states  affirmatively  that  the 
great  objects  of  settling  New  England  were  as  follow  : 

1.  "  Reformation  of  Religion  according  to  God's  Word  ;  that 

*  MS.  of  Charles  H.  Morse.     History  of  Lynn,  2  ed.  p.  148-52. 
f  MS.  Town  Rec. 


304  FEAR  OF  PRELACY. 

[Mass. 

Christ  alone  might  be  acknowledged  by  us  as  the  only  head,  Lord, 
and  Law-giver  in  his  Church  ;  that  his  written  word  might  be 
acknowledged  as  the  onely  Rule  ;  that  onely  and  all  his  institu- 
tions might  be  observed  and  enjoyed  by  us,  and  that  with  puritie 
and  libertie,  with  peace  and  power." 

2.  A  progress  in  Reformation.  "  It  is  the  duty  of  the  people 
of  God  to  go  on  unto  perfection."  Referring  to  the  fear  which 
prevailed  here,  lest  the  national  Government  should  impose  their 
church  order  on  the  Colonists,  Higginson  remarks  :  "  If  any  of  us 
should  be  instrumentall  to  set  up  in  this  Country  Prelacie,  im- 
posed Leiturgies,  humane  ceremonies  in  the  worship  of  God,  or  to 
admit  ignorant  and  scandalous  persons  to  the  Lord's  table,  this 
would  be  a  backsliding  indeed."  He  then  observes  as  to  prom- 
inent topics  of  thought  and  remark  among  the  people,  "  That 
baptisme  be  administered  to  the  children  of  church  members  who 
have  a  right  thereunto.  And  that  the  communion  of  churches  be 
better  improved  among  us." 

3.  The  Union  of  Reformers.  To  carry  this  out,  he  recom- 
mends one  Catechism,  one  Confession  of  Faith,  and  one  Cov- 
enant, for  all  the  churches,  and  also  frequent  Councils,  guarding 
against  the  abuse  of  them.  He  asserts,  respecting  these  purposes 
in  the  plantation  of  our  country,  "  Nor  is  there  any  power  upon 
earth  that  can  lawfully  hinder  this."  From  his  advice  for  the 
people  to  act  peaceably,  a  report  had  been  spread  that  persons  not 
yet  admitted  to  be  freemen  meant  to  vote  at  the  General  Election, 
though  the  law,  as  then  standing,  forbid  them.  He  suggests  to 
the  Legislature  the  alteration  of  such  a  statute,  as  proposed  by  the 
Royal  letter.  Among  his  final  conclusions  is,  "  Therefore,  as  in 
the  matter  of  Religion,  we  are  to  keep  to  the  Word  of  God,  so  in 
the  matter  of  civil  government,  keep  to  the  Patent." 

While  the  Court  are  careful  that  their  authority  should  not  be 
trampled  on,  they  use  means  to  prevent  disobedience  to  the  royal 
commands.*  Isaac  Cole,  constable  of  Woburn,  is  arraigned  for 
refusing  to  publish  the  King's  letter,  and  issue  an  attachment  in 
his  name.  Edward  Converse,  a  selectman  of  the  same  town,  is 
charged  with  asserting  that  such  a  document  tended  to  Popery. 
They  were  both  cleared. 

Of  a  committee  to  answer  his  Majesty's  letter  are  Rev.  Messrs. 
Allen,  Higginson  and  Mitchel.  Others  of  the  clergy  and  laity  are 
invited  to  send  in  their  opinion  on  "  matters  of  great  concernment, 
both  ecclesiastical  and  civil,"  before  such  a  Body. 

Christopher  Goodwin  of  Charlestown  f  is  sentenced  to  pay  £10, 
or  be  whipped  ten  stripes,  for  so  exhibiting  his  zeal  in  the  meeting- 
house, as  to  throw  down  the  basin  of  water,  and  commit  other  dis- 
orders, when  baptism  was  administered. 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec,  t  MS.  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec. 


^ 


DUTIES  OP  Tin:  RELIGIOUS  BOLDIER.  505 

1083.] 

June  1.  An  artillery  election  discourse  i^  delivered.     Being  In 

MS  ,  it   is  endorsed  as  it'  composed   by   Edward   Brown,     Prom 

the  text   1  Samuel  xxii.  1 1,  it  considers  the  faithful  military  officer. 

The  ensuing  extracts  show,  that  sermons  on  Buch  occasions  were 

different  from  those  on  the  like  calls  in  modern  times. 

One  of  its  doctrines  follows  :  "  Fidelity  and  obedience  are  (among 
other  duties,  or  virtues)  especially  requisite  and  commendable  in  a 
religious  soldier,  or  to  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  them,  that  are 
ip  as  under  God,  is  the  duty  and  honor  of  every  Christian, 
■specially  a  matter  of  singular  commendation  in  military  under- 
takings." One  of  the  uses  of  the  discourse:  "See  how  much  it 
concerns  superiors,  and  so  now  especially  the  chief  commanders  in 
the  armies  of  Israel,  to  be  men  of  sound  principles  and  orthodox  in 
Religion ;  for  how  else  can  it  be  expected  that  such  soldiers  as  are 
religious  and  that  tight  the  Lord's  battles  and  accordingly  are  true 
friends  to  the  prosperity  of  Israel,  should  in  an  active  manner,  yield 
obedience  and  accordingly  serve  under  such,  whose  commands 
shall  be  irreligious  and  unjust,  and  contrary  to  the  interests  of 
Israel,  and  contrary  to  the  sovereign  commands  of  Him  who  is  the 
highest  Lord  of  hosts  ?  For  as  before  was  said,  we  are  actively  to 
obey  in  all  lawful  commands,  and  such  as  are  not  contrary  to  the 
commands  of  the  great  God.  Our  obedience  to  man  must  be  such 
as  may  stand  with  our  obedience  to  God.  And  'tis  unfaithfulness 
to  man  to  gratify  him  in  that  wherein  we  shall  be  unfaithful  to  God. 
How  can  they  look  for  obedience  to  their  commands,  who  have  not 
learnt  to  obey  the  Lord  of  hosts  ?  " 

This  is  a  sample  of  the  discourse,  delivered  before  commanders 
and  subordinates,  in  the  military  line,  who  were  professors  of  relig- 
ion and  expected  such  doctrines.  That  its  style  of  sentiment  was 
correct,  according  to  Revelation,  and  harmonious  with  the  highest 
duties  of  the  soul,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt. 

o.  John  Woodbridge,*  who  had  left  his  ministry  at  Andover  and 
gone  to  England,  now  returns  after  an  absence  of  about  sixteen 
years,  to  Newbury,  the  residence  of  his  father.  He  was  immedi- 
ately employed  to  assist  Mr.  Parker  in  pulpit  labors,  at  a  salary  of 
£60.  But  he  found  the  waters  of  controversy,  which  had  been 
long  stirred  here,  as  to  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  polity,  still 
far  from  being  calmed.  Having  sustained  the  cause  of  Mr.  Parker, 
the  opponents  of  the  latter  obtained  May  21,  1670,  a  repeal  of  the 
vote,  which  secured  salary  to  the  former.  Though  this  was  not 
considered  decisive  by  all  concerned,  yet  the  General  Court  advised 
Mr.  Woodbridge,  May  19,  1672,  to  comply  with  it,  as  a  means  of 
diminishing  the  contention.  Ten  years  after,  he  was  excused  by 
them  from  paying  rates,  as  others  of  his  profession  were,  so  long 
as  he  constantly  preached.     Thus  related  to  the  calling,  which  he 

*  Mather's  Magnalia.     Coffin's  Newbury. 
39 


306  COTTON'S  OMISSION  OF  THE  PATENT. 

[Mass. 

had  conscientiously  chosen  and  followed,  he  still  continues  to  spend 
his  life  usefully  and  respectably.  He  was  elected  an  Assistant 
1683,  and  1684,  and  acted  as  a  Magistrate  till  his  decease,  March 
17,  1695.  He  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Gov.  Thomas  Dud- 
ley. They  had  twelve  children.  They  left  three  sons  and  two 
sons-in-law,  who  were  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  four  grand-sons 
preparing  for  the  same  profession.  The  Magnalia  relates :  "  At 
last  the  stranguary  arrested  him  ;  and  he,  who  had  been  a  great 
reader,  a  great  scholar,  a  great  Christian,  and  a  pattern  of  goodness, 
after  much  pain,  went  unto  his  everlasting  rest.  His  age  was  about 
eighty-two." 

6.  Mr.  Higginson,  desirous  to  express  his  thoughts  more  fully 
than  he  had  in  his  Election  sermon,  writes  *  to  the  General  Court. 
He  remarks  that  he  considered  the  Civil  Government  of  Cotton  as 
deficient,  because  it  omitted  to  notice  the  Patent  and  allegiance  to 
the  King,  and  represented  persons  who  were  not  members  of  the 
church,  as  the  unbaptized  Corinthians  were  in  Paul's  day.  He 
proposes,  as  he  had,  that  persons  be  made  freemen,  "  provided 
they  be  orthodox  in  religion  and  of  unblameable  conversation ;  " 
that  the  Common  Prayer  Book  might  be  cited  against  the  wicked, 
as  the  Heathen  Poets  were  by  an  Apostle  ;  and  that  presents  to  the 
King  were  proper,  and  a  sign  of  allegiance.  He  adds  in  a  P.  S. : 
"  I  doe  further  entreate  yl  ye  hon'd  Court  will  please  to  consider 
what  course  may  be  taken  for  ye  dissolueing  of  ye  Quaker  meetings 
here,  which  we  have  frequent  and  constant,  without  interruption  a 
long  time,  strange  Quakers  often  repaireing  hither  yl  occasion  may 
be  given  for  others  abroad  to  looke  upon  Salem  as  a  nest  of  Qua- 
kers, from  hence  to  infect  ye  rest  of  ye  country." 

12.  John  Miller,  who  received  a  call  to  become  the  minister  of 
Groton,  the  preceding  March  18,  is  recorded  f  among  their  deaths. 
Leaving  the  office  of  preacher  in  England,  and  coming  to  this 
country  in  1637,  he  resided  at  Roxbury,  where  he  had  a  daughter, 
Mehitable,  born  the  next  year.  He  assisted  Ezekiel  Rogers  in  the 
ministry  at  Rowley,  and  was  also  Town  Clerk  there  from  1639  to 
1641.  The  year  after  the  last  here  specified,  he  was  nominated 
among  three,  by  the  Elders  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  Virginia 
mission.  Declining  this  trust,  he  had  a  lot  of  land  granted  to  him 
in  Rowley,  January,  1643-4,  which  indicates  that  his  ministerial 
labors  may  have  been  still  continued  there.  On  May  2,  1647,  he 
had  a  daughter,  Susannah,  born  at  Yarmouth,  showing  that  he  had 
been  residing  in  this  place.  We  find  his  continuance  here  June  3, 
1652,  and  he  was  probably  the  Mr.  John  Miller  made  freeman  of 
Plymouth,  June  1,  1658.  The  settlers  of  Groton,  having  con- 
formed with  the  requisition  of  their  Government  in  obtaining  a 

*  MS.  Essex  Inst.  Hist.  Coll. 

f  Gage's  Hist,  of  Rowley.      Butler's  Hist,   of  Groton.     Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  of 
Mass.  and  Plymouth. 


ri  am'ation   IX   NORTH  QABOUN  L  Wl 

spirit  nil  leader,  appear  to  have  Belected  him  as  worthy  of  such  ;i 
But  while  girding  himself  for  his  calling,  he  waa  smitten 

and  fell,  uo  more  to  renew  his  toils  among  mortals. 

July  \.  Edward  Wharton,  who  had  lately  come  from  New 
erland,*  is  sentenced  at  Dover,  whither  he  had  gone  to  pro- 
nounce a  woe  on  the  Justices  for  their  severity  against  his  denom- 
ination, to  be  whipped  at  the  cart's  tail  in  three  towns,  and  brought 
to  his  house  in  Salem. 

August  (>.  Persons  in  Old  and  New  England,  concerned  in  the 
emplated  settlement  of  "a  Plantation  at  Charles  lliver  of 
Florida,"  make  proposals  to  the  Lords,  who  have  lately  had  a  grant 
of  North  Carolina.  The  adventurers  of  Massachusetts  decline 
the  enterprise,  unless  they  can  have  the  free  enjoyment  of  civil 
and  religious  privileges  there,  as  they  have  here. 

Williamson  relates  a  tradition  in  his  History  of  North  Carolina, 
as  though  emigrants  from  Massachusetts  were  settled  on  the  same 
premises  there  in  1660,  and  driven  away  by  Indians  in  1663. 
The  reason  assigned  by  him  for  this  expulsion  was,  that  they  had 
obtained  the  children  of  these  natives,  and  sent  them  northward 
for  education,  but,  as  their  parents  came  to  suspect,  to  sell  them  as 
slaves.  Facts  in  the  case,  as  follow,  prove  the  utter  mistake  of 
such  a  charge.  Our  people  had  neither  agreed  nor  received  per- 
mission  to  take  up  lands  at  Cape  Fear  by  September  8,  1663, 
where  its  proprietors  propose  to  their  Governor  that  he  settle  the 
terms  with  the  persons  so  intending  to  occupy  the  soil.f  Nor  had 
they  deserted  the  premises,  after  entering  upon  them,  up  to  May 
15,  1667,  when  the  Bay  Legislature  recommended  them,  as  ob- 
jects worthy  of  charitable  relief  from  their  former  fellow-Colonists. 

15.  The  First  Church  of  Boston  agree  to  send  for  John  Owen  J 
in  England,  who  had  been  ejected  from  his  living  as  a  distin- 
guished supporter  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  to  supply  the  place  of  Mr. 
Norton. 

21.  They  hear  and  accept  letters  on  this  subject.  They  also 
agree  on  another  communication  to  Messrs.  Thomas  Goodwin, 
Carrill  and  Greenhall,  desiring  them  to  promote  the  application ; 
but,  if  unsuccessful  in  that  quarter,  to  inform  them  of  some  other 
suitable  minister. 

September.  It  is  ordered  that  £50  of  the  proceeds  from  lands  § 
which  had  been  owned  by  Quakers  and  sold  to  pay  their  fines,  be 
appropriated  towards  the  erection  of  a  prison  in  Salem. 

18.  The  Commissioners  write  to  Robert  Boyle,  ||  President 
of  the  Corporation  in  England  :  "  We  were  much  affected  to 
hear  of  so  great  a  loss  like  to  befall  the  stock,  but  some  letters 
from  private  friends  of  a  later  date,  give  us  hope,  that  it  is  re- 

*  Bosse,  vol.  ii.  p.  231.  f  MS.  Hutch.  Papers,  p.  248. 

%  MS.  Ch.  Rec.  §  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Ree.  ||  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  472-6. 


308  INDIAN  BIBLE  FINISHED. 

[Mass. 

covered,  for  which  we  rejoice  and  are  thankful.  We  shall  be 
ready  to  attend  your  honour's  advice  as  to  the  particular  abatements, 
propounded  in  your  letter  for  the  future  so  far  as  may  be  expected. 
We  are  much  solicited  by  cordial  friends  to  this  work,  to  continue 
that  small  allowance  to  Mistress  May  hew,  her  husband  being  the 
first  or  one  of  the  first,  whose  heart  God  stirred  up  effectually  to 
labor  in  this  work  ;  and  that  several  years  of  his  own  charges  with- 
out any  recompense  for  the  same  ;  and  one  whom  God  made  instru- 
mental for  the  spiritual  good  of  very  many  of  the  poor  natives  of 
Martin's  Vineyard.  We  have  therefore,  for  this  past  year  thought 
it  most  expedient,  (lest  it  should  be  a  discouragement  to  others  as 
well  as  over  grievous  to  herself,  yet  remaining  a  poor  desolate 
widow  with  six  children,)  to  allow  her  as  formerly  six  pounds." 
They  speak  of  the  Indian  Bible,  as  finished.  They  mention  Mar- 
maduke  Johnson,  who  had  been  sent  over  to  take  part  in  this  work, 
and  with  whose  conduct  they  had  been  dissatisfied.  Still,  as  the 
Corporation  had  agreed  with  him  to  print  another  year  for  the  mis- 
sion, the  Commissioners  say :  "  We  shall  endeavor  to  employ  him, 
as  we  can,  by  printing  the  Psalms  and  another  little  treatise  of  Mr. 
Baxter's,  which  Mr.  Eliot  is  translating  into  the  Indian  language. 
We  have  spoken  with  Mr.  Eliot  and  others  concerning  Captain 
Gookin's  employment  among  the  Indians  in  governing  of  them  in 
several  plantations,  ordering  their  Town  affairs,  (which  they  are 
not  able  to  do  themselves,)  taking  account  of  their  labor  and  ex- 
pense of  their  time,  and  how  their  children  profit  in  their  learning, 
with  many  things  of  like  nature,  and  find  it  to  be  of  much  benefit 
to  them;  and,  therefore,  could  not  but  desire  him  to  go  on  in  that 
work,  and  have  ordered  £15  to  be  paid  him  towards  his  expenses 
for  the  year  past.  We  are  informed  by  Mr.  Eliot  and  others,  that 
there  is  an  hopeful  progression  of  the  work  in  several  parts  of  the 
country.  The  two  students  at  Cambridge  College  follow  their 
study  diligently  and  are  good  proficients  therein,  and  five  other 
hopeful  youths  at  the  inferior  schools,  which  are  maintained  out  of 
the  stock."  As  instructed  by  the  Corporation,  they  had  omitted 
John  Stanton  and  Matthew  Mayhew,  as  beneficiaries  from  their 
list,  because  the  funds  would  not  allow  their  continued  support. 
They  add :  "  We  have  ordered  Mr.  Usher  to  present  your  honors, 
by  the  next  ship,  with  20  copies  of  the  Bible  and  as  many  of  the 
Psalms,  if  printed  off  before  the  ship's  departure  from  hence." 
Others  employed  by  them  are  John  Eliot,  his  interpreter,  Job,  and 
three  school-masters ;  John  Eliot,  Jr. ;  John  Mayhew  and  eight 
Indian  teachers  and  school-masters  at  the  Vineyard ;  Mr.  Bourne 
at  Sandwich  and  two  Indian  school-masters ;  Mr.  Pierson  and 
Mr.  James,  of  Easthampton. 

19.  Simon  Bradstreet  and  Thomas  Danforth  are  desired  by  the 
rest  of  the  Commissioners,  to  prepare  a  dedicatory  epistle  to  his 
Majesty,  for  the  Indian  Bible,  and  have  the  same  printed. 


PAY    DOOM.  309 

KN&] 

I.  Mr.  Wigglesworth,  of  Maiden,*  pails  for  Bermuda  for  the 
benefit  of  his  health.  Alter  an  absence  of  seven  months  and  a  half, 
he  returned  with  no  great  improvement  in  his  pulmonary  complaint. 
Unable  to  preach,  he  practiced  medicine  with  much  Buccess. 
Abbut  lt)V~>.  be  resumed  his  pulpit  labors  with  a  high  rank  among 
his  clerical  brethren.  In  l(>t>:i  he  composed  an  unpublished  poem 
called  "God's  Controversy  with  New  England,  written  in  the  time 
of  a  meat  drought."  Then  was  the  first  edition  of  his  Day  Doom 
printed. 

October  6.  Elizabeth  Hooton,f  above  sixty  years  old,  is  arraigned 
before  the  Middlesex  Court.  She  was  on  her  second  visit  from 
England  to  promote  the  cause  of  Quakerism.  She  had  been  con- 
fined at  Hampton,  and  also  at  Dover,  where  she  stood  in  the 
stocks,  as  an  additional  punishment.  Coming  back,  she  visited 
Cambridge.  Here  she  passed  through  several  streets,  crying, 
Repentance :  with  a  loud  voice.  She  charged  the  Court  with  turn- 
ing justice  against  the  righteous,  declared  that  the  ministers  had 
proved  deceitful,  and  the  College  was  a  cage  of  unclean  birds. 
Iler  sentence  is  to  receive  ten  stripes  at  Cambridge,  conveyed  to 
the  constables  of  Watertown  and  Dedham,  and  receive  the  same 
number  of  lashes  in  each  of  these  two  places.  Sewel  says  that 
when  her  sentence  was  executed,  she  went  to  Rhode  Island.  After 
a  while,  she  returned  to  Cambridge  for  clothes,  -which  she  left 
there  with  her  daughter  and  Sarah  Coleman,  "  an  ancient  woman." 
They  were  all  three  whipped  there,  as  the  law  required.  Hooton 
Buffered  the  same  in  Boston  and  other  places  where  she  visited 
those  of  her  denomination.  She  subsequently  went  back  to  Eng- 
land. 

Priscilla,  wife  of  John  Cole,  of  Charlestown,  is  admonished  for 
attending  a  Quaker  meeting  at  Benanuel  Bowers's,  warned  to  attend 
the  stated  worship,  and  pay  costs  to  the  witnesses.  She  is  also 
fined  £5  for  reviling  Rev.  Messrs.  Symmes  and  Shepard. 

Sarah,  wife  of  William  Osborn,  of  the  same  town,  is  alike  dealt 
with,  except  the  last  fine,  for  the  first  of  these  charges.  Bowers  is 
ordered  to  pay  20/.  for  absence  from  worship,  and  £5  for  twice 
entertaining  Quakers  at  his  house,  besides  3/.  for  witnesses.  He 
remarks,  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the  Christian  Rule,  and  that 
David  had  no  need  of  the  Word,  for  he  said  that  he  had  no  other 
law  than  that  of  his  heart." 

The  ordination  of  John  Emerson  takes  place  at  Gloucester. 
He  was  son  to  Thomas  Emerson  of  Ipswich,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  1656,  and  married  Ruth,  daughter  of  Dep.  Gov.  Samuel 
Symonds. 

20.  The  Legislature  agree  to  send  a  letter  J  to  Rev.  Dr.  John  Owen, 

*  Maiden  Bi- Centennial,  p.  153.  f  MS.  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec. 

;  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  2  s.  vol.  ii.  p.  265,  6. 


310  CLASSES  OF  CHURCH  MEMBERS. 

[Mass. 

which  earnestly  seconded  the  call  of  the  first  Boston  Church  for 
him  to  become  their  pastor.  They  say  :  "  We  are  your  brethren 
and  companions  in  tribulation,  and  are  in  this  wilderness  for  the 
faith  and  testimony  of  Jesus.  Whilst  the  Lord  shall  see  meet  to 
betrust  us  with  the  things  of  Zion  in  peace  and  liberty,  we  hope 
no  due  care  will  be  found  wanting  in  the  Government  here  estab- 
lished, to  encourage  and  cherish  the  churches  of  Christ  and  the 
Lord's  faithful  labourers  in  his  vineyard." 

21.  As  many  persons  of  this  jurisdiction  are  enemies  to  all  gov- 
ernment, civil  and  ecclesiastical,  will  not  obey,  refuse  to  bear  arms, 
make  their  religion  a  means  of  opposition  to  authority,  combine 
and  make  parties  to  elect  such  persons  as  suit  their  designs,  it  is 
ordered  that  Quakers  or  others  who  act  as  aforesaid,  and  neglect 
public  worship,  shall  not  vote  in  any  civil  assembly.  Under  19th 
of  the  like  month,  next  year,  this  order  is  repealed,  because  not 
so  satisfactory  to  the  freemen  as  was  expected,  and  for  some  other 
reasons,  and  it  is  enacted,  "  that  elections  shall  run  in  the  ordinary 
course  as  formerly." 

November  18.  The  first  Charlestown  Church  Records  give  us 
the  following  facts  :  "  Thomas  Osborn,  being  leavened  with  prin- 
ciples of  Anabaptisme,  and  his  wife  leavened  with  the  principles  of 
Anabaptisme  and  Quakerisme,"  are  admonished  for  frequent  neg- 
lect of  worship  with  the  church.  Thomas  Gool  is  again  admon- 
ished for  denying  the  power  of  the  church  over  him,  and  neg- 
lecting their  ordinances.  They  deny  "  our  churches  to  be  true 
churches."  On  the  27th,  "  There  having  been  many  thoughts  of 
hearts  touching  the  doctrine  of  the  late  Synod  about  the  children 
of  the  church,  in  order  to  the  effectual  practice  of  the  same,  it  was 
propounded  to  vote  whether  the  brethren  were  satisfied  so  far 
forth  as  that  there  might  be  a  proceeding  to  the  practice  thereof, 
and  it  passed  in  the  affirmative  by  their  silence,  (the  testimony  of 
their  consent,)  after  liberty  was  granted  once  and  again  to  any  of 
them  that  would,  to  object  if  they  had  anything  from  the  Word 
of  God  to  allege  against  it ;  but  there  was  not  one  contradicent." 
By  the  introduction  of  such  a  change  in  baptism,  this  church,  like 
others,  had  corresponding  records.  These  run  as  follows  :  The 
catalogue  of  members  in  full  communion.  "  Names  of  such  chil- 
dren of  the  Covenant  as  have  publicly  renewed  their  Covenant 
with  God  and  his  Church,  yet  not  taken  into  communion  in  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Names  of  such  as  have  been  admitted  into  this 
church,  but  not  unto  full  communion."  The  difference  between 
these  two  classes  was,  that  the  former  had  been  offered  in  baptism 
by  their  professing  parents,  and  the  latter  were  baptized  when  they 
united  with  the  church  by  the  half-way  covenant. 

About  this  time,  Reverend  begins  to  be  the  title  of  Congrega- 
tional ministers,  instead  of  Mr.  and  Elder. 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


I.  OP   DR.  OWBN.  81  1 

jMMft] 

irt  call  Thomas  Millet  minister  at 

I  r,  and  order  them  to  pay  him    €10  for  a  quarter's  service 

among  them.     He  came  to  this  Colony  in   Mil'),  with  his  -. 
Mary,    nd  son,  Thorn;  ttled  at   Dorchester.      Here  he  had 

ral  children  hum  till  into   1<>17.      In   1655,  with  the  title  of 
\I:..  and  as  the  purchaser  of  William  Perkins's  lands  and  suco 
to  him  in  the  Gospel  ministry,  he  appears  at  Gloucester.     In  16 
he  was  residing  at  the  house  of  Nicholas  Shapleigh  of  battery,  and 
hing  to  the  people  there.      But  he  soon   left  that  place.      He 

is  to  have  become  an  inhabitant  of  Brookfield,  where  he  and 
ife  consented,  June  •  >.  1(570,  to  the  sale  of  land,  which  he  had 

it  Gloucester.      He  died  within  a  year  of  this  transaction,  aged 
70,  and  his  wife  followed  him  September  27,  1682,  aged  76. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  Salem  Quakers*  are  fined  for 

ace  from  the  parish  worship.  Samuel  Shattuck,  for  charging 
ourt  and  Country  with  shedding  innocent  blood,  is  ordered 
to  pay  £5  or  be  whipped.  Joshua  Buffum  is  commanded  to  the 
stocks  for  one  hour,  because  he  affronted  the  justices  about  his 
marriage.  Philip  Yeren  is  sentenced  to  be  put  by  the  heels  in  the 
stocks,  an  equal  time,  for  denying  the  Colony's  power  to  compel 
any  to  attend  on  Gospel  ordinances.  He  is  excused  from  common 
trainings,  by  the  payment  of  5  .  a  year. 

December  12.  The  Salem  Church  set  apart  one  day  f  for  humil- 
iation and  prayer  in  each  of  the  four  succeeding  months,  "  for 
mercy  with  respect  to  the  great  affliction  and  reproach,  which  have 
come  on  so  many  thousands  of  ministers  and  Christians  (of 
England;  in  these  times  by  means  of  Episcopal  usurpation  ;  also, 
with  respect  to  dangers,  threatening  ourselves." 

The  Church  of  Boston,:!:  who  had  called  Dr.  John  Owen,  are  so 
sanguine  of  his  coming,  that  they  agree  to  pay  Mr.  John  Harwood 
the  charges  of  bringing  him  over.  Graham,  in  his  Xorth  America, 
states  that  Owen  shipped  his  effects,  but  he  was  stopped  by  a  royal 
order. 

This  year  John  Leverett  addresses  §  Sir  Thomas  Temple  in 
London.  He  remarks :  "  This  Summer  wee  have  been  under 
some  trouble  by  the  Pagan  natives,  who  have  had  their  plottings 
and  contrivances  for  our  disquiet,  but  the  Lord  hath  prevented  it, 
blessed  be  his  name,  and  there  is  a  better  understanding  now  be- 
tweene  the  English  and  them,  than  there  was  in  the  Spring  of  the 
yeare.  If  soe  be  that  from  the  complaints  of  Rhoad  Island  men,  or 
any  others,  any  thing  should  be  reflected  upon  the  Collony  of  the 
M  .-sachusetts,  may  wee  by  the  means  of  any  friend  or  friends  but 
obtaine  the  favour  to  be  heard  before  wee  are  concluded  with  those 
complained  against,  or  have  any  conclusion  made  of  us,  it  will  be  a 

*  Transactions  of  an  Essex  County  Court.     MS.  Ct.  Rec. 

t  MS.  Rec.  +  Ibid.  $  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  381-3. 


312  ANTT-SYNODALIA. 

[Mass. 

verry  high  obligation  unto  us.  Another  thing  desirable  is,  that 
wee  may  be  advised  what  motions  there  may  be  concerning  us,  if 
any,  whether  for  our  advantage  or  disadvantage.  'Tis  well  knowne 
that  many  have  been  the  attempts  to  give  us  disquiet  or  interrup- 
tion in  the  worke  the  Lord  hath  set  us  about  in  this  wildernesse, 
and  wee  cannot  thinke  that  we  are  yet  without  ill-wishers.  But 
God  that  hath  prevented  and  disapoynted  all  hitherto,  can  and 
will,  soe  far  as  it  may  concur  with  his  own  councills  and  good 
pleasure." 

Joseph  Nicholson,  John  Liddal,  Jane  Millard  and  Ann  Cole- 
man, have  the  requisition  of  law  executed  on  them,  as  "  vagabond 
Quakers,"  in  Salem,  Boston  and  Dedham.  Soon  after  this,*  John 
Liddal  and  Thomas  Newhouse  attended  a  meeting  at  Salem,  for 
which  they  were  similarly  punished  in  three  towns.  Edward  Whar- 
ton, for  testifying  against  such  proceedings  and  charging  the  jus- 
tice with  deceit,  was  whipped  fourteen  stripes.  Newhouse  came  to 
Boston,  entered  one  of  the  meeting-houses,  delivered  his  message 
to  the  audience,  and,  having  two  glass  bottles,  struck  them  together, 
and  said,  "  That  so  they  should  be  dashed  in  pieces."  He  was 
arrested  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace  and  whipped. 

This  year,  the  following  sentence  f  was  passed  on  Elizabeth 
Webster  :  "  She  shall  stand  at  the  meeting  house  door  at  Newbury, 
the  next  Lecture  day,  from  the  ringing  of  the  first  bell  until  the 
minister  be  ready  to  begin  prayer,  with  a  paper  on  her  head, 
written  in  capital  letters,  FOR  TAKING  A  FALSE  OATH 
IN   COURT." 

The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  dedicate  the  whole  Bible,J 
translated  into  Indian  by  John  Eliot,  and  from  the  press  at  Cam- 
bridge, to  the  King.  They  remark  :  "  The  southern  colonies  of 
the  Spanish  nation  have  sent  home  from  this  American  continent 
much  gold  and  silver,  as  the  fruit  and  end  of  their  discoveries  and 
transplantations.  That  (we  confess)  is  a  scarce  commodity  in  this 
colder  climate.  But  (suitable  to  the  ends  of  our  undertaking)  we 
present  this  and  other  concomitant  fruits  of  our  poor  endeavors  to 
plant  and  propagate  the  gospel  here,  which,  upon  a  true  account, 
is  as  much  better  than  gold  as  the  souls  of  men  are  more  worth 
than  the  whole  world." 

President  Chauncy  publishes  his  "  Anti-Synodalia  Scripta 
Americana  "  in  England,  against  the  half-way  covenant,  recom- 
mended by  the  last  Synod.  He  fears  that  their  result  will  prove 
an  apple  of  discord.  He  learnedly,  kindly  and  ably  discusses  the 
subject  in  behalf  of  himself  and  others,  who  were  a  minority  of 
that  body.  A  reply  to  this  of  like  ability  and  spirit  follows,  from 
the  pen  of  Richard  Mather,  who,  as  well  as  Mitchell,  his  co-worker, 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  232.  f  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.     Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  66,  7. 

J  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  vii.  p.  227. 


QNLAWFUL   KABBIAQB.  SIS 

were  induced  to  perform  such  pints  by  request  of  fellow-memben 
ot'  the  Synod. 


PLYMOUTH. 

1661.  February  5.  William  Heap  and  Peter  Peirson,*  two 
foreign  Quakers,  are  apprehended  at  Sandwich,  and  after  some 
M  menacing  speeches  "  from  each,  they  were  ordered  to  depart  on 
the  morrow.  The  latter  had  been  in  the  Colony  several  times. 
They  left,  as  required,  towards  Rhode  Island.  Ten  of  their  friends, 
for  resisting  their  arrest,  are  cited  to  appear  the  next  month. 

March  5.  Robert  Whetcomb  and  Mary  Cudworth,  without  con- 
sent of  parents  and  lawful  marriage,  having  chosen  each  other  as 
husband  and  wife,  are  fined  £10  and  imprisoned.  They  were 
orderly  married  on  the  9th,  as  they  desired.  On  4th  of  March, 
next  year,  as  they  lived  orderly,  industriously,  and  attended  "  the 
worship  of  God  diligently,"  the  Court  remit  £5  to  them,  and  in 
respect  to  their  poverty,  the  rest  is  to  be  waited  for  indulgently. 

A  person  is  cited  to  answer  because  he  had  spoken  with  con- 
tempt of  singing  psalms.  The  Court  admonish  and  require  him 
to  confess  his  fault.     This  he  promises  to  do  and  departs. 

Dinah,  wife  of  Joseph  Sylvester,  had  accused  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Holmes  of  Marshfield  with  being  a  witch.  For  such  a  charge, 
she  is  ordered,  May  7,  to  pay  £5,  or  be  whipped,  or  make  a  public 
confession.     She  preferred  the  last. 

Several  Quakers  of  Sandwich  are  fined  on  different  counts. 
Property  seized  and  fines  imposed  on  some  of  them  there  are  re- 
turned. Benjamin  Allin  having  been  kept  in  the  stocks  the  great- 
est part  of  the  night,  and  endured  other  sufferings  from  the  Mar- 
shal, recovers  damages  of  him. 

June  4.  The  General  Court  convene.  They  pass  the  succeeding 
orders  :  All  persons,  as  previously,  are  required  to  take  the  oath 
of  fidelity.     This  has  particular  application  to  the  Quakers. 

8.  If  Quakers  come  into  the  Colony,f  they  shall  be  imprisoned 
till  the  Court  sits,  who  shall  order  them  to  depart,  and,  if  refus- 
ing, they  shall  be  publicly  whipped  with  rods,  not  above  15  stripes, 
or  pay  their  fees  and  sent  out  of  the  jurisdiction  with  a  pass,  and 
if  found  not  departed  or  without  the  pass,  or  going  differently  from 
what  it  stated,  they .  shall  be  similarly  punished.  They  may  be 
allowed  what  the  Colony  grants  other  prisoners,  three  pence  a  day 
for  each  one.  If  the  wives,  children  or  servants  of  the  Colonists 
be  found  at  Quaker  meetings,  or  young  people  under  no  guardians, 

*  MS.  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  t  Plym.  Col.  Laws. 

40 


314  MAN-STEALING. 

[Pltm. 

they  shall  be  confined  in  the  stocks,  not  exceeding  two  hours  in 
winter,  nor  four  hours  in  summer ;  or  in  the  cage  no  longer  than 
till  night,  in  the  former  season,  nor  longer  than  till  next  morning, 
in  the  latter.  Whoever  allows  these  to  meet  in  his  house,  shall 
pay  £5,  or  be  publicly  whipped.  Whoever  speaks  there  shall  be 
fined  40/.  or  receive  the  like  corporal  punishment. 

"  Whereas  there  is  a  constant  monthly  meeting  together  of  the 
Quakers  from  divers  places,  in  great  numbers,  which  is  very  offen- 
sive, and  may  prove  greatly  prejuditiall  to  this  Government,  and 
inasmuch  as  the  constant  place  for  such  meetings,  is  att  Duxborrow, 
this  Court  have  desired  and  appointed  Mr.  Constant  Southworth, 
and  William  Paboddy,  to  repaire  to  such  theire  meetings,  together 
with  the  Marshall  or  Constable  of  the  Towne,  to  use  theire  best 
endeavours  by  argument  and  discourse,  to  convince  or  hinder  them. 
In  case  the  place  of  theire  meeting  should  bee  changed,  the  Court 
desires  the  above  named  or  other  meet  persons  to  attend  them 
there  also." 

Charles  II.  is  acknowledged  by  the  Court,  as  having  "  undoubted 
right  to  the  Crowns  of  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,'* 
and  they  declare  their  submission  to  him,  his  heirs  and  successors 
forever.     He  is  "  solemnly  proclaimed  at  Plymouth." 

10.  As  an  exemplification  of  man-stealing,  which  has  been  prac- 
ticed, more  or  less,  since  the  colonization  of  America,  William 
Hiferney,  an  Irishman,  testifies  before  the  Legislature,  that  he  was 
stolen  away  from  his  own  country,  brought  hither  and  sold  to  his 
master,  John  Hallet,  of  Scituate,  for  twelve  years,  "  when  he  was 
unacquainted  with  the  English  tongue."  The  case  being  heard, 
Hallet,  by  persuasion  of  the  Court,  agrees  to  take  off  two  years 
from  the  servant's  engaged  time,  if  he  be  faithful. 

The  Court  granting  a  divorce  to  Elizabeth  Burge,  from  her  hus- 
band, Thomas  Burge,  Jr.,  for  adultery,  she  is  allowed  one-third 
"  of  all  his  estate." 

August  10.  Nicholas  Davis  of  Barnstable,*  imprisoned  at  Boston 
as  a  Quaker,  has  a  permit  to  settle  his  affairs  before  his  banishment. 

September  12.  Mr.  Bourne  of  Sandwich,  and  William  Thomp- 
son,! preach  to  the  Indians  in  that  neighborhood. 

1662.  June  3.  The  Plymouth  Legislature  J  "  proposeth  it  as  a 
thing  they  judge  would  be  very  commendable  and  beneficiall  to 
the  townes  where  God's  Providence  shall  cast  any  whales ;  if  they 
should  agree  to  sett  apart  some  parte  of  every  such  fish  or"  oyle  for 
the  incouragement  of  an  able  godly  minnester  amongst  them." 

As  "  great  quantities  of  wine  and  stronge  waters,"  were  brought 
into  the  Colony  and  were  used  to  great  excess  by  English  and  In- 
dians, it  is  enacted,  that  whoever  imports  such  articles,  by  land  or 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  444.  %  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

Plym.  Col.  Laws. 


! 


CHURCH   EXCOMMUNICATED.  815 

shall  give  an  Invoice  of  them  to  peraom  appointed  by  Govern- 
ment. 

A^  dissatisfaction  had  been  expressed  "about  the  sale  of  Kene- 
becke,"  the  Court  consider  the  question  whether  they  shall  re- 
purchase it,  as  they  have  an  opportunity  to  do.  They  decide,  that, 
"finding  noe  way  presenting  itselfe  by  the  takeing  of  it  againe  for 
the  better  advantage  of  the  Collonie,"  they  "  have  with  one  con- 
sent agreed,  that  they  desire  not  to  meddle  with  it  againe,  but  doe 
ratify  the  sale  thereof." 

The  Treasurer  is  instructed  to  obtain  a  volume  of  English  Stat- 
utes for  the  use  of  the  Colony. 

As  some  ordinary  keepers  allowed  people  to  drink  at  their 
houses,  between  the  hours  of  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  such  a  prac- 
tice is  forbidden  "  except  in  case  of  nessesitie,  for  the  reliefe  of 
tho>e  that  are  sicke  or  faint,  on  penaltie  of  10/.  for  every  default." 

It  is  required,  that  the  laws  against  profaning  the  Sabbath  by 
travelling,  and  "  setting  up  of  any  publicke  meeting  without  allow- 
ance of  Government,"  be  carefully  enforced. 

4.  A  Council,  convened  at  Barnstable,*  give  their  result.  It  is 
signed  by  Henry  Flint,  Thomas  Thacher,  Jonathan  Mitchell,  John 

Miller,  Samuel  Bo ,  Samuel  Arnold,  John  Bradford,  Anthony 

Thacher,  Thomas  Prence,  William  Morton  and  Thomas  South- 
worth.  They  had  convened  there  the  previous  September,  at  the 
request  of  the  Assistants  and  the  deserted  brethren.  The  case 
was,  that  John  Smith  and  others  had  seceded  from  the  Barnstable 
Church  and  formed  themselves  into  a  distinct  Church.  Their  ad- 
vice is,  "  We  do  conceive  that  so  disorderly  and  scandalous  a  sepa- 
ration and  schism,  so  long  and  obstinately  (after  the  use  of  so  many 
means)  persisted  in,  calleth  on  neighbour  churches  to  bear  their 
testimony  against  it,  and  do  their  duty  to  the  persons  aforesaid  so 
offending,  by  renouncing  communion  with  them  while  they  con- 
tinue in  that  way,  and  by  declaring  them  uncapable  of  regular 
Church  communion  amongst  themselves.  It  is  the  duty  both  of 
neighbouring  Churches  and  each  Christian,  that  hath  been  of  their 
Society,  to  withdraw  from  them,  and  therefore  neither  may  other 
Churches  regularly  hold  communion  with  them  nor  they  among 
themselves.  Finally  we  conceive,  that  if  this  advice  be  read  in 
neighbour  Churches,  and  their  consent  be  taken  to  the  substance 
thereof,  it  may  be  an  expedient  way  of  declaring  the  aforesaid  non- 
communion."  Thus  the  new  Church  at  Barnstable  is  virtually 
excommunicated. 

August  6.  A  suspicion  being  circulated  that  Indians  had  con- 
certed a  plot  against  the  English,  Philip,  the  Sachem  of  Poconaket, 
and  the  authorities  of  Plymouth,  renew  the  treaty  of  friendship, 
formerly  made  between  his  people  and  their  predecessors. 

*  MS.  Papers  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Lib. 


316  CONCORDANCE  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

[Plym. 

October  3.  Samuel  Howland,  of  Duxbury,*  is  fined  10;.  for 
taking  a  grist  from  the  mill  on  the  Sabbath,  and  William  Ford, 
Sen.,  the  like  sum,  for  allowing  him  to  take  it  away  "  at  such  an 
unseasonable  time."  Kenelme  Winslow,  Jr.,  although  pleading 
necessity,  is  fined  10  .  for  journeying  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  Timo- 
thy lialloway,  the  same  amount,  for  "  triming  his  servant  thereon." 

1663.  January  26.  Morton  relates  :  "At  the  shutting  in  of 
the  evening,  there  was  a  very  great  earthquake  in  New  England." 
The  concussions  did  not  cease  till  the  next  July.  The  same  author 
observes  of  them :  "But  those  we  have  been  sensible  of,  have  been 
rather  gentle  warnings  unto  us,  to  shake  us  out  of  our  earthly 
mindedness,  spiritual  security  and  other  sins."f 

June  1.  No  new  Plantation  shall  be  settled,^  unless  it  have  in- 
habitants enough  to  M  carry  on  things  in  a  satisfactory  way  both 
to  Civill  and  Religious  respects,"  and  that  lands,  uninhabited,  in 
such  places,  shall  be  rated  "  in  some  meet  proportion  "  for  these 
purposes.  Such  settlements  as  have  "  an  inconsiderable  number  " 
of  people,  are  required  to  use  exertions  for  their  enlargement  from 
other  towns,  so  that  they  may  secure  such  ends,  "  especially  an 
able,  godly  "  ministry.  Two  of  them  are  named,  "  Saconeesett  and 
Acushenett."  For  the  "  encouragement  of  the  well-affected  in  the 
Town  of  Sandwich  or  any  other  plantation,  who  shall  be  active" 
for  the  support  of  able,  faithful  ministers,  "  this  Court  taking  into 
their  serious  consideration  the  great  need  thereof  in  every  Planta- 
tion as  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  flourishing  of  religion, 
the  great  and  known  end  of  our  transplanting  into  these  parts  of 
the  world,  as  also  of  the  grant  of  competent  quantities  of  lands  to 
the  respective  Plantations, — do  hereby  declare  their  readiness  to 
assist  such  well-affected  as  aforesaid."  The  Court  propose  to  the 
several  Townships  "  as  a  thing  they  ought  to  take  into  their  serious 
consideration,  that  some  course  may  be  taken,  that  in  every  Town 
there  may  be  a  school-master  set  up  to  train  up  children  to  reading 
and  writing." 

Thomas  Thornton,  of  "  that  eminent  body  of  Confessors  for 
Truth  and  Liberty,"  having  suffered  under  the  Act  of  Uniformity 
of  August  24,  1662,  arrived  at  Yarmouth  as  early  as  June  18. 

July  5.  Samuel  Newman  dies  ^  at  Rehoboth,  a?t.  63.  While 
in  England,  he  "  compiled  a  more  elaborate  Concordance  of  the 
Bible  than  had  ever  been  seen  in  Europe."  After  emigrating 
to  our  country,  he  greatly  improved  so  excellent  a  work.  For  the 
revision  of  it  during  his  ministry  here,  he  used  the  light  of  pine 
knots  for  that  of  candles  and  oil.  He  had  a  son  Samuel,  and 
daughter  Hopestill  who  married  Rev.  George  Shove,  of  Taunton. 
Noah,  of  Rehoboth,  was  his  son,  and  Antipas,  minister  of  AVen- 

*  Plym.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Memorial,  p.  201-4.  J  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec 

j  Morton's  Memorial,  ed.  1721,  p.  206,  7. 


WSLSB   RECORDS.  ->  1 T 

1661.] 

ham,  is  supposed  to  have  been.     He  was  eminently  hospitable  and 

charitable.  "  He  was  a  very  lively  preacher  and  a  very  preaching 
liver."  When  near  his  end,  he  sent  for  one  of  his  deacons,  and, 
after  desiring  him  to  offer  a  prayer  in  his  behalf,  he  said,  "And 
BOW,  ye  angels  of  the    Lord,  come  and  do  your  duty."      lie  then 

immediately  breathed  his  last.  The  Magnalia  says  of  him  :  "The 
Neander  of  New  England  is  dead.  Before  death  he  learned  to 
die,  and  the  art  of  dying  well  died  with  him." 

September.  "At  a  meeting  of  the  chureh*  and  town"  of 
Rehoboth,  4k  it  was  concluded  that  Mr.  Zachariah  Symmes  should 
have  C40  for  this  year,  his  diet  at  Mr.  Newman's  besides."  They 
voted,  November  25,  to  look  out  for  an  assistant  to  him  in  the 
ministry. 

About  this  year,  John  Holmes,  f  who  was  a  student  under 
President  Chauncy,  1658,  and  who  succeeded  Mr.  Partridge,  of 
Duxbury,  in  the  duties  of  the  pulpit,  is  ordained  in  this  place. 

Thomas  Walley,  recently  from  England,  where  he  had  been 
ejected  from  his  ministry  at  St.  Mary's,  White  Chapel,  London,  is 
ordained  pastor  at  Barnstable.  The  church  here  were  much 
divided.  He  was  well  fitted  in  disposition,  principle,  habit  and 
perseverance,  to  heal  their  divisions. 

The  town  of  Plymouth  +  vote  £60  for  the  completion  of  a  par- 
sonage house,  half  of  it  payable  in  tar  and  corn,  and  the  rest  in 
wheat,  barley,  peas,  butter  or  money. 

This  year,  John  Miles,  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  §  at  Swansea, 
Wales,  having  been  ejected,  settles  with  some  of  his  people  at 
Wannamoiset,  then  within  the  bounds  of  Rehoboth,  but  after- 
wards Swansea.  Being  of  a  denomination  not  allowed  by  laws 
of  Plymouth,  their  formation  as  a  church  soon  after  their  arrival 
led  to  difficulty.  Mr.  Miles  brought  the  records  of  his  church  in 
Wales  with  him,  written  in  the  Welsh  language,  and  they  are  still 
preserved. 

Among  those  who  joined  the  church  with  Mr.  Miles  was 
James  Brown.  But  the  Magnalia  [|  mentions  a  person  of  the  last 
name  as  a  resident  at  Swansea,  and  among  the  ministers  who  had 
fled  from  the  persecution  in  England. 

Mr.  Holmes,  and  his  friends  of  the  Baptists,  had  had  a  meeting 
at  Rehoboth  for  a  time,  and  then  they  moved  to  Newport. 


MAINE. 


1661.  March  11.  Soon  after  this  date,  when  he  was  banished, 
Edward  Wharton  visited  Saco,  Black  Point,  Casco  Bay,  and  other 
places.     After  various  endeavors  to  impress  his  opinions  on  others, 

*  Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  212.         f  Ibid.  p.  256.         J  Hist,  of  Plymouth,  p.  120. 
§  Backus,  vol.  p.  350-3.  ||  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  237. 


318  FORM  OF  WORSHIP. 

[Me. 

and  several  narrow  escapes  from  being  apprehended,  he  goes  back 
to  Salem.*  He  takes  another  journey  to  Maine,  several  months 
subsequently. 

May  21.  Edward  Littlefield,  John  Wadleigh  and  others,  of 
Wells,  petition  f  the  General  Court  of  the  Bay,  that  Nathaniel 
Fletcher  may  have  liberty  to  accept  a  call  and  settle  among  them. 
On  the  28th,  the  Court  defer  granting  the  request  until  Fletcher 
obtains  a  certificate  from  the  County  Court  of  York,  that  he  has 
reformed. 

At  the  same  session  they  pass  the  following :  "  Upon  this 
Court's  information  of  the  want  of  a  settled,  able  and  orthodox 
ministry  in  some  places  of  this  jurisdiction,  especially  relating  to 
the  County  of  York,  viz.,  Wells,  Saco  and  Scarboro',  the  accom- 
plishment whereof,  through  God's  blessing,  might  prove  an  effec- 
tual remedy  for  healing  and  preventing  much  disorder,  ignorance 
and  profanity,"  Ordered,  that  the  said  towns,  within  six  months 
after  receiving  notice  of  this,  obtain  "  some  able  and  pious  min- 
isters." 

On  petition  of  George  Cleaves,  a  Committee  are  designated  to 
visit  Falmouth  and  examine  charges  against  Mr.  Jordan.  It 
appears  from  Williamson,  that  Jordan,  at  the  close  of  worship, 
had  resumed  his  duties  of  an  Episcopal  minister  there,  and  bap- 
tized three  children  of  Mr.  Wales. 

John  Thorpe  is  required  to  suspend  his  preaching  at  Scarbo- 
rough, till  he  can  be  heard  by  the  York  Court. 

July  1.  The  County  Court,  at  York,  J  make  the  subsequent  de- 
cision. "  The  town  of  Wells,  at  present  being  destitute  of  any  fit 
person  to  carry  on  the  worship  of  God  amongst  them  on  the  Lord's 
day :  It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  Court,  that  'till  they  can  better 
provide  for  themselves,  (which  we  hope  they  will  not  neglect  any 
opportunity  to  do,)  that  Mr.  Ezekiel  Knight  and  William  Ham- 
mond shall  duly  attend  the  place  of  public  meeting  on  the  Lord's 
day,  and  that  they  improve  their  best  abilities  in  speaking  out  of  the 
Word  of  God,  Praying,  Singing  of  Psalms,  and  reading  some 
good  orthodox  Sermons,  as  may  most  tend  to  the  edification  of 
them  that  hear,  and  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  as  the  law 
of  God  and  this  jurisdiction  require." 

This  year  a  Committee  §  of  Parliament  report  unfavorably  to  the 
claim  of  Massachusetts  upon  the  territory  of  Maine.  This  repre- 
sentation tends  to  encourage  the  Episcopalians  and  Royalists  of  the 
Colony  in  their  opposition  to  the  Bay  authority. 

Antipas  Boies,  Edward  Tyng,  Thomas  Brattle  and  John  Wins- 
low  purchase  of  Plymouth  Colony  ||  their  Patent  of  a  large  tract  of 

*  Bishop,  p.  324  and  396.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers  and  Rec. 

+  Greenleaf  s  Ecclesiastical  Sketches,  p.  19.     York  Records. 
§  In  session  Jan.  21,  1663.     Farmer's  Belknap,  p.  436,  7. 
||  MS.  Plym.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Sullivan's  Me.  p.  117. 


\  [-ENDING    COMMISSIONERS.  819 

1009.] 

land  at  Kennebeck,  for  £400  sterling.  Thus  that  Colony  part 
with  what  had  been  the  refuge  of  Puritans  in  this  quarter,  and 
hail  greatly  assisted  by  its  traffic,  to  alleviate  the  severity  of  their 
|sMes. 

1662.  May  :i7.  As  Commissioners  of  Massachusetts,  Daniel 
Dennison,  William  Hawthorn  and  Richard  Waldron*  address  a 
communication  at  Wells,  to  Henry  Jocelyn,  Francis  Champernon, 
Nicholas  Shapleigh,  Etobert  Jordan  and  Mr.  Purchas.     The  former 

entreat  the  latter  to  consider  their  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Bay. 
They  proceed :  "  We  are  not  affrighted  by  any  commissions  from 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  Esqr.  You  have  made  too  large  a  progress 
in  these  disorderly  actings,  wherein  if  you  shall  continue  to  the 
disturbance  of  the  King's  peace,  you  will  inforce  us  to  change  our 
style.  You  know  we  cannot  own  Mr.  Gorges'  Commissioners." 
In  another  note  of  the  same  day,  they  protest  against  such  a  course 
and  add,  we  "  do  hereby  in  his  Majesty's  name,  require  you  to 
return  to  your  subjection  and  obedience  to  the  General  Court  of 
Mass achusetts,  according  to  the  articles  and  subscription  at  Kittery, 
York,  Wells  and  Spurwinck,  and  that  you  forthwith  quietly  dis- 
solve this  assembly,  called  by  your  own  authority."  Jocelyn  and 
his  associates,  the  day  before,  had  left  notice  for  Dennison  and  his 
associates,  that  they  were  ready  "  to  give  the  General  Court "  at 
Boston,  "  all  civil  and  Christian  return,"  when  they  shall  ask  for 
it  in  their  own  name. 

June  3.  As  dissatisfaction!  had  been  expressed  by  inhabitants 
of  the  Plymouth  Colony  with  the  sale  of  their  patent  at  Ken- 
nebeck,  and  an  opportunity  was  presented  of  having  it  again,  the 
Deputies  there  consider  the  matter  and  decide  that  it  is  best  for  the 
general  good  that  the  contract  be  not  disturbed. 

October  8.  At  their  session  of  this  date,*  the  Bay  authorities 
order  that  the  people  of  Yorkshire  be  publicly  notified  that  they 
be  in  subjection  to  Massachusetts  till  the  royal  pleasure  be  more 
fully  known. 

November  24.  A  letter  from  George  Cleaves,  §  at  Falmouth,  to 
Governor  Endicott  and  other  magistrates  of  the  Bay,  contains  the 
subsequent  particulars.  Henry  Jocelyn  had  been  active  to  have 
the  royal  orders  published  among  the  people,  while  he  was  equally 
engaged  to  suppress  those  of  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  Cleaves 
took  pains  to  have  the  latter  orders  read  before  the  congregation  of 
Falmouth  after  the  close  of  public  worship.  "  The  pretended 
Commissioners  harve  appointed  a  meeting  at  Saco  on  the  25th  of 
this  present  November,  and  we  suppose  it  is  to  see  what  strength 
they  can  gather  and  suppress  your  authority,  and  to  establish  their 
pretended  interest.    We  may  expect,  speedily,  Mr.  Jocelyn  and  Mr. 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  f  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  J  MS.  Mass.  Gen. 

Ct.  Rec.  §  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.     Willis's  Portland,  pt.  1,  p.  104-6. 


320  INSURRECTIONARY  SPIRIT. 

[Me. 

Jordan  to  come  to  our  town  to  see  what  they  can  do  here,  but  my 
care  will  be  to  defeat  their  purposes  in  what  I  may."  He  desires 
them  to  make  an  example  of  those  who  had  taken  the  oath  of 
fidelity,  but  acted  perfidiously,  so  as  to  deter  others  from  imitating 
their  conduct. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year,*  Mary  Tomkins  and  Alice  Am- 
brose, George  Preston  and  Edward  Wharton,  of  the  Quaker 
denomination,  visit  Maine.  They  are  accommodated  by  Major 
Nicholas  Shapleigh,  of  Kittery,  who  had  a  minister,  T.  Millet, 
living  at  his  house,  and  officiating  as  a  pastor  to  the  people.  The 
result  of  such  a  coincidence  is  the  departure  of  Millet,  and  the 
continuance  of  the  Quakers  with  free  liberty  to  hold  their  meet- 
ings. Here  they  had  many  to  countenance  them.  After  a  while, 
Ambrose  and  Tomkins,  with  Ann  Coleman,  return  to  Dover. 
The  rest  had  probably  left  before.  When  at  the  latter  part  of 
December,  these  three  females  had  been  thrice  whipped  and 
released,  they  returned  to  Major  Shapleigh's  house.  They  held  a 
meeting  at  Newichawaneck,  where  they  met  with  Shubal  Dummer, 
a  minister.  He  questioned  them  as  to  their  rule  of  faith  and  life. 
They  said  it  was  the  Spirit.  They  visit  Dover  and  are  appre- 
hended. 

1663.  May  27.  The  Bay  authorities,f  in  order  to  suppress  an 
insurrectionary  spirit,  which  prefers  royalty  and  episcopacy,  appoint 
William  Philips  to  succeed  Nicholas  Shapleigh  as  major  of  the 
York  County  militia. 

June  6.  They  issue  the  subsequent  precept :  "  To  the  inhab- 
itants of  Yorkshire.  You  and  every  of  you  are  hereby  required 
in  his  Majesty's  name  to  yield  faithful  and  true  obedience  to  the 
Government  of  this  jurisdiction,  established  amongst  you,  according 
to  your  covenant  articles,  until  his  Majesty's  pleasure  be  further 
known." 

10.  Joseph  Emerson,  J  of  York,  desires  them  by  letter  that  they 
would  appoint  some  persons  to  examine  difficulties  in  his  congre- 
gation. They  accordingly  designate  William  Hawthorn  and  Major 
Lusher  to  consider  the  subject  and  endeavor  to  settle  it  by  them- 
selves, or  associate  such  others  with  them  as  they  may  choose. 

25.  A  letter  is  directed  from  Daniel  Gookin  §  to  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges.  It  states  that  the  father  of  the  former  was  intimate  with 
the  predecessor  of  the  latter,  and  was  interested  with  him  in  New 
England  affairs.  It  then  gives  the  subsequent  representations. 
The  people  of  Maine,  wearied  with  anarchy  among  themselves, 
made  earnest  application  to  Massachusetts  for  protection  and  gov- 
ernment. Their  request  was  granted,  after  which  Massachusetts 
had  their  line  run,  a  thing  never  before  done,  "  according  to  the 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  227,  8.  f  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

J  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers.  §  MS.  Papers  of  the  Council  for  N.  Eng. 


PUBLIC    DISTURBANi  9  M 

I 

judgment  oi  good  artists  therein  employed,  taking  in  the  greatest 
.  it*  not  all  your  Province."  01  late  there  baa  been  disturb- 
ance. "  The  body  of  the  people,  in  conscience  to  their  oath  and 
articles,  still  adhere  to  the  Government  of  the  Bay,  and  frequently 
make  their  address  to  it  for  protection  and  justice,  and  yourself  do 
tppear  to  have  interest  enough  to  compose  and  .satisfy  them. 
The  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  have  not  been  forward  to  enter 
into  any  contest  with  you  in  this  matter,  finding  it  difficult  to  rule 
a  remote  and  divided  people.  The  frequent  solicitations  of 
the  people  in  that  Province,  urging  a  performance  of  covenant, 
hath  "  called  them  "  to  suppress  the  contrary.  And  for  that  end 
Commissioners  have  been  once  and  again  sent,  and  composition 
made  with  yours,  but  presently  again  broken  by  some  among  them 
upon  pretense  of  your  authority,  so  that  now  it  is  probable  you 
will  hear,  and  that  with  great  aggravations,  that  Mr.  Jordan  is 
secured,  the  only  end  whereof  is  to  preserve  public  peace,  for 
some  men  there  are  in  the  world  who  are  impatient  of  any  power 
that  will  bridle  their  lusts  and  disorders."  tie  hopes  that  he  will 
not  hearken  to  them  ;  proposes  that  he  offer  to  settle  with  Massa- 
chusetts, who  will  be  likely  to  give  him  a  reasonable  sum  for  the 
government  of  Maine,  and  he,  if  wishing  it,  may  still  hold  the 
propriety  of  the  Province. 

July  4.  A  declaration  of  Scarborough,  Falmouth,  Black  Point 
and  Casco,  is  laid  before  the  Court,  or  Commissioners  from  the  Bav, 
at  York.  They  speak  of  the  very  perplexed  situation  in  which 
thev  are,  commanded  to  obey  Massachusetts,  and  also  the  authori- 
ties who  were  chosen  according  to  the  Charter  of  Gorges.  They 
express  their  unwillingness  to  decide  in  the  premises,  until  they 
have  the  decision  of  his  Majesty. 

The  Court  arraign  James  Wiggin  *  for  answering,  more  than  a 
year  previously,  when  asked  to  carry  a  dish  of  meat  to  the  Bay 
Commissioners,  then  in  session  at  Wells,  "  with  an  oath,  if  it  were 
poison  he  would  carry  it  to  them."  He  is  sentenced  to  receive  fif- 
teen lashes,  and  give  bonds  to  keep  the  peace.  But  it  was  finally 
compromised  by  his  paying  £10. 

Thomas  Booth  is  presented  for  calling  their  magistrates  "  a  com- 
pany of  hypocritical  rogues,"  who  feared  "  neither  God  nor  the 
Kin?."  Mr.  Williams,  R.  Hitchcock,  R.  Trustram,  H.  Waddock, 
J.  Gibbins,  Vic.  Edgecomb,  E.  Sanders,  J.  Smith,  R.  Cummins, 
T.  Rogers,  J.  Bonighton  and  R.  Hill,  of  Saco,  are  presented  for 
disobedience  to  such  commands,  as,  by  oath  of  freemen,  they  had 
bound  themselves  to  perform.  Francis  Small  is  called  to  answer 
for  asserting  in  open  Court,  that  "  Mr.  George  Cleaves  was  a 
traitor,  and  that  he  could  prove  that  the  said  Cleaves  said,  that  the 

*  MS.  York  Rec.      Sullivan's  Me.  p.  373.      Folsom's  Saco  and  Biddeford, 
p.  92,  3.     Willis's  Portland,  part  1,  p.  107,  8. 
41 


322  IMPRISONMENT   OF   JORDAN. 

[N.H. 

King  was  an  atheist,  a  papist,  etc.,  and  it  was  proved  in  Court, 
that  Cleaves  so  spake."  Francis  Hooke  is  presented,  because,  on 
a  Sabbath,  after  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Saco  had  exhorted  his  people  "  to 
be  earnest  in  prayer  to  the  Lord  to  direct  them  in  respect  they 
were  under  two  claymes  of  government ;  "  he  rose  and  answered 
Mr.  Fletcher,  "  he  need  not  make  such  a  preamble,  for  they  were 
under  Gorges'  authority.  And  the  said  Hooke  doth  act  by  his 
authority,  granting  warrants,  summonses,  taking  depositions  and 
hearing  causes."  H.  Jocelyn  of  Black-point,  F.  Champernoon  of 
Kittery,  Robert  Jordan  of  Spurwink,  and  Nicholas  Shapleigh,  are 
presented  "  for  acting  against  the  authority  they  were  under,  and 
so  renouncing  the  authority  of  Massachusetts,  using  means  for  the 
subverting  thereof,  under  pretense  of  a  sufficient  power  from  Esq. 
Gorges  to  take  off  the  people,  which  is  manifest  to  the  contrary." 
Mr.  Jordan  is  also  presented  for  speaking  rashly  of  Rev.  John 
Cotton,  deceased,  and  for  denouncing  the  Rulers  of  Massachusetts 
as  traitors  and  rebels  against  the  King."  He  had  been  brought  as 
a  prisoner  to  Boston,  as  soon  as  July,  by  Joseph  Phippen.  A 
pamphlet  *  represents,  that  Jordan  was  imprisoned  and  largely 
lined  at  Boston,  because  he  preached  and  baptized  according  to  the 
English  Church. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

1661.  May  1.  Among  considerations  f  for  establishing  his 
Majesty's  interest  in  New  England,  we  have  the  following.  It  is 
proposed,  that  five  Commissioners  go  over ;  proceed  first  to  Ports- 
mouth, where  it  is  said  "many  persons,  some  of  great  estates,  are 
well  inclined  to  admitting  "  the  royal  pleasure  to  prevail  among 
them.  Such  Agents  are  to  "  use  the  best  means  they  can  to  make 
an  acquaintance  with  the  chief  and  best  inclined  persons  in  the 
two  Provinces  of  Hampshire  and  Maine,  magistrates,  ministers  and 
others." 

This  year,  a  Committee*  of  Parliament  report.  As  rovalists,  who 
had  given  ear  to  complaints  against  Massachusetts,  they  expressed 
themselves  in  severe  terms,  relative  to  that  Colony's  transactions 
under  Cromwell's  administration.  In  this,  they  had  particular  ref- 
erence to  the  Bay's  taking  New  Hampshire  into  their  bounds. 

December  28.  Timothy  Dalton,  minister  of  Hampton,  dies,  aged 
about  84.  He  left  a  widow,  Ruth,  who  deceased  May  12,  1666, 
aged  88  years.     He  bequeathed  property  to  Samuel,  son  of  his 

*  "  Persecutors  Maul'd  with  their  own  "Weapons,"  supposed  br  Thomas 
Maule.  f  MS.  Council  for  N.  E.  Rec.  +  Belknap,  p.  436.     N.  E.  Rock. 

Co.  Papers. 


BPBBAD   OP  QUAKERISH. 

-■] 
brother,  Philemon  Dalton,  and  also  to  his  people,  as  ;i  town, 
which  constituted  the  present  ministerial  funds  of  Hampton  and 
North  Hampton.  Though  he  ceased  to  declare  the  Gospel,  he  Left 
Beans  so  that  its  truths  might  still  bo  delivered  to  his  snecessors, 
without  let  or  hinderance." 

1662.  October  8.  At  a  session  of  the  Bay  Legislature,*  Edward 
Colcort,  imprisoned  at  Boston,  as  a  troubler  of  their  liberties, 
according  to  a  decision  of  a  Court  at,  Hampton,  is  released. 

Trior  to  this  date,  Mary  Tomkins  and  Alice  Ambrose,f  from 
England,  George  Preston  and  Edward  Wharton  of  Salem,  appear 
at  Dover.  They  were  active  in  the  dissemination  of  their  opinions. 
They  had  a  discussion  with  Rev.  Mr.  Reyner.  The  people  of  his 
parish  petition  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  to  adopt  measures 
for  arresting  the  progress  of  the  Quaker  doctrines  there.  They 
empower  Richard  Waldron  to  execute  the  law  on  "  all  criminal 
offenders."     The  females,  mentioned,  went  into  Maine. 

Eunice  Cole,  by  a  petition  of  herself  and  inhabitants  of  Hamp- 
ton, is  allowed  to  leave  Boston  prison,  released  from  her  former 
sentence,  and  to  depart  from  the  Colony. 

Having  come  back  to  Dover  and  renewed  their  labors,  Tomkins 
and  Ambrose  are  prosecuted,  with  Ann  Coleman.  On  the  22d  of 
December,  these  three  are  sentenced  to  be  tied  to  a  cart's  tail, 
whipped  not  above  ten  stripes  in  each  of  the  towns,  Dover,  Hamp- 
ton, Salisbury,  Newbury,  Rowley,  Ipswich,  Wenham,  Lynn,  Bos- 
ton, Roxbury  and  Dedham.  The  sentence  was  executed  at  Dover, 
where  William  Fourbish,  of  the  same  place,  and  Eliakim  Wardel, 
of  Hampton,  testified  against  it  as  unjust.  When  they  were  whip- 
ped at  Hampton,  their  friend  Edward  W^harton  denied  that  they 
should  be  so  treated.  After  being  thus  dealt  with  at  Salisbury, 
they  were  released  by  Walter  Barefoot,  a  deputy  constable. 
Though  he  did  not  act  according  to  the  warrant  in  releasing  them 
after  three  whippings,  he  was  borne  out  by  the  exception  of  the 
last  Legislative  order.  Having  revisited  Kittery,  and  then  Dover, 
they  are  apprehended  at  a  meeting.  The  persons  who  took  them, 
meant  to  carry  them  away  by  water,  but  a  storm  arising,  they 
suffered  them  to  go  at  large. 

Hull  in  his  journal  remarks :  "In  some  of  our  Eastern  planta- 
tions, as  Dover,  etc.,  many  are  become  Quakers." 

Before  the  13th  of  November,  John  Brock  leaves  the  ministry 
at  Gosport,  among  the  Isles  X  of  Shoals,  or  Appledore,  or  Star 
Island,  for  a  settlement  at  Reading.  He  wras  born  at  Shadbrook, 
England,  1620,  cairre  to  New  England  1637,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  1646.  After  residing  here  two  years  longer,  and  then 
engaged  as  a  preacher  at  Rowley  to  1650,  he  continued  as  a  "  fisher 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  227,  8. 

X  Partly  in  New  Hampshire,  and  partly  in  Maine. 


324  AN  INDELICATE  SYMBOL. 

[N.  H. 

of  men  "  among  the  hardy  population  of  those  Islands,  twelve  years. 
His  faith  and  works  were  of  an  eminent  rank.  The  noted  Mr. 
Mitchell  remarked  of  him,  "  He  dwells  as  near  heaven  as  any  man 
upon  earth." 

1663.  May  5.  Lydia,  wife  of  Eliakim  Wardwell,*  of  Hampton, 
is  sentenced  to  be  severely  whipped  and  pay  costs  of  prosecution, 
because  she  had  appeared  naked  before  the  congregation  in  New- 
bury meeting-house,  where  she  had  been  a  church  member.  Bishop 
and  Besse  justify  such  an  act,  as  the  means  of  expressing  her  deep 
impression  of  the  spiritual  destitution  among  her  former  fellow 
worshipers.  But  the  sign,  so  given,  however  well  intended,  was 
too  indelicate  for  a  useful  effect. 

July  4.  A  Court  of  Commissioners  being  in  session  at  Dover, 
are  visited  by  Edward  Wharton  of  Salem,  who  gloried  in  opposition 
to  authority  and  in  the  consequent  sufferings.  He  cried  aloud  f  to 
them,  "  Wo  to  all  oppressors  and  persecutors,  for  the  indignation 
of  the  Lord  is  against  them.  Therefore,  friends,  whilst  you  have 
time,  prize  the  day  of  his  patience,  and  cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn 
to  do  well ;  ye  who  spoil  the  poor,  and  devour  the  needy ;  ye  who 
lay  traps  and  snares  for  the  innocent."  He  is  put  into  the  stocks. 
William  Hathorne,  his  townsman,  and  one  of  the  justices  present, 
asked  him  why  he  came  thither.  He  replied,  "  To  bear  my  testi- 
mony for  the  truth  against  persecution  and  violence."  Thomas 
Wiggin,  of  the  bench,  rebuked  him.  To  this  he  answered,  "  Thou 
art  an  old  persecutor.  It's  time  for  thee  to  give  over,  for  thou 
mayest  be  drawing  near  to  thy  grave."  He  was  sentenced  to  suffer 
the  legal  penalty,  tied  to  a  cart,  and  ten  stripes  in  each  of  three 
towns,  through  which  he  was  to  pass.  These  were  Dover,  Hamp- 
ton and  Newbury.  Orders  were  also  sent  to  constables  of  Salis- 
bury, Rowley,  Ipswich  and  Wenham,  so  that  they  should  send 
him  along  towards  his  home.  Having  been  punished  at  Dover, 
and  no  horse  could  be  obtained  for  him  to  ride,  he  was  committed 
to  prison.  The  next  week,  the  rest  of  his  sentence  was  put  in 
force.  He  was  conducted  through  the  route  on  horse-back ;  one  of 
the  guard  led  the  horse,  and  two  walked  each  side  of  the  prisoner. 

After  the  preceding  date,  Joseph  Nicholson  and  John  Liddal 
visited  Newcastle.  They  were  whipped  at  Portsmouth  and  allowed 
to  depart.  At  another  time,  they  appeared  with  Edward  Wharton, 
Jane  Millard  and  Ann  Coleman,  on  the  Sabbath,  at  the  Dover 
meeting-house.  They  were  taken  to  prison  and  detained  there 
nearly  a  fortnight.  Then  they  held  a  meeting  with  Friends  at 
Hampton.  The  constable,  with  assistants,  took  and  carried  them 
to  prison,  where  they  were  kept  awhile,  and  then  suffered  to  go  at 
large. 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  225.     MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.  f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  231-3. 


ILLEGAL   ICABBIAOE.  885 

1081.] 


EtHODE    ISLAND. 

16G1.  February  5.  Joshua  Coxall  forfeits  his  horse4  in  Plym- 
outh Colonv,  because  a  Quaker  rode  it  thither,  contrary  to  their 
law. 

June  10.  Mr.  Henry  Hobson,  of  Newport,  is  bound  to  answer 
before  the  General  Court  of  Plymouth  Colony,  "for  his  derision 
of  authority  in  counterfeiting  the  solemnizing  of  the  marriage  of 
Kobert  Whetcomb  and  Alary  Cudworth,"  who  lived  in  the  juris- 
diction of  sdid  Legislature. 

This  year  Elizabeth  Hootonf  and  Joanc  Brooksup,  forced  to 
leave  Massachusetts,  came  to  Khode  Island,  and  "after  some 
stay."  went  to  Barbadoes,  and  thence,  not  long  after,  returned  to 
New  England. 

August  :>!7.  Having  received  letters  from  Mr.  Clark,  the  Com- 
missioners agreed  to  send  him  their  thanks  for  the  faithfulness 
with  which  he  had  attended  to  their  Colonial  interests.  They 
also  order  a  commission  for  the  continuance  of  his  agency  in  Eng- 
land. They  vote  him  £200,  to  be  raised  by  assessments  on  the 
towns. 

September  13.  The  Commissioners  §  of  the  Union  request  the 
authorities  here  not  to  suffer  any  of  their  people  to  occupy  land 
which  fell  to  Massachusetts  by  conquest,  and  "  near  Pautucket 
and  the  Pequot  country,"  nor  injure  "  the  heathen  or  others, 
which  may  draw  upon  yourselves  and  us  uncomfortable  conse- 
quences." 

November  14.  A  letter  from  the  Governor  and  Council  of 
Massachusetts  ||  is  directed  to  the  authorities  here.  It  refers  to 
Tobias  Saunders  and  Robert  Burdett,  who  are  committed  to  Boston 
prison  for  intrusion  on  the  bounds  of  Southertown.  Various  cor- 
respondence passed  between  the  two  Colonies  on  this  subject. 

1662.  May  22.  General  Court  of  Providence  Plantations  reply 
to  a  communication  H  of  the  8th,  from  Massachusetts,  who  therein 
complained  of  intrusion  upon  their  rights  in  "  the  Pequitt  and 
Narraganset  country."  They  consider  themselves  as  allowing 
none  of  their  people  to  occupy  any  lands  which  do  not  belong  to 
them,  and  desire  all  suspension  of  a  forcible  action  until  the  pleasure 
of  the  King-  can  be  ascertained. 

About  the  middle  of  this  year  the  General  Assembly  have  the 
two  succeeding  addresses  **  presented  to  his  Majesty,  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  their  charter  privileges.  One  of  these  papers  was  signed 
by  John  Clark,  as  their  agent,  and  the  other  from  them,  signed  by 

*  Plym.  Gen.  Ct.  Rcc.  f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  228,  9.  J  Staples'  Annals, 

p.  130.         §  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  418,  9.         ||  Ibid.  p.  45o.         II  MS.  Mass.  Gen. 
Ct.  Papers.         **  J.  C.  Brown's  MSS. 


326  FALSE  GODS   OF  INDIANS. 

[R.I. 

him  in  such  official  capacity.  Both  of  them  state  the  readiness 
with  which  the  people  of  the  Colony  welcomed  him  to  the  throne. 
The  latter  remarks  that  they  "  have  it  much  on  their  hearts,  they 
may  be  permitted  to  hold  forth  a  lively  experiment,  that  a  flourish- 
ing civil  State  may  stand,  yea,  be  maintained,  and  that  among 
English  spirits,  with  a  full  liberty  in  religious  concernments,  and 
that  true  piety,  rightly  grounded  upon  gospel  principles,  will  give 
the  best  and  greatest  security  to  true  sovereignty,  and  will  lay  in 
the  hearts  of  men  the  strongest  obligations  to  true  loyalty."  This 
passage  was  so  pertinent  to  the  occasion,  that  it  became  almost 
literally  adopted  by  the  charter. 

August  15.  Spori,  in  his  account  of  a  voyage  *  from  Zurich  to 
the  Caribbean  Islands  and  New  England,  mentions  that  the  vessel 
in  which  he  sailed  anchored  near  the  place  where  the  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island  lived.  He  relates  that  the  latter  immediately  sent  a 
message  on  board,  to  obtain  the  usual  information  about  the  voyage, 
and  for  the  captain  to  bring  the  surgeon  ashore  if  he  had  one. 
This  is  accordingly  done,  and  Spori,  who  appears  to  have  been 
master  of  the  healing  art,  performed  a  great  cure  for  the  Gov- 
ernor's son.  Among  his  descriptions,  he  mentions  New  England 
Indians.  "  They  believe  in  many  gods,  but  not  all  of  one  rank, 
and  think  they  all  have  natures  like  men.  They  believe  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  after  death.  They  worship  also  the  moon 
and  stars." 

September  16.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union,f  except  Sam- 
uel Willis,  who  consented  in  part,  send  a  letter  to  Rhode  Island. 
The  former  complain  of  violence  committed  by  individuals,  who 
plead  authority  from  their  Rulers  ;  charge  them  with  "  giving  ill 
example  to  Pequot  Indians,  that  are  in  subjection  to  us,  profaning 
the  Sabbath,  and  selling  great  quantities  of  liquors  to  them." 
They  proceed :  "  Being  jointly  desirous  to  prevent  any  further 
disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the  Colonies,  though  we  have  no  doubt 
of  the  present  right  and  interest  of  the  Massachusetts  to  those 
lands,  we  are  willing  to  improve  the  argument  that  yourselves  have 
owned."  Then  they  observe  that,  as  the  late  Charter  of  Connec- 
ticut covers  the  premises  which  Rhode  Island  claim,  there  is 
sufficient  reason  why  this  claim  should  be  withdrawn  till  it  can  be 
peaceably  decided.  They  close  :  "  Otherwise  assuring  you  that  the 
United  Colonies  are  engaged  to  assist  and  defend  each  other  in 
their  just  rights  and  professions,  entreating  you  to  weigh  the  scandal 
of  your  actings,  against  which  we  do  protest,  and  that  the  United 
Colonies  are  innocent  of  the  sad  consequences  and  disturbances 
that  will  unavoidably  attend  your  further  continuance  therein. 
The  righteous  God,  the  God  of  peace,  incline  your  hearts  and 
direct  your  counsels  to  the  ways  of  righteousness  and  peace." 

*  Hist.  Magazine,  vol.  iii.  f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  467. 


EDUCATION— CH  \i;i  BR. 

1063.] 

Ocl  ber  IT.  The  General  Assembly  send  ;i  letter  through  their 
►eph  Torrey,  in  reply  to  one  which  they  received 
from  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union,  and  which  stated  that  they 
had  not  answered  several  communications  about  differences  as  to 
Pawcatuck  lands.  It  says  that  a  sufficient  rejoinder  had  been  made 
to  these  letters  and  sent  to  Massachusetts. 

1663.  April.  George  Sheppard,  of  Providence,*  perceiving  that 
the  men  there  were  dissatisfied,  because  he  took  no  part  in  their 
municipal  transactions,  gives  the  reasons.  He  says  it  is  owing  to 
his  physical  infirmity  and  insufficient  qualification.  He  relates  that 
he  came  hither  to  enjoy  his  conscience,  and  not  for  the  land  which 
thev  had  assigned  him.  He  expresses  his  willingness  that  it'  they 
prefer  to  take  his  grant  and  give  him  one  of  less  dimensions,  he 
shall  be  satisfied.  The  sentiments  uttered  by  him  on  this  occasion, 
show  a  regard  for  the  freedom  of  conscience  and  the  promotion  of 
harmony,  which  are  seldom  witnessed  in  communities. 

May,  The  earliest  encouragement  for  education,f  in  Rhode 
Island,  which  has  come  to  the  eye  of  the  writer,  is  on  the  records 
of  Providence,  as  quoted  by  Judge  Staples :  "  It  is  agreed  by  this 
present  Assembly,  that  one  hundred  acres  of  upland  and  six  acres 
of  meadow  Tor  lowland  to  the  quantity  of  eight  acres,  in  lieu  of 
meadow;  shall  be  laid  out  without  the  bounds  of  this  Town  of 
Providence.  The  which  land  shall  be  reserved  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  school  in  this  town :  and  that,  after  the  said  land  is  laid  out 
and  the  bounds  thereof  set,  it  shall  be  recorded  in  our  town  records, 
according  unto  the  bounds  fixed,  and  shall  be  called  by  the  name 
of  The  School  Lands  of  Providence."  In  reference  to  this  subject, 
the  same  author,  just  quoted,  remarks  :  "  It  is  a  matter  of  regret, 
that  education  has  not  always  received  the  same  degree  of  attention 
in  Rhode  Island,  as  in  the  other  New  England  States."  We  may 
add,  that  there  has  been  a  hopeful  advance,  within  the  last  half 
century,  as  to  the  cause  of  letters,  in  this  Commonwealth.  A  prin- 
cipal reason  why  it  has  been  in  the  rear,  was  the  influence  of  an- 
cient and  long-continued  objection  to  taxes  for  religion  and  schools, 
and  compliance  with  the  mistaken  position,  that  liberty  was  so 
liberal  as  to  allow  every  man  to  do  as  he  pleased  in  these  two 
most  essential  means  to  combat  natural  selfishness  and  secure  in- 
struction for  the  intellect  and  the  soul. 

July  8.  On  the  petition  of  John  Clarke,  who  had  been  inde- 
fatigable in  exertions  for  the  benefit  of  his  constituents,  a  Charter 
is  obtained  from  Charles  II.  for  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
Plantations.  The  document  relates,  that  the  original  settlers  here 
came  over  to  enjoy  Christianity  themselves  and  impart  it  to  "  the 
poor  ignorant  savages,"  but  not  tolerated  in  their  sentiments  where 
they  first  settled,  they  moved  to  the  premises  in  view.     It  allows 

*  Annals  of  Providence,  p.  132,  3.  t  Ibid.  p.  492. 


328  COMPLAINT— CLAIM. 

[R.I. 

the  colonists  "  the  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  all  their  civil  and 
religious  rights,"  as  subjects  of  England.  It  proceeds  :  "Because 
some  of  the  inhabitants  cannot  conform  to  the  liturgy,  form  and 
ceremonies  "  of  the  established  church  of  the  kingdom,  they  mav 
enjoy  "  their  own  consciences  in  matters  of  religious  concernments, 
not  using  this  liberty  to  licentiousness  and  profaneness,  nor  to  the 
civil  injury  or  outward  disturbance  of  others."  In  reference  to  acts 
of  banishment  passed  by  adjacent  Legislatures,  it  says :  "  That  it 
shall  be  lawful  to  and  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  Colony,  with- 
out let  or  molestation,  to  pass  and  repass  with  freedom,  into  and 
through  the  rest  of  the  English  Colonies,  upon  their  lawful  and 
civil  occasions,  and  hold  commerce  and  trade  with  such  of  the 
inhabitants  of  our  other  English  Colonies  as  shall  be  willing  to 
admit  them  thereunto,  they  behaving  themselves  peaceably  among 
them." 

September  13.  Complaint  is  made*  to  the  Commissioners  that 
some  men  of  Rhode  Island,  on  the  authority  of  their  Government, 
had  committed  violence  on  persons  and  property  of  Southertown, 
claimed  by  Massachusetts.  The  Commissioners  protest  against 
such  conduct,  and  assert  the  obligation  of  the  Union  to  put  it 
down. 

October  26.  Eleazer  Lusher  and  John  Leverettf  are  appointed 
Commissioners  by  the  Bay  Legislature,  to  visit  the  General  Court 
of  Rhode  Island,  state  their  grievances  about  Southertown,  to  ask 
explanation,  propose  settlement  by  arbitrators,  and  desire  that  no 
further  molestation  be  committed  there,  until  the  query  of  jurisdic- 
tion is  settled. 

November  23.  A  letter  from  the  Bay  Legislature  J  to  that  of 
Rhode  Island.  Its  words  follow :  "  They  apprehend  it  is  not 
unknown  unto  you,  that  the  Government  of  Connecticut,  by  virtue 
of  his  Majesty's  royal  charter  and  grant  made  to  yourselves,  do  lay 
claim  to  and  challenge  jurisdiction  over  the  same  place,  Souther- 
town, notwithstanding  your  and  their  knowledge  of  the  justice  of 
our  claim  to  the  said  place  by  conquest  over  the  bloody  nation 
of  the  Pequode  Indians  and  so  many  years'  possession,  which  his 
Majesty  has  not  been  informed  of,"  and  who  "  in  all  his  charters 
provided  for  the  indemnity  of  persons  in  possession  within  the 
lands  of  the  place  granted."  The  claim  here  made  by  Massachu- 
setts, was  true,  beyond  all  just  contradiction. 

24.  The  General  Court  of  Commissioners  vote  their  thanks  to 
Mr.  John  Clarke  for  "  his  great  pains,  labour  and  travel,  with  much 
faithfulness,  exercised  for  above  twelve  years  in  behalf  of  this 
Colony,  in  England,"  and  "  a  gratuity  of  £100  sterling  in  current 
pay  of  the  country." 

They  "solemnize  the  receipt  of  the  Charter."    The  instrument  § 

*  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  484,  5.  f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

X  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  509,  16,  7.  §  Staples'  Annals,  p.  135. 


PUR8UTVANTS    -JUD  tB&  8&9 

|061.] 

taken  from  the  box,  containing  it,  and  read  by  Capt  George 
Baxter.  It  was  then  held  up  by  him  before  the  people,  "  with 
much  becoming  gravity,*'  and  returned  to  the  box,  which  was 
locked  by  the  Governor.  Such  a  document  was  very  acceptable  to 
the  freemen,  because  of  the   difficulties  which  stood  in  the  way  of 

:ing  obtained.  Their  previous  instrument  of  this  kind  was 
procured  for  them  by  Roger  Williams,  in  a  considerable  degree, 
through  his  friendship  lor  Cromwell  and  Vane. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1661.  March  7.  Whalley  and  GofFe*  reach  New  Haven  :  here 
they  were  entertained  very  cordially  by  Mr.  Davenport,  and  they 
appeared  openly.  Assured  that  two  pursuivants  from  London  had 
reached  Boston,  and,  May  7,  had  started  to  apprehend  them,  they 
hid  themselves.  The  searchers  waited  on  Winthrop  at  Hartford, 
who  informed  them  that  the  Judges  made  no  tarry  there,  but  de- 
parted for  New  Haven.  The  day  after,  they  went  to  Guilford,  and 
made  known  their  business  to  Deputy  Governor  Leet,  who  was 
backward  to  afford  them  facilities.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Judges 
were  secreted  in  different  places  till  the  15th,  when  they  took  up 
their  abode  in  a  cave,  prepared  for  them  on  the  side  of  an  eminence, 
which  they  called  Providence  Hill. 

May  16.  The  Connecticut  Legislature  accept  the  Address  f  to 
his  Majesty,  as  drawn  up  by  Governor  Winthrop,  with  the  proviso 
that  the  Committee,  of  whom  the  latter  was  one,  may  alter  it  so  as 
to  retain  the  substance.  Winthrop  is  to  sail  speedily  for  England, 
to  carry  this  and  other  documents,  with  the  main  purpose  of  ob- 
taining a  Charter. 

29.  Such  a  disinclination  t  prevailed  in  the  Colony  of  New 
Haven  against  the  oath  of  office,  requiring  allegiance  to  Charles 
II.,  that  several  of  the  persons  elected  magistrates  refused  to  accept. 
This  was  probably  augmented  by  the  favor  which  Whalley  and 
Goffe  had  gained  among  the  principal  men  there,  and  the  severity 
with  which  they  were  pursued  as  regicides. 

June  7.  The  Court  of  Connecticut  write  §  to  Lord  Say  and  Seal. 
After  relating  the  large  sum  which  they  paid  for  the  Patent,  that 
finally  came  into  the  hands  of  Fen  wick,  they  ask  the  aid  of  the 
former.  Their  words  are  :  "Be  pleased  to  consider  our  condition, 
who  have  taken  upon  us  to  address  his  Majesty,  and  to  petition  his 
favor  towards  us  in  granting  us  the  continuance  of  his  protection, 
and   of   those   privileges   and   immunities    that  we   have   hitherto 

*  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  198,  9.     Stiles's  Judges,  p.  24. 
t  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  *  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  251.  §  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  544-6. 

42 


330  ADVICE    TO    NEW    HAVEN. 

[Con>\ 
enjoyed  in  this  remote  western  part  of  the  world  ;  and  likewise  for 
a  patent  whereby  we  may  be  encouraged  and  strengthened  in  our 
proceedings." 

In  their  address  to  his  Majesty,*  they  say :  "  Our  fathers,  and 
some  few  yet  alive  of  their  associates,  in  so  great  an  vndertaking 
of  transporting  themselves,  their  wives  and  children,  into  this 
westerne  world,  had  certainly  very  pious  publique  ends,  the  propa- 
gation of  the  blessed  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  amongst  the  heathen, 
who,  til  then  had  never  heard  the  sound  thereof,  as  also  the  honour 
and  further  extent  of  the  British  monarchy."  They  also  write  to 
the  Earl  of  Manchester,  a  friend  of  the  Puritans,  to  assist  their 
agent. 

July  1.  The  Council  of  Massachusetts  write  f  to  Governor  Leet 
of  New  Haven.  The  former  suggest  that  the  latter  Colonv  were 
blamed  in  London,  for  not  having  the  Judges  apprehended,  and 
not  sending  an  address  to  the  King.  Seeing  that  royal  authority* 
constrained  their  friends  to  take  part  in  the  means  of  their  appre- 
hension, Whalley  and  GofFe  left  Providence  Hill  on  August  19, 
and  removed  to  Milford,  where  they  continue  two  years. 

August  1.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  assemble. $  They 
assign  reasons  to  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  why  they  had  not 
done  as  they  advised.  They  state  that  the  warrant  for  arresting 
"Whalley  and  GofFe  was  so  directed  to  their  Governor,  that  had 
they  acted  on  it,  they  should  virtually  have  owned  "  a  General 
Governor,  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people."  They  engage 
to  use  means  for  the  apprehension  of  the  Judges.  They  further 
relate,  that  their  omission  to  address  the  King  was  not  disloyalty, 
and  that  they  should  do  it,  as  Massachusetts  had. 

19.  John  Davenport  writes  j|  an  apology  to  the  King,  through 
Sir  Thomas  Temple  in  Boston,  so  as  to  clear  himself  and  the 
authorities  of  New  Haven  Colony  from  the  charges  made  against 
them,  of  favoring  the  escape  of  the  two  Eegicides.  In  this  respect 
he  also  desired  the  favorable  interposition  of  his  relative,  Lord  Say 
and  Seal,  if  living. 

21.  New  Haven  Court  proclaim  Charles  II.,  and  avouch  them- 
selves to  be  his  faithful  subjects. 

About  this  time,  1[  Winthrop  embarks  for  London,  followed 
with  ardent  desires  and  petitions  for  success  in  his  important  mis- 
sion. Among  his  instructions  are  the  following :  To  get  a  copy  of 
the  Patent,  granted  to  Lords  Say,  Brook  and  others,  and  sold  to 
the  Colony  by  Fenwick ;  and,  if  this  cannot  be  obtained,  to  inquire 
if  the  price  for  it  may  be  recovered  from  Fenwick's  heirs.  To 
obtain,  if  practicable,  a  Charter  of  their  territory  with  "  liberties 
and  privilidges,  not  inferior  to  what  is  granted  to  ye  Massachuset." 

*  Trumbull,  App.  vol.  i.  p.  542,  3.         f  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  991. 

{  Trumbull's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  25-5.  §  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  256,  7. 

N  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  viii.  p.  327-9.       II  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  258. 


FRIBNDfl  01  m:w   RNGLAKD,  Ml 

M 

September  12.  The  Governors-  of  the  two  Colonies  arc  allowed 
Co  from  missionary  funds,  u  to  distribute  among  well  deserving 
Indiai 

October  3.  The*  Connecticut  Court  order, f  M  Next  Wednesday 
tome  fortnight  to  be  kepi  .i  solemne  Thanksgiving  throwout  the 
Colony,  foi  God's  merceys  in  y  remaineing  fruits  of  ye  earth,  and 
our  peace,  and  that  God  is  pleased  to  free  vs  from  y*  mortality  yl 
w*  Plantations  liaue  bin  afflicted  with." 

December  11.  The  firm  and  consistent  supporter  of  Puritan 
principles,  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  writes}  to  Winthrop  in  London. 
He  was  then  seriously  ill,  and  unable  to  be  in  the  metropolis. 
Though  his  religious  views  did  not  harmonize  entirely  with  those 
of  the  royal  party,  yet  he  thought  it  better  to  have  Charles  II. 
ed,  than  ri>k  the  miseries  of  threatened  anarchy.  There- 
fore, he  was  made  Loid  of  the  Privy  Seal.  He  says  that  he  has 
defied  the  Earl  Manchester,  "  Lord  Chamberlain  of  his  Majesty's 
household,"  to  promote  the  embassy  of  Winthrop.  He  continues, 
'•  lie  and  I  did  join  together,  that  our  godly  friends  of  New  Eng- 
land might  enjoy  their  just  rights  and  liberties;  and  this,  Colonel 
Browne,  who,  I  hear,  is  still  in  London,  can  fully  inform  you." 

While  on  such  a  negotiation,^  Winthrop  discovered  much  tact 
and  talent  for  its  successful  accomplishment.  On  an  introduction 
to  Charles  II.,  he  presented  him  with  a  ring,  which  Charles  I. 
had  given  to  Winthrop's  grandfather.  This  highly  gratified  the 
restored  king,  Mho  was  strongly  attached  to  his  father,  and  valued 
the  relic  of  him  the  more  for  his  tragic  end. 

This  year,  Gershom^Bulkley  of  Concord,  son  of  Rev.  Peter 
Bulkier,  j|  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1655,  married  Sarah, 
daughter  of  President  Chauncy,  October  26,  1659,  and  had 
preached  several  months  at  New  London,  contracts  to  become 
minister  of  this  town.  They  agree  to  give  him  £80  annually  for 
three  years,  and  afterwards  more,  or  "  as  much  more  as  God  shall 
move  their  hearts  to  give,  and  they  do  find  it  needful  to  be  paid." 
The  compensation  is  to  be  calculated  in  provisions  or  English 
goods.  For  the  period  specified,  he  is  to  have  "  all  such  silver  as 
is  weekly  contributed  by  strangers,  to  help  towards  buying  of 
books."  He  is,  also,  to  have  himself,  family  and  effects,  transport- 
ed from  Concord,  with  a  house  and  small  farm  and  fire  wood,  free 
of  charge.  Should  he  die  in  the  ministry  of  New  London,  they 
are  to  pay  his  wife  and  children  £60  sterling.  The  agreement  was 
afterwards  altered  to  meet  some  contingencies.  Mr.  Bulkley  con- 
tinued to  preach  here  till  June  10,  1665,  when  his  people  desired 
him  to  remain  in  his  office.  He  appears  to  have  ceased  soon  after 
this,  from  his  connection  wdth  them  as  pastor,  though  he  labored 

*  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  444.  f  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Trumbull's  Hist, 

vol.  i.  p.  547.  §  Ibid.  p.  258.  ||  Caulkins's  New  London,  p.  131,  2. 


332  CHARTER  OF   CONNECTICUT. 

[Conn. 

for  them  occasionally,  between  the  last  date  and  the  early  part  of 
1667,  when  he  removed  to  Wethersfield. 

1682.  April  20.  Through  the  judicious  procedure  of  John 
"Winthrop,*  the  King  is  induced  to  grant  a  Charter  to  Connecticut, 
of  all  the  soil  formerly  patented  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick.  The 
document  secured  to  them  the  Colony  of  New  Haven,  and  to  the 
inhabitants  all  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  free  subjects  of  the  English 
Realm. 

In  New  Haven  there  was  much  uneasiness  that  they  had  been 
united  to  Connecticut,  and  as  to  other  policy  of  Charles  II.  There 
were  some  cases  of  insurrection.  On  the  other  hand,  individuals 
complained  that  the  Colonial  law,  requiring  freemen  of  the  Corpo- 
ration to  be  church  members,  was  too  strict. 

May  15.  Connecticut  Legislature  f  receive  Huntington,  on  Long 
Island,  under  their  jurisdiction,  on  the  terms  by  which  South- 
ampton had  assumed  such  a  relation. 

28.  Though  some  had  faulted  Leet  and  Gilbert  J  for  not  having 
the  Regicides  apprehended  in  New  Haven,  yet  they  are  elected, 
the  former  as  Governor,  and  the  latter  as  Lieut.  Governor. 

July.  About  this  time  the  wife  of  Goffe  writes  §  to  him  from 
England.  "  Persecution  begins  to  be  high  here.  The  bishops' 
Courts  are  up  as  high  as  ever.  But  we  have  the  promise  of  a 
faithfull  God  to  live  upon.  I  do  heartily  wish  myself e  with  thee, 
but  that  I  feare  it  may  bee  a  meanes  to  discover  thee,  as  it  was  to 

,  and,  therefore,  I  shall  forbeare  attempting  any  such  thing  for 

the  present.  Let  us  comfort  ourselves  with  this,  though  we  should 
never  meete  in  this  world  againe,  yet  I  hope,  through  grace,  wee 
shall  meete  in  heaven,  and  soe  ever  be  with  the  Lord,  and  it  will 
not  be  in  the  power  of  man  to  part  us.  I  shall  not  send  but  by 
those  I  judge  to  be  faithfull.  Though  it  is  an  unspeakeable  com- 
fort to  mee  to  heare  of  thy  wellfare,  yet  I  earnestly  beg  of  thee 
not  to  send  too  often,  for  feare  of  the  worst,  for  they  are  very  vigi- 
lent  here  to  find  out  persons.  And  now,  my  dear,  with  a  thousand 
tears,  I  take  my  leave  of  thee,  and  remember  thee  to  the  great 
Keeper  of  Israeli,  who  never  slumbers  nor  sleepes.  Many  friends 
here  desire  to  be  remembered  to  you.  It  will  not  be  convenient 
to  name  them.  I  am  sure  you  have  a  stock  of  prayers  going  for 
you  here,  which  you  and  I  reape  the  benefitt  of.  Frederic  and  the 
rest  of  thy  dear  babes,  that  can  speake,  present  their  humble  duty 
to  thee,  talke  much  of  thee  and  long  to  see  thee." 

September  10.  William  Tompson  is  allowed  by  the  Commis- 
sioners, ||  £20  salary,  for  his  instructions  to  the  Indians  "  about 
Pequott."  In  feeble  health,  he  left  New  London,  1663,  and  was 
in  Virginia,  April  26,  1664. 

*  Trumbull's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  259,  60.  f  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  +  Trumbull's 

Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  260.  §  Hutchinson,  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  457.  ||  Hazard,  vol. 

ii.  p.  458,  9,  61,  7. 


synod     FREEMEN.  SSZ 

I 

1 1,  Mr.  James  is  granted  the  same  amount  for  like  labors  on 
Long  [sland.  As  Indian  parents  had  hound  their  children  to 
English  families,  the  Commissioners  order  that  Buch  children  be 
under  the  protection  of  the  Colonial  authorities  where  they  reside. 

'Liu-  Commissioners  speak  of  the  Charter  to  Connecticut  as  a 
favor  from  the  King.  They  hope  it  will  prevent  the  hurtful  in- 
trusion of  some  from  Rhode  Island,  and  "  also  their  corrupting  the 
manners  of  the  Heathen  by  profaning  the  Sabbath,  and  making 
them  drunk  with  strong  waters,  to  the  great  dishonor  of  God  and 
reproach  to  the  English  nation,  and  thereby  not  a  little  hindering 
to  the  progress  of  the  gospel  among  the  natives." 

Trumbull,  in  referring  to  the  adjourned  Synod,  called  by  the 
Court  of  Massachusetts  and  convened  this  month,  in  Boston,  states 
that  no  churches  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  were  represented 
therein,  though  they  were  invited.  As  well  known,  Davenport 
and  Street  were  opposed  to  the  half-way  covenant  which  a  majority 
of  that  body  confirmed. 

October  9.  The  royal  Charter*  of  Connecticut  was  publicly  read 
before  the  General  Court,  f  at  Hartford,  "  in  audience  of  ye  Free- 
men, and  declared  to  belong  to  them  and  their  successors." 

Southold,  on.  Long  Island,  is  received  under  the  government 
of  Connecticut,  who  advise  a  prominent  inhabitant  of  the  town 
"  to  see  that  ye  minister  be  duely  paid  his  meet  and  competent 
maintenance." 

Part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Guilford  are  admitted  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Connecticut,  whose  authorities  counsel  them  "  to  carry 
peaceably  and  religiously  in  their  places  towards  the  rest  of  ye  in- 
habitants, that  have  not  submitted  in  like  manner.  And  also  to 
pay  their  iust  dues  vnto  ye  Minister  of  their  Towne ;  and  also  all 
publique  charges  due  to  this  day." 

Westchester,  Stamford  and  Greenwich,  are  declared  as  parts  of 
Connecticut. 

For  persons  to  be  admitted  freemen  of  Connecticut,  they  must 
have  a  "  certificate  under  the  hands  of  the  major  part  of  the  Towns- 
men where  they  live,  that  they  are  persons  of  civil,  peaceable  and 
honest  conversation,  and  that  they  have  attained  the  age  of  21  years 
and  have  £20  estate,  besides  their  person  in  the  list  of  estate ;  and 
that  such  persons,  so  qualified  to  the  Court's  approbation,  shall  be 
presented  at  October  Court  yearly,  or  some  adjourned  Court,  and 
admitted  after-  the  Election  at  the  Assembly  in  May.  And  in  case 
any  freeman  shall  walk  scandalously,  or  commit   any  scandalous 

*  Roger  Williams  stated  that  this  document  cost  £6,000.  To  discharge  the 
debt,  constables  are  ordered  to  collect  grain,  two-thirds  in  wheat  and  one-third 
in  peas,  dry  and  merchantable.  Such  articles  are  to  be  deposited  in  "  the  ware- 
house," ready  for  shipment.  Under  the  8th  »  of  October,  1663,  a  rate  of  one 
farthing  and  a  half  on  the  pound  is  ordered  to  be  paid  within  three  weeks,  in 
wheat,  for  compleating  the  charge  about  procuring  the  charter." 

f  Gen.  Ct.  Ree. 


334  COMPLAINT  OF  NEW  HAVEN. 

[C&H*. 

offense,  and  be  legally  convicted  thereof,  he  shall  be  disfranchised 
by  any  of  our  Civil  Courts." 

It  is  ordered  "  that  Wednesday  come  fortnight  be  set  apart, 
throughout  this  Colony,  for  a  solemn  day  of  thanksgiving  for  the 
mercies  that  God  hath  extended  to  this  Colony  the  year  past,  and 
particularly  for  the  good  success  God  hath  given  the  endeavors  of 
our  honored  Governor  in  obtaining  our  Charter  of  his  Majesty, 
our  Sovereign  ;  as  also  for  his  gracious  answer  of  our  prayer  in  the 
late  drought,  in  sending  rain  ;  and  for  abatement  of  the  sickness, 
and  for  the  hopes  we  have  of  settlement  in  the  ways  of  peace  and 
righteousness." 

November  5.  New  Haven  date  a  letter*  to  Connecticut.  Some 
extracts  follow  :  "  If  it  shall  appear  (after  a  due  and  full  informa- 
tion of  our  state)  to  have  been  his  Majesty's  pleasure  so  to  unite 
us,  as  you  understand  the  Patent,  we  must  submit  according  to 
God  ;  but,  for  the  present,  we  cannot  answer  otherwise  than  our 
committee  hath  done,  and  likewise  to  make  the  same  request  unto 
you,  that  we  may  remain  distinct  as  formerly,  and  may  be  suc- 
coured by  you  as  Confederates;  at  least,  that  none  occasion  be 
given  by  yourselves  for  any  to  disturb  us  in  our  ancient  settle- 
ments, until  that,  either  by  the  honored  Mr.  Winthrop,  by  our 
other  Confederates,  or  from  his  Majesty,  we  may  be  resolved 
therein.  All  which  are  in  our  thoughts  to  use,  except  you  pre- 
vent, for  the  gaining  of  a  right  understanding,  and  to  bring  a 
peaceable  issue  or  reconcilement  of  this  matter  ;  and  we  wish 
you  had  better  considered  than  to  act  so  suddenly,  to  seclude  us 
from  Patent  privileges  at  first,  if  we  are  included,  as  you  say,  and 
to  have  so  proceeded  since,  as  may  seem  to  give  advantage  unto 
disaffected  persons  to  slight  or  disregard  oaths  and  covenants,  and 
thereby  to  rend  and  make  division,  manage  contention  and  troubles 
in  the  townships  and  societies  of  this  Colony,  and  that  about  relig- 
ious worships,  as  the  inclosed  complaint  may  declare,  which  seems 
to  us  a  great  scandal  to  religion  before  the  natives,  and  prejudicial 
to  his  Majesty's  pious  intention,  as  also  to  hold  forth  a  series  of 
means  very  opposite  to  the  end  pretended,  and  very  much  obscured 
from  the  beauty  of  such  a  religious  and  peaceable  walking  among 
English  brethren,  as  may  either  invite  the  natives  to  the  Christian 
faith,  or  unite  our  spirits  in  this  juncture."  It  is  evident  that  the 
Colony  of  New  Haven  felt  aggrieved  because  Connecticut  had  in- 
cluded some  of  their  people  and  territory  within  their  jurisdiction, 
by  authority  of  their  late  Royal  Charter.  The  former  Colony  had 
reason  to  suspect  that  they  were  not  regarded  in  so  favorable  a  light 
by  the  King  as  the  latter  were,  and  therefore,  that  their  boundaries 
and  privileges  had  not  been  justly  protected  by  this  document. 

1663.      March  3.  The  petition  and  address  f  to  the  King,  from 

•  Trumbull's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  547-9.  f  Ibid.  toI.  i.  p.  553,  4. 


PE3TU  BNGB     KOH   [NTERCOTJRSE. 

M88.] 

New  Haven,  haying  reached  London,  John  Winthrop  writes  to 
Connecticut,  that  before  be  took  out  their  Charter,  be  had  engaged 
that  its  p  Bhould  not  ho  allowed  to  injure  the  interests  of 

the  former  Colony,  He  therefore  desires  the  authorities  of  Con- 
necticut to  cease  from  e\er\   course  which  had  trenched  on  the 

peace  and  property  of  New    Haven. 

11.  The  Legislature*  of  Connecticut,  "understanding  that  the 
hand  of  God  has  gone  against  the  people  of  New  Netherland,  by 
pestilential  infections,  do,  therefore,  prohibit  all  persons  for  coming 

from  any  of  these  infections  places  into  this  Colony f  and  amongst 
OUT  people,  until  the  Assistants  are  informed  and  satisfied  that  the 
distemper  is  allayed  ;  and  that  whoever  breaks  this  order  shall 
pav  five  pound  to  the  public  Treasury.  And  if  any  person  shall 
bring  a  vessel  from  thence,  and  land  their  men  or  goods  in  any 
harbor  in  this  Colony,  the  Master  of  the  vessel  shall  forfeit  £10." 

They  choose  a  committee  to  visit  New  Haven,  and  use  means  for 
effecting  a  union  between  the  two  Colonies. 

May  6.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  £  meet.  They  pro- 
test against  the  conduct  of  Connecticut  towards  them.  They  state 
that  the  latter's  appointment  of  officers  in  towns  under  their  juris- 
diction, and  the  reception  of  people  subject  to  their  rule,  is  contrary 
to  the  purpose  of  first  settling  the  plantations  of  New  England, 
and  to  the  principles  of  the  Confederation  ;  causes  great  offense  to 
their  consciences,  and  is  "matter  of  high  provocation  and  com- 
plaint before  God  and  man." 

July  2.  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Richard  Seagar,  is  indicted  by  a 
Court  at  Hartford  for  witchcraft,  but  in  June,  1665,  is  cleared  of 
such  a  charge  by  a  jury. 

18.  John  Winthrop  writes  to  Peter  Stuyvesant,  Governor  of 
New  Netherland  :  "  The  mind  of  the  magistrate  here  is  to  promote 
all  amicable  ways  of  peace  and  neighborhood,  as  most  desireable 
for  so  few  Christians  amongst  those  barbarous  people  the  Indians. 
I  shall  not  be  wanting,  if  opportunity  be  offered  at  any  time,  to 
help  forward  such  measures." 

20.  Samuel  Stone  dies  at  Hartford,  where  he  had  labored  faith- 
fully and  successfully  thirty  years.  He  was  talented,  learned,  and 
judicious  ;  eminently  devoted  to  the  cause  of  God.  Morton  $  calls 
him  "  another  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the  firmament  of  New 
England."  He  lost  a  wife  in  1640.  His  wife  Elizabeth  and  son 
Samuel  survived  him.  The  former  married  George  Gardner,  mer- 
chant, of  Salem.  The  latter  was  a  preacher  at  Middletown,  in 
1679,  and  drowned  October  8,  1683.  Among  his  works,  was  one 
called  a  '  Congregational  Church,'  etc.,  published  in  London  in 
1652.     He  left  in  manuscript,  a  refutation  of  Antinomianism,  and 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  This  was- repealed  under  session  of  14th  of  next  May. 

X  Trumbull's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  266.  $  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  10,  11. 


336  NEW  HAVEN'S  RIGHTS. 

[Conn. 

a  Body  of  Divinity.  The  last  was  highly  appreciated,  and  fre- 
quently copied  by  students  in  theology.  One  of  his  discourses  to 
the  Hartford  Church,  copied  and  preserved  in  a  manuscript  of 
Joseph  Gerrish,  1697,  was  "  Against  ye  binding  persons  to  make 
a  relation  of  ye  time  and  manner  of  their  conversion  in  order  to 
ye  admission  into  ye  church."  From  the  Threnodia,  composed 
on  the  occasion  of  his  decease,  by  E.  B.,  supposed  to  be  Edward 
Bulkley,  we  have  the  subsequent  lines : 

"  May  Nature,  Grace  and  Art  be  found  in  one 
So  high  as  to  be  found  in  few  or  none. 
In  him  these  three  with  full  fraught  hand  contested, 
With  which  by  each  he  should  be  most  invested." 

August  19.  The  General  Court*  of  Connecticut  renewedly 
appoint  a  committee  to  treat  with  New  Haven  Colony  about  the 
subject  of  union  with  them,  and  if  they  do  not  consent,  to  inform 
them  that  such  denial  is  disliked  by  the  proposing  party,  who 
expect  them  to  yield.  The  messengers  are  also  instructed  to  read 
the  Charter  publicly  at  New  Haven.  Such  policy  wears  the  aspect 
of  the  stronger's  purpose  to  force  the  weaker  to  comply  with  their 
wishes. 

September  19.  The  Commissioners,  f  having  heard  the  com- 
plaints of  New  Haven  against  Connecticut,  for  efforts  to  absorb 
their  territory  and  population,  give  the  subsequent  decision.  They 
"  do  judge  meet  to  declare  that  the  said  Colony  of  New  Haven 
being  owned  in  the  articles  of  confederation  as  distinct  from  Con- 
necticut, and  so  owned  by  the  Colonies  jointly  in  this  present 
meeting,  in  all  their  actings,  may  not  byr  any  act  of  violence  have 
their  liberty  of  jurisdiction  infringed  by  any  other  of  the  United 
Colonies,  without  breach  of  the  articles  of  confederation  ;  and  that, 
where  any  act  of  power  hath  been  erected  against  their  authority, 
the  same  ought  to  be  recalled,  and  their  power  reserved  to  them 
entire,  until  such  time  as,  in  an  orderly  way,  it  shall  be  otherwise 
disposed  ;  and  for  particular  grievances  mentioned  in  their  com- 
plaint, that  they  be  referred  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Commis- 
sioners at  Hartford,  where  Connecticut,  having  timely  notice,  may 
give  their  answer  thereunto,  unless,  in  the  meantime,  there  be  an 
amicable  uniting  for  the  establishment  of  their  peace,  the  which, 
we  are  persuaded,  will  be  very  acceptable  to  the  neighboring  Col- 
onies." 

October  8.  The  Legislature  of  Connecticut  meet.  J  As  they 
had  granted  a  farm  to  Kev.  Samuel  Stone,  for  his  service  as  chap- 
lain in  the  Pequod  war  and  since,  they  now  confirm  it,  by  granting 
to  his  widow,  Elizabeth,  and  son,  Samuel,  five  hundred  acres  of 
upland,  and  fifty  of  meadow  in  some  suitable  place. 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.       f  MS.  Cora.  Rec.  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  487.       +  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


THE  PROTEST  OF  CONNECTICUT.  SST 

1668.] 

Thar  request  Messrs.  Jones,  lluntord  and  Wakeman,  to  hear 
the  difficulties  between  John  Tompson  and  the  Church  at  Strat- 
ford, and  endeavor  to  have  them  settled. 

They  protest  against  the  refusal  of  New  Haven  Colony  to  come 
within  their  jurisdiction,  though  el, timing  the  right  of  distinct  gov- 
ernment. They  add  :  "  We  do  expect  their  submission,  according 
to  our  charter  and  his  Majesty's  pleasure  therein  exprest,  it  being 
a  stated  conclusion  of  the  Commissioners,  that  jurisdiction  right 
always  goeth  with  Patent.*' 

They  declare  that  they  will  forbear  authority  over  the  English 
plantations  on  the  westerly  end  of  Long  Island,  if  the  Dutch  will 
do  the  same  ;  but  that,  if  the  latter  Colony  molest  them,  they  will 
defend  their  interests  until  they  can  know  the  will  of  their  Sove- 
reign in  the  premises. 

October  22.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  convenes.* 
Governor  Leet  lays  before  them  the  facts  relative  to  the  proposi- 
tion of  Connecticut  for  a  union.  He  states  the  decision  of  the 
Commissioners,  and  that  a  committee  of  the  former  Colony  had  sent 
a  request  to  the  latter,  that  they  would  cease  from  all  further  inter- 
ference with  their  plantations  and  inhabitants,  as  the  best  way  to 
attain  their  desired  end.  The  freemen,  in  view  of  such  facts, 
resolved  to  hold  no  farther  negotiation  with  Connecticut  on  so 
vexed  a  question,  until  they  revoke  "  the  acts  of  power  exerted 
by  them "  on  some  of  their  towns.  They  conclude  to  tax  the 
persons,  in  their  bounds,  whom  Connecticut  had  received  as 
subjects;  to  petition  the  King  for  an  exemption  from  her  gov- 
ernment, and  leave  the  matter  of  obtaining  a  Patent  to  the 
wisdom  of  their  agents  in  England.  They  order  a  levy  of  £300 
to  prosecute  their  purpose  before  the  King  in  council.  They 
appoint  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  to  implore  divine  protection 
for  all  the  distressed  people  of  God,  and  particularly  for  them- 
selves, so  that  they  may  secure  the  enjoyment  of  their  Colonial 
rights  and  privileges.  So  involved  had  their  pecuniary  affairs 
become  through  the  encouragement  which  Connecticut  gave  their 
people  to  withhold  taxes  from  their  treasury,  that  they  are  unable 
to  give  their  Governor  more  than  £40,  and  their  Deputy  Governor 
more  than  £10  salary. 

December  30.  The  constables  having  begun  to  collect  the  rates, 
difficulty  arises,  f  Two  men  of  Guilford,  father  and  son,  who  had 
persuaded  officers  of  Connecticut  to  come  thither  and  aid  them  in 
withholding  their  taxes,  discharge  guns  in  the  night  and  produce  a 
great  alarm.  The  persons  who  had  thus  joined  the  two,  were  not 
sparing  in  their  threats.  Governor  Leet  immediately  sent  to  Bran- 
ford  and  New  Haven  for  men  to  help  him  preserve  order,  who 
promptly  complied.     He  so  conducted  the  affair,  that  no  personal 

*  Tnnnbull,  vol.  i.  p.  272,  3.  f  Ibid,  p.  274,  5. 

43 


338  DEATH  OF  MINISTERS. 

[Conn. 

injury  ensued.  The  men  from  Connecticut  argued  against  the  col- 
lection of  rates  from  individuals,  who  had  put  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  their  Colony,  and  desired  New  Haven  to  suspend 
the  matter  till  further  consideration. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  Zacharias  Brigden,*  graduate  from 
Harvard  College,  1657,  and  preacher  at  Stonington,  dies.  He  is 
succeeded  by  James  Noyes,  who  officiated  there  more  than  ten 
years  prior  to  his  ordination. 

Eichard  Denton  dies  at  Hempstead,  L.  I.,  where  Trumbull  says 
he  left  descendants.  Wood  states  that  he  had  been  minister  at 
Halifax,  Yorkshire,  and  immigrated  hither  before  1635.  While 
in  this  country  he  had  preached  at  Wethersfield  and  Stamford, 
Conn.  Though  his  position  was  changed,  his  purpose,  prayer  and 
exertions  were  continued  so  as  to  comply  with  the  duties  of  his 
profession. 

"  Another  Essay  for  the  Investigation  of  the  Truth,"  is  published 
by  John  Davenport,  in  reply  to  the  result  of  the  late  Synod. 

*  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  300. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Massaouvsitts.  Half-way  Covenant.  —  Baptists.  —  Mission.  —  King's  Com- 
missioners.—  Quakers. — Indian  Bible.  —  Letter  to  Dury.  —  Non-conform- 
ists. —  Freemen.  —  Indian  Students.  —  Colonial  Peril.  —  Address  to  the 
King.  —  His  Commissioners  are  as  a  General  Governor.  —  Liberty  of  the 
Churches.  —  Supervisors  of  the  Press.  —  Death  of  Endicott.  —  A  Rebellious 
Son.  —  Assumption  of  Judicial  Power.  —  Indian  College.  —  Papal  Excommu- 
nication.—  Traitors.  —  Common  Prayer  Book.  —  Ecclesiastical  Constitutions. 

—  Protest  against  the  Royal  Commissioners.  — Their  Proposals.  —  Religious 
Observances.  —  Means  to  conciliate  the  King.  —  Baptists.  —  Quakers.  — 
Violation  of  Saturday  Evening  by  the  Commissioners.  —  Confederation  con- 
tinued. —  Rupture.  —  Half-way  Covenant  viewed  as  Declension.  —  Address 
to  the  King.  —  Plague  in  London.  —  Dutch  Fleet.  —  Baptists.  —  Fount  of 
Letters.  —  Royal  Letter.  —  Persons  ordered  to  answer  before  the  King.  — 
Reduction  of  Canada.  —  Fearful  Condition  of  the  Colony.  —  Advice  of  Elders. 

—  Petitions  from  Several  Towns.  —  Opinions  of  Prominent  Men.  —  Questions 
for  the  Petitioners.  —  Carr's  Answer.  —  Danger  from  the  French.  —  Division 
among  the  People.  —  Narrative  of  the  Commissioners.  —  William  Tompson. 
Plymouth.  The  King's  Letter.  —  Comet.  —  Indians  instructed.  —  James 
Keith.  —  Commissioners'  Propositions.  —  Design  of  the  Colonial  Union.  — 
Freemen.  —  Church  Members.  —  Confederation.  —  Doctrine.  —  Royal  Appro- 
bation. —  Public  Worship.  —  Governor  appointed  by  the  King.  —  Ministry. 
Maine.  Charter  to  Duke  of  York.  —  Joseph  Emerson.  —  Position  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. —  King's  Commissioners.  —  Petition  of  Lygonians.  —  Perplexity 
of  the  People. — Mr.  Jordan.  —  Seth  Fletcher.  New  Hampshire.  Com- 
missioners' Counteraction.  —  Quakers.  —  Petition.  —  Report.  —  Corbet's  Sen- 
tence. —  Misrepresentation.  Rhode  Island.  Roman  Catholics.  —  Gorton- 
ists.  —  Seventh-day  Baptists.  —  Propositions.  —  Episcopalians.  —  Address  to 
the  King.  —  Engagement.  —  Quakers.  —  Statements  of  Royal  Commissioners. 

—  Pumham  leaves  his  Territory.  —  Letter  of  Williams.  —  Regal  Appropria- 
tion. —  Blackstone.  —  Letter  of  Harris.  Connecticut.  Trouble  between 
New  Haven  and  Connecticut.  —  King's  Address.  —  John  Scott.  —  Duke  of 
Hamilton's  Patent.  —  Joseph  Eliot.  —  Advice  of  Massachusetts.  —  Indians 
taught.  —  SackviUe.  —  Grant  to  Royal  Commissioners.  —  Half-way  Covenant. 

—  Episcopalians.  —  New  Haven  yield  to  Connecticut.  —  College.  —  Propo- 
sitions. —  Davenport's  Letter.  —  Blackman.  —  Israel  Chauncy.  —  King's 
Letter.  —  Newark  Settlers.  — Bulkley. —  Nathaniel  Chauncy.  —  Wood- 
bridge.  . —  Synod. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

1664.  January  6.  John  Allin,  pastor  of  Dedham  Church,  by 
request  of  ministers  who  co-operated  with  him  in  the  late  Synod, 
dates  the  preface  of  his  answer  to  the  Anti-synodalia  Americana. 


340  SYNOD  PUBLICATIONS. 

[Mass. 

Replying  to  an  objection,  that  if  the  decision  of  the  Synod  was 
correct  for  the  baptism  of  infants  on  the  half-way  covenant,  then 
their  omission  of  such  duty  so  long  before  1662,  was  wrong,  he 
uses  the  subsequent  language  : 

M  It  is  indeed  a  grief  of  heart  to  many  Elders  and  Brethren, 
that  the  practice  of  the  rule,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  late 
Synod,  cannot  yet  obtain  in  their  churches  ;  but  they  are  not  con- 
vinced it  is  a  sin  in  them  that  cannot  stand  with  peace  of  con- 
science, as  the  case  standeth ;  because  all  things  in  the  church 
must  be  done  to  edification,  which,  in  this  case,  cannot  be  put  in 
practice,  especially  in  reference  to  the  fifth  proposition,  with  peace 
and  edification,  by  reason  of  the  strong  opposition  made  by  these 
and  other  like  dissenters.  When  this  matter  was  under  considera- 
tion in  the  Synod,  1648,  the  author  knoweth  well  who  it  was  that 
professed  he  would  oppose  it  with  all  his  might,  by  reason  whereof 
and  the  dissent  of  some  few  now,  it  was  laid  aside  at  that  time." 
He  adds  that  some  churches  have  practiced  on  the  half-way  cov- 
enant "  for  divers  years." 

He  makes  an  essential  difference  between' a  church  and  a  parish. 
To  the  remark,  that  the  change  in  baptism  had  brought  afflictions 
on  the  country,  he  answers,  "  Can  any  prudent  man  say  that  the 
deliverances  of  New  England  are  not  as  great  and  wonderful  in 
the  last  years,  and  at  this  day,  as  in  former  years."  And  as  for 
those  afflicting  Providences,  that  have  lately  befallen  us,  have  we 
not  had  as  heavy  strokes  many  ways  formerly."  He  observes  that 
while  Chauncy  and  his  supporters  oppose  the  half-way  covenant, 
they  do  not  object  to  the  Consociation  of  Churches. 

In  course  of  this  year,  Richard  Mather  complies  with  the  wish 
of  those  who  had  induced  Mr.  Allin  to  make  the  preceding  publi- 
cation, and  he  issues  the  following  work.  Of  it  John  Higginson 
of  Salem  observed:  "A  pattern  for  all  ansiberers  to  the  end  of 
the  world." 

"  A  defense  of  the  answer  and  argument  for  the  Synod  in  Bos- 
ton, 1662,  concerning  the  subject  of  Baptism  and  Consociation  of 
the  Churches,  in  reply  to  the  Rev.  John  Davenport  of  New  Haven, 
as  he  had  expressed  himself  in  his  *  Another  essay  for  investigat- 
ing the  truth,'  etc.,  with  a  reply  to  the  preface  of  this  essay."  The 
preface  here  mentioned  was  "  published  in  the  name  and  behalf  of 
the  brethren  who  dissented  in  the  late  Synod."  It  has  remarks  on 
objections  made  to  these  brethren,  and  reasons  for  their  dissent. 
The  answer  to  it  states  that  the  dissenters  were  few,  and,  in  no 
question,  did  they  exceed  ten  out  of  seventy  members.  As  well 
known,  the  dissenters  did  not  hold  to  so  extensive  a  baptism  of 
children  as  the  majority  did ;  and  they  maintained  that  the  excommu- 
nication of  parents  deprived  their  infant  children  of  this  ordinance, 
and  that  church  membership  in  full  of  the  former  was  requisite  to 
the  baptism  of  the  latter,  while  the  majority  held  to  the  contrary 


PROORES8  OP  Tin:  OOSFEL.  541 

1664.] 

of  these   two  positions,  or  what  was   called   the   half-way  covenant. 

The  diasentera  had  published  their  Anti-synodalia. 

With  regard  to  the  Consociation  of  Churches,  the  majority  of 
the  Synod  professed  that  no  church  should  be  cut  off  from  com- 
munion for  inferior  and  dubious  offenses  ;  that  such  consociation 
Was  no  more  than  communion  of  churches.  They  -said  of  it  as  Dr. 
Ames  did,  that  it  was  a  "  combination  which  doth  neither  con- 
stitute any  new  form  of  a  church,  nor  ought  it  to  take  away,  nor  in 
any  measure  to  diminish  the  liberty  and  power  which  Christ  hath 
left  to  his  churches,  but  only  it  serves  to  direct  and  abridge  the 
same/'  Among  the  charges  laid  to  the  majority,  was  that  they 
abridged  the  liberty  of  the  churches. 

The  author  of  the  foregoing  preface  was  Increase  Mather.  The 
writer  of  the  reply  to  it  was  Jonathan  Mitchell,  who  consented  to 
assume  such  a  stand  by  advice  of  the  persons  who  prevailed  on 
Richard  Mather  to  speak  for  them  as  just  related. 

February  1.  Sir  John  Wolstenholme,*  in  a  communication  to 
Edward  Rawson,  Secretary  of  this  Colony,  on  the  navigation  law, 
observes  as  follows :  "  I  am  a  great  well-wisher  and  good  friend  to 
your  plantation,  and  so  was  my  father  before  me,  who  died  twenty- 
four  yeares  since,  because  wee  did  observe  your  plantation  indus- 
trious, and  when  some  clouds  were  then  there  about  your  planta- 
tion, with  our  best  advice  to  those  sent  from  thence  heather,  en- 
deavoured to  remove  and  disperse  them,  and  although  different  in 
opinion  in  the  discipline  of  the  church,  yet  earnestlye  desired  to 
preserve  and  keepe  you  faithfull  to  his  Majesty's  crowne." 

21.  The  Charlestown  church  f  re-admonish  Thomas  Osborn  for 
still  refusing  to  commune  with  them,  because  they  hold  to  the 
baptism  of  children. 

28.  They  perform  like  duty  to  Thomas  Gould,  for  having  a 
meeting  of  Anabaptists  last  November  8,  at  his  house.  Stephen 
Fosdick,  who  had  been  excommunicated  from  the  same  church  in 
1643,  for  speaking  against  their  covenant,  confesses  his  offense, 
and  is  "  by  sentence  of  the  Eldership,  declared  to  be  restored." 

March  7.  Robert  Boyle,  President  of  the  Missionary  Society, 
addresses  the  Commissioners  {  here.  "We  are  glad  to  hear  of  the 
progress  of  the  gospel  amongst  the  poor  Indians,  and  that  it  pleas- 
eth  the  Lord  to  succeed  the  endeavors  of  them  that  labor  therein, 
notwithstanding  the  many  difficulties  and  discouragements  that  it 
hath  met  withall."  He  hopes  that  the  Society  will  be  put  in  pos- 
session of  an  estate,  which  had  been  long  detained  from  them,  and 
thereby  have  their  means  of  usefulness  increased.  He  commends 
the  labor  of  Mr.  Eliot  among  the  natives ;  his  translation  of  the 
Bible  and  correction  of  its  sheets  while  in  the  press ;  his  present 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  383,  4.  f  MS.  Charlestown  Ch.  Rec. 

J  MS.  Com'rg  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  491,  2. 


342  COMMISSIONERS  APPOINTED. 

[Mass. 

translating  a  work  of  Mr.  Baxter  into  the  Indian  tongue,  and 
wishes,  when  the  funds  allow,  that  he  may  be  propoi  tionably  com- 
pensated. He  grants  leave  that  the  contract  with  Marmaduke 
Johnson,  a  printer,  who  had  come  from  England  to  issue  works 
for  the  mission,  might  cease  at  the  end  of  the  year.  From  his 
remarks,  Rev.  William  Tompson  had  declined  to  continue  his 
labors  among  the  Indians.  He  rejoices  that  "  Captain  Gookin  hath 
proved  so  useful  an  instrument  among  the  Indians,  as  in  governing 
their  plantations  and  ordering  their  affairs,  also  his  taking  an 
account  of  their  labors  and  expense  of  time  and  of  the  proficiency 
of  their  children  in  learning.  We  are  glad  to  hear,  that  the  Indian 
youths  at  Cambridge  have  made  so  good  a  proficiency  in  learning, 
and  we  are  not  without  hopes  but  that  the  Lord  will  use  them  as 
instruments  in  his  hand  to  preach  and  promote  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  among  their  own  countrymen.  To  which  end  and  for  the 
better  carrying  on  thereof,  we  desire  that  care  may  be  taken,  that 
they  retain  their  native  language.  As  for  those  five  Indian  youths 
at  inferior  schools,  we  desire  that  all  encouragement  might  be  given 
them,  according  to  their  several  capacities  and  attainments  in 
learning." 

April  23.  The  King  in  Council  wTrites  to  the  Massachusetts 
authorities.*  He  mentions  New  England  as  an  example  of  industry 
and  sobriety.  He  proceeds :  "  Having  a  tender  impatience  to  make 
use  of  God's  extraordinary  blessing  on  us  and  our  subjects  in  those 
parts,  by  improving  the  knowledge  of  him  and  his  holy  name  in 
the  conversion  of  Infidels  and  Pagans,  which  ought  to  be  the  chief 
end  of  all  Christian  Plantations."  He  says  that  Commissioners  are 
appointed  to  visit  this  country  to  settle  difficulties  about  Colonial 
bounds  and  jurisdiction  and  other  subjects ;  the  complaints  of  In- 
dian chiefs ;  and  that  they  are  to  make  out  a  report  for  him,  so  that 
"  we  may  thereby  make  the  better  judgment  what  we  are  to  do, 
either  for  the  better  repairing  any  thing  amiss,  or  the  better  im- 
proving and  encouragement  of  what  is  good." 

25.  He  gives  instructions  to  such  Commissioners.  In  them,  it  is 
remarked:  "  We  having  received  some  addresses  from  the  great  men 
and  natives  of  those  countries,  in  which  they  complain  of  breaches 
of  faith,  whereby  not  only  our  government  is  traduced,  but  the  rep- 
utation and  credit  of  Christian  religion  brought  into  reproach  with 
the  gentiles  and  inhabitants  of  those  countries  who  know  not  God, 
the  reduction  of  whom  to  the  true  knowledge  and  fear  of  God  is 
the  most  worthy  and  glorious  end  of  all  those  plantations."  The 
persons  f  so  appointed  were  Richard  Nichols,  Robert  Carr,  George 

•  MS.  Council  Rec.  for  N.  E.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  634. 

f  They  were  allowed  £500  each,  and  £300  for  clerks.  Nichols  wrote  to  the 
Governor  and  Council  of  Massachusetts  that  he  had  been  appointed  sub-com- 
missioner of  prizes,  as  to  Dutch  vessels,  by  order  of  the  Lords  Commissioners 
of  prizes. 


CHARTER   SECRETED.  343 

mi.] 

Cartwright  and  Samuel  Maverick.  Nichols  was  to  be  of  the  Com- 
mission lor  life.  Any  two  or  three  of  them  might  be  a  quorum  lor 
business.  Cur  was  the  one  recently  intended  as  a  General  (gov- 
ernor of  New  England  Such  functionaries  of  the  Crown  were 
feared  by  the  authorities  of  New  England  as  partaking  in  some 
measure  of  the  offensive  qualities  which  they  had  apprehended 
would  be  exercised  bv  a  General  Governor  and  his  officials,  with 
whom  they  had  loiiL,r  been  threatened.  Clarendon,  in  the  draught 
of  his  plan  for  appointing  these  Commissioners,  remarked,  as  to 
the  Confederate  Colonies,  "  They  are  already  hardened  into  Re- 
publics." From  such  steps,  it  is  evident  that  the  long  entertained 
project  of  forming  an  English  empire  in  America,  composed  of 
twelve  Provinces,  each  under  a  Governor,  and  all  subject  to  one 
ruler,  resident  in  the  country,  had  been  revived  and  was  intended 
to  be  executed. 

May  4.  Edward  Wharton,*  for  attending  a  meeting  with  George 
Preston  and  Wenlock  Christopherson  and  others  of  his  denomina- 
tion in  Boston,  is  ordered  to  be  whipped  at  a  cart's  tail  here  and  at 
Lynn,  and  carried  to  Salem,  his  place  of  residence.  This  sentence 
was  executed  the  next  day  as  to  the  part  of  it  in  Boston,  but  the 
constable  of  Lynn  did  not  perform  that  assigned  to  him.  On  the 
morrow  after  he  was  whipped,  Wharton  returned  from  Salem  to 
Boston,  to  meet  some  of  the  rulers  and  thus  show  that,  as  before, 
he  set  their  laws  at  defiance. 

18.  The  General  Court  begin  their  session. f  Under  it  are  the 
subsequent  transactions.  Rude  singing  at  public  houses  is  forbid- 
den, on  the  penalty  of  5/.  for  each  offense,  and  the  keepers  of  such 
places,  who  allow  it,  are  to  be  deprived  of  their  licenses. 

Four  hundred  pounds  are  allowed  for  a  faithful  agent  in  London, 
to  present  answers  of  the  Assistants  to  the  King's  letter  and  to  the 
complaints  of  Tobias  Saunders  and  Robert  Burdet.  Orders  are 
given  for  an  honorable  reception  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Crown,  who  are  expected  into  the  port  of  Boston. 

In  view  of  troubles  in  the  country  and  the  sad  condition  of 
God's  people,  referring  particularly  to  the  Congregationalists  of 
England,  a  Fast  is  to  be  observed  the  15th  of  June. 

Feeling  that  there  might  be  special  danger  of  the  Charter,  when 
the  Commissioners  should  have  arrived,  and  while  they  chose  to 
continue  here,  as  overseers  of  the  several  Governments,  the  Court 
order  that  this  document  and  its  duplicate  be  brought  before  them 
and  there  delivered  to  a  Committee,  empowered  to  leave  them  with 
several  persons  from  each  House,  who  shall  deposit  them  secretly 
and  safely  in  two  separate  places. 

As  William  Cotton,  probably  strengthened  in  his  purpose  by  the 
strong  hand  with  which  the  rulers  at  home  had  taken  hold  of  our 

*  Sewel,  p.  433.  t  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


344  NORTON'S  LETTER  TO  DURY. 

[Mass. 

public  concerns,  had  spoken  reproachfully  of  the  Governor,  and 
deeply  reflected  on  the  Freemen  of  this  jurisdiction,  he  is  sentenced 
to  be  disfranchised,  to  receive  not  above  ten  stripes,  or  pay  £15. 
On  his  petition  of  August  8,  he  was  abated  £10  of  this  sum,  and 
restored  to  "  his  former  liberty  of  freedom  and  serviceableness  of 
country." 

Charles  Chauncy,  President  of  the  College,  is  granted  500  acres 
of  land  N.  E.  of  Merrimack  river.  Six  hundred  acres,  given  to 
the  same  Institution  by  Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward,  is  required  to  be 
improved  or  sold  for  its  benefit. 

26.  Hull  informs  *  us,  that  there  is  an  arrival  from  London,  but 
it  "  brought  not  Dr.  Owen  or  any  certain  information  of  his  reso- 
lution to  come."  "The  whole  Bible  is  printed  in  the  Indian 
Tongue."  As  to  the  children  of  the  Church,  he  remarks,  that 
sufficient  care  is  not  taken,  that  "  their  knowledge  and  life  might 
answer  their  relation." 

21.  Increase  Mather,  having  received  invitations  to  settle  over 
twelve  parishes,  and  begun  to  preach  for  the  second  Boston  church, 
September  8,  1661,  is  ordained  over  this  body. 

This  year,  John  Cotton  begins  to  assist  May  hew  in  his  mission- 
ary labors  among  the  Indians  at  the  Vineyard. 

The  Latin  Letter  of  John  Norton  to  John  Dury,  which  had  been 
sent  to  the  latter  by  "  the  Ministers  of  New  England,"  is  translated 
and  published.  Dury,  ever  since  1635,  had  been  trying  to  effect 
a  union  between  the  "  Reformed  Protestant  Churches  of  Europe." 
A  reason  for  so  issuing  this  communication  is  to  convince  soma 
persons,  who  appeared  in  opposition  to  the  half-way  covenant.  A 
passage  or  two  from  the  work,  follow  :  "  So  to  stand  for  truth,  that 
by  too  tenacious  insisting  upon  doctrine,  we  make  no  reckoning  of 
the  rights  of  Society,  is  to  be  carried  with  the  study  of  parties,  not 
of  truth ;  and  to  undertake  the  patronage  of  an  opinion,  rather  be- 
cause it  is  our  own,  than  because  it  is  true.  We  give  thanks  unto 
the  Father  of  Lights  with  all  our  hearts,  who  hath  put  this  work 
into  the  mind  of  Dury,  savoring  of  a  spirit  more  than  human. 
However  the  issue  of  the  matter  fall,  yet  it  is  a  great  deal  to 
have  attempted  a  great  design."  Though  "we  chose  rather  to 
depart  into  the  remote  coasts  of"  the  earth,  for  the  sake  of  a  purer 
worship,  than  to  lie  down  under  the  Hierarchy  in  the  abundance 
of  all  things,  but  with  the  prejudice  of  conscience.  But,  that  in 
flying  from  our  country,  we  should  renounce  communion  with 
such  churches  as  profess  the  Gospel,  is  a  thing  which  we  confi- 
dently and  solemnly  deny.  Certainly,  so  far  as  concerns  ourselves, 
in  whatever  assemblies  amongst  us  the  whole  company  of  them 
that  profess  the  Gospel,  the  Fundamentals  of  doctrine,  the  Essen- 
tials of  order  are  maintained,  although  in  many  niceties  of  contro- 

*  MS.  Diary. 


skykkity   AGAINST   DISSENTERS.  S48 

1664.] 

venial  divinity  they  are  at  lea  agreement  with  us,  we  do  hereby 
make  it  manifest,  that  we  do  acknowledge  them  all,  and  every  one, 
for  brethren;  thai  we  shall  be  ready  to  give  unto  them  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  in  the  Lord,  it'  in  other  things  they  be  peaceable, 
and  walk  orderly/1 

June  86.  u  About  this  time  began  the  blasting  of  the  wheat  to 
be  perceived."  Part  of  the  Quakers  imputed  this  as  a  judgment 
against  the  people  of  Massachusetts  for  the  seventies  inflicted  on 
some  of  their  denomination.* 

3     Several  Quakers  of  Salem  are  fined  for  absenting  themselves 
from  wo! ship. 

30.  .Mary  Tomkins  and  Alice  Ambrose,  f  alias  Gary,  having 
gone  from  New  England  to  Virginia,  where  they  suffered  much 
for  the  practice  of  their  belief,  now  come  to  Boston.  The  first  of 
them  was  very  Bick.  Edward  Wharton  and  Wenlock  Christopher- 
son,  called  Christison,  came  from  Salem  to  visit  and  console  her. 
The  four  are  taken  to  the  magistrates.  Bishop  says  they  would  all 
have  been  whipped,  had  not  Col.  Temple  interceded  and  prevailed 
for  the  release  of  three.  The  other,  Wharton,  was  ordered  to  re- 
ceive thirty  stripes  in  Boston,  and  handed  from  one  constable  to 
another  in  Charlestown,  Maiden  and  Lynn,  on  his  way  to  Salem. 
Governor  Endicott's  wife  advised  Wharton  to  promise  that  he 
would  attend  no  more  Quaker  meetings  in  Boston,  that  he  would 
report  himself  to  the  authorities  wThen  he  came  thither,  that  he 
would  take  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  give  bonds  for  £20  to  keep 
the  peace,  as  a  means  of  being  cleared  from  his  sentence,  but  he 
declined. 

July  1.  After  this  date,  an  Act  of  Parliament,  having  an  influ- 
ence on  our  affairs,  takes  effect.  It  had  reference  +  to  non-con- 
formists with  the  Episcopal  Church.  It  required  that  all  persons 
above  sixteen  years  old,  who  should  assemble,  to  the  number  of 
five  or  more,  "  than  the  household,"  for  purposes  of  worship,  con- 
trary to  the  established  form,  shall  be  fined  or  imprisoned,  and,  for 
the  third  offense,  be  banished  seven  years,  or  pay  £100,  and,  if 
returning  without  leave,  suffer  death. 

The  severity  of  Massachusetts  against  the  Quakers  was  thus 
adopted  by  Old  England  against  all  dissenters. 

23.  Two  of  the  Commissioners,  §  Nichols  and  Cartwright,  arrive 
at  Boston,  and  Carr  and  Maverick  at  Piscataqua,  about  the  same 
date.  Though  conscious  of  intending  to  fulfill  the  commands 
of  their  Sovereign,  they  are  far  from  being  welcome  to  the  great 
body  of  the  Colonists,  who  look  on  them  as  agents  to  promote 
royalty  and  hierarchy,  more  than  what  they  deem  the  liberties  of 
their  country. 

*  Roxbury  Ch.  Rec.     Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  69.         f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  234,  5. 
J  Neal,  vol.  ii.  p.  531.  $  Danforth's  MS.  Narrative. 

44 


346  INTERVIEW  WITH   COMMISSIONERS. 

[Mass. 

24.  First  English  church  gathered  at  Nonantum,*  or  Cambridge 
Village.  Of  the  elders  and  messengers  of  churches  who  attended, 
were  Richard  Mather  and  John  Eliot  and  their  delegates.  John 
Eliot,  Jr.,  son  of  the  Apostle,  was  ordained  pastor.  Thomas  Wis- 
wal,  late  of  the  Dorchester  church,  was  ordained  ruling  elder. 

26.  At  the  request  of  the  Commissioners,  the  Governor  and 
Council  meet  them.  They  present  the  King's  letter  of  April  23, 
and  a  part  of  an  order  for  the  reduction  of  the  Dutch  at  New 
Netherland,  and  the  raising  of  men  for  such  an  enterprise. 

27.  They  propose  that  this  be  done,  which,  as  their  words  are, 
"  we  conceive  will  be  of  great  honor  to  this  Colony,  and  of  good 
example  to  all  the  rest."  The  Council  answer,  that  they  will  lay 
the  matter  before  the  General  Court  on  the  3d  of  August.  Such 
delay  did  not  please  the  Commissioners,  who  were  not  aware  that 
it  was  necessary  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Government. 

They  state  that  there  are  various  questions  to  be  proposed  on 
their  return  from  Manhadoes,  and  desire  the  Court  to  consider  the 
royal  epistle  of  June  28,  1662,  and  give  a  fuller  and  more  satisfac- 
tory answer  to  it  than  they  had.  The  Commissioners  left  Boston 
immediately  before  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  as  they  declined 
to  let  our  authorities  know  the  number  and  extent  of  the  requisitions 
in  their  Commission,  and  from  some  words  which  they  let  drop, 
and  particularly  from  threats  of  Maverick  on  his  first  arrival  at 
Piscataqua  to  the  constable  of  Portsmouth,  "  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  the  people  "  were  filled  with  "  a  deep  sense  of  the  sad  events 
threatening  this  Colony,  in  case  the  Commissioners  should  improve 
their  power  in  such  a  manner  as  they  feared  they  would." 

August  3.  At  the  call  of  the  Governor,  f  the  General  Court  as- 
semble. They  resolve,  in  accordance  with  advice  of  the  Elders, 
"  that  they  would  bear  faith  and  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty,  and 
adhere  to  their  Patent,  so  dearly  obtained  and  so  long  enjoyed  by 
undoubted  right  in  the  sight  of  God  and  men." 

With  regard  to  freemanship,  J  "  they  enact  that  all  Englishmen 
presenting  a  certificate  under  the  hands  of  the  ministers  or  minister 
of  the  place  where  they  dwell,  that  they  are  orthodox  in  religion, 
and  not  vicious  in  their  lives,  and  also  a  certificate  under  the  hands 
of  the  Selectmen  of  the  place,  or  a  major  part  of  them,  that  they  are 
freeholders  and  are  for  their  own  proper  estate,  (without  heads  of 
persons)  rateable  to  the  country  in  a  single  country  rate,  after  the 
usual  manner  of  valuation  in  the  place  where  they  live,  to  the  full 
value  of  10/.  or  that  they  are  in  full  communion  of  some  church 
among  us :  it  shall  be  in  the  liberty  of  all  and  every  such  person 
or  persons,  being  twenty-four  years  of  age,  householders  and  settled 
inhabitants  in  this  jurisdiction,  from  time  to  time,  to  present  them- 
selves and  their  desires  to  this  Court,  for  their  admittance  to  the 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  5,  p.  266.         f  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.         J  Ibid. 


INDIAN   C0NTERT8  OPPOSED.  847 

M64.] 

Freedom  of  this  Commonwealth  j   and  shall  Ik- allowed  the  privi- 
lege to  have  such  their  desire  propounded  and  put  to  vote  in  the 
General  Court,  for  acceptance,  to  the  Freemen  of  the  Body  Politick, 
by  the  Buffirage  of  the  major  pair,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  P  . 
tent" 

The  Court  agree  to  petition*  the  King.  They  appoint  Jonathan 
Mitchell  on  the  committee  for  this  purpose,  and  desire  the  advice 
of  Elders,  now  in  Boston,  on  the  subject.  They  comply  with  the 
proposal  of  the  royal  Commissioners,  and  allow  volunteers,  not 
above  200,  to  assist  in  the  reduction  of  Manhadoes.  They  appoint 
Mr.  Graves  as  chaplain  of  such  a  force.  They  designate  Thomas 
Clark  and  John  Pynchon  to  repair  to  the  rendezvous  of  the  Com- 
misaioners  and  inform  them  of  this  vote  for  these  soldiers. 

But  as  the  Dutch  at  New  Amsterdam  surrendered  on  the  27th, 
the  troops  did  not  march.  Over  this  place,  called  New  York,  and 
over  Fort  Orange,  given  up  September  24,  and  named  Albany,  and 
over  the  Dutch  and  Swedes,  on  Delaware  bay  and  river,  captured 
October  1,  Nichols  became  Governor,  as  the  Deputy  of  the  Duke 
of  York.  Such  a  neighbor,  whose  policy  was  expected  to  be  the 
same  with  that  of  his  colleague  Commissioners,  the  confederated 
Colonies,  who  dreaded  their  mission  as  designed  to  subvert  their 
state  and  ecclesiastical  liberties,  feared  more  than  they  had  his 
Dutch  predecessors. 

September  1.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  write*  to  the 
President  of  the  Missionary  Society.  They  mention  that,  how- 
ever much  opposition  is  made  to  the  Indians,  who  seek  after  God, 
yet  they  have  cause  to  rejoice  that  some  of  them  have  found  him, 
and  "  a  great  light  has  risen  vpon  them."  They  proceed  :  "  We 
are  informed  by  Mr.  Eliot,  that  several  companies  of  Indians  in 
the  country,  do  request  that  some  of  their  countrymen  may  be  sent 
to  teach  them,  which  we  rejoice  to  hear,  and  shall  labor  to  promote 
by  giving  all  due  encouragement,  as  they  may  deserve.  We  also 
understand  by  him,  your  honors  have  requested  his  advice  how  a 
greater  revenue  might  be  best  improved  for  the  furtherance  of  this 
good  work ;  which  thing  we  have  often  had  in  serious  debate,  and 
find  it  easier  to  expend  money  than  to  improve  it  to  any  good 
advantage.  The  best  expedient  that  yet  we  can  find  is  the  send- 
ing forth  and  settling  fit  instruments  amongst  them  to  teach  and 
instruct  themselves  and  children,  as  opportunity  or  willingness  in 
any  of  them  to  embrace  the  same,  appears,  which  we  shall  use  our 
utmost  endeavors  to  further  and  encourage.  The  number  of  Bibles 
with  Psalm  books  printed,  were  upwards  of  a  thousand  ;  of  Bax- 
ter's Call  one.  thousand,  and  of  Psalters  five  hundred  ;  divers 
whereof,  all  sorts,  are  disposed  to  the  Indians  and  the  rest  ready 
for  their  use,  as  they  can  be  bound  ,up  and  there  may  be  occasion. " 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  493-5. 


348  ADVICE  OF  THE  UNION  AUTHORITIES. 

[Mass. 

They  had  two  Indian  students  at  college,  two  at  the  Grammar 
school,  besides  others  at  schools  of  the  English  and  Indians.  Mr. 
Weld,  of  lloxbury,  had  four  Indian  youths  in  his  family  for  in- 
struction. John  Eliot  still  continues  his  superintendence  of  mis- 
sionary stations.  Richard  Bourne  sustains  a  like  trust  in  Plymouth 
Colony,  and  has  two  native  school-masters  in  his  circuit.  Thomas 
Mayhew  looks  alter  the  Indians  at  the  Vineyard  and  Nantucket. 
At  the  former  place,  he  has  eight  Indian  school-masters  and  teach- 
ers to  aid  him  in  his  labor,  and  he  had  sent  another,  named  Samuel, 
to  instruct  at  the  latter  island.  Mr.  Mayhew's  widow  is  yet  em- 
ployed in  the  work.  Mr.  Pierson  remains  in  his  missionary  loca- 
tion, and  Mr.  James  in  his  at  Easthampton,  Long  Island. 

Fearful  lest  more  was  meant  by  the  commission  of  the  King's 
Agents,  than  appeared  on  its  face,  the  Commissioners  of  the  Con- 
federation* advise  each  of  their  General  Courts,  that,  whenever  a 
proposition  be  laid  before  it  by  said  Agents,  notice  be  given  to  the 
other  Courts,  "  to  the  end,  that  if  they  see  meet  they  may  send 
their  Commissioners  invested  with  full  power  to  advise  and  act  in 
any  case  that  may  be  of  common  concernment  to  the  whole,  that, 
so  much  as  in  us  lies,  we  may  approve  ourselves  faithful  and  loyal 
to  his  Majesty's  just  interest  and  the  best  good  and  welfare  of  these 
Plantations." 

In  reference  to  the  declination  of  New  Haven  to  come  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Connecticut,  the  Commissioners  of  the  other  two 
Colonies  of  the  Union,  remark :  "  Considering  how  much  the 
honor  of  God,  and  as  well  the  weal  of  all  the  Colonies  as  them- 
selves, are  concerned  in  the  issue  thereof,  they  do  heartily  and 
affectionately  commend  to  their  brethren  and  loving  confederates, 
that  such  a  compliance  be  between  them,  whereby  the  sad  conse- 
quences that  will  inevitably  follow  upon  their  further  contentions 
one  with  another,  might  be  prevented."  They  propose  to  the 
Legislatures  of  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  that  if  the  other  two 
Colonies  unite,  they,  so  joined,  shall  be  represented  by  two  Com- 
missioners, and  that  the  meetings  of  all  the  Commissioners  shall  be 
triennial  instead  of  annual. 

About  this  date,  Wenlock  Christopherson,f  being  arraigned  be- 
fore authorities  in  Boston,  said :  "  Time  was,  that  sentence  of  death 
was  passed  on  me,  yet,  by  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this  day, 
standing  over  the  heads  of  you  all,  bearing  a  faithful  witness  for 
the  truth  of  the  living  God.  Some  of  your  associates  are  gone,  and 
the  Lord  hath  laid  their  glory  in  the  dust,  and  yours  is  a  fading 
flower."  He  was  remanded  to  prison.  The  next  day,  he  was 
before  the  Court  again.  He  appealed  to  the  "  Laws  of  England," 
but  was  denied.  He  then  appealed  to  the  royal  Commissioners, 
and  was  also  denied.  He  "  is  sentenced  to  be  whipped  ten  stripes, 
and  Mary  Tomkins  and  Alice  Ambrose  to  have  six  stripes  each." 

*  MS.  Com'rs  Rec.     Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  497.        f  Bishop's  N.  E.  p.  457-9. 


LOBS  OP   LIBERTY    FEARED.  849 

M64.] 

October  li>.  The  Legislature  convene.  Desirous  to  treat  the 
Kinj^'s  Commissioners  with  elm-  respect,  they  desire  the  Selectmen 
of  Boston  to  nave  Buitabk  accommodations  provided  for  them,  and 

order   £100  to    meet   the  charm's.      They  appoint    that    when    they 

are  Bummonedto  meet  with  the  said  Commissioners,  each  Governor 

of  the  other  united  Colonies  shall  bo  notified,  so  that  ho  may  be 
present,  it'  he  please. 

They  address  a  Letter  to  Robert  Boyle,*  President  of  the  Mission- 
ary Society.  They  state  their  confidence  in  him  by  his  "continued 
endeavours  as  in  promoting  that  good  work  of  the  natives'  con- 
version, so  in  taking  opportunities  for  ingratiating  us  with  his 
Majesty.  But,  alas,  Sir,  the  commission  impowering  those  Com- 
missioners to  hear  and  determine  all  cases  whatever,  military, 
criminal,  or  civil,  (what  they  have  further,  by  instruction  at  present 
we  Know  not,)  should  it  take  place,  what  would  become  of  our 
civil  government,  which  hath  been,  under  God,  the  head  of  that 
liberty  for  our  consciences,  for  which  the  first  adventurers  passed 
through  and  bore  all  difficulties  and  discouragements,  that  encoun- 
tered them  as  in  the  way  to,  so  in  their  continuance  in  this  wilder- 
ness ?  But  jf  the  decree  be  past  soe  that  it  cannot  be  recalled,  wee 
shall  wait  the  Lord's  issue  with  us ;  and  whatever  may  be  the  con- 
jectures of  any,  rendering  alterations  here  adviseable,  the  issue  will 
speak  them  to  be  the  subversion  of  all  that  which  makes  this  place 
of  our  abode  therein  desirable.  We  can  sooner  leave  our  place 
and  all  our  pleasant  outward  enjoyments,  than  leave  that  which  was 
the  first  ground  of  wandering  from  our  native  country,  nor  are  we 
thereby  made  such  strangers  thereto  but  we  can  rather  choose  to 
return  and  take  up  our  lot  with  our  brethren  than  abide  here  under 
the  deprivement  of  the  end  of  our  travels." 

They  resolve  to  address  his  Majesty,  f  The  document  for  this 
purpose,  dated  the  25th,  offers  several  extracts.  "  What  afflictions 
of  heart  must  it  needs  be  unto  us,  that  our  sins  have  provoked 
God  to  permit  our  adversaries  to  set  themselves  against  us  by  their 
misinformations,  complaints  and  solicitations,  (as  some  of  them  have 
made  it  their  work  for  many  years,)  and  thereby  to  procure  a  com- 
mission under  the  great  seal,  wherein  four  persons  (one  of  them 
our  knowne  and  professed  enemy)  are  empowered  to  hear,  receive, 
examine  and  determine  all  complaints  and  appeals,  in  all  causes  and 

*  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  App.  p.  450-2. 

f  They  represent  that  their  civil  and  religious  liberties  are  the  strongest  tie 
which  holds  them  to  the  country,  and  if  deprived  of  them,  they  would  seek  for 
them  in  other  distant  habitations.  In  reference  to  this,  Chalmers,  vol.  i.  U.  S. 
p.  333,  observes  :•  "  The  preamble  to  one  of  the  laws  of  Aragon  declares,  that 
such  was  the  barrenness  of  the  country,  that  but  for  the  sake  of  the  liberties  by 
which  they  were  distinguished  from  other  nations,  the  people  would  abandon 
it,  and  repair  in  quest  of  a  settlement  to  some  more  fruitful  region."  Robert- 
son's Charles  V.  Thucydides  (B.  i.)  ascribes  to  the  poverty  of  its  soil  the 
peculiar  adherence  of  the  Athenians  to  their  country. 


350  GOVERNMENT!  SUSTAINED. 

[Mass. 

matters  and  to  proceed  in  all  things,  for  settling  this  country, 
according  to  their  sound  discretion.  Whereby,  instead  of  being 
governed  by  rules  of  our  own  choosing,  (which  is  the  fundamental 
privilege  of  our  patent,)  and  by  laws  of  our  own,  we  are  like  to 
be  subjected  to  the  arbitrary  power  of  strangers,  proceeding  not  bv 
any  established  law,  but  by  their  own  discretions.  Though  we 
have  yet  had  but  a  little  taste  of  the  words  or  actings  of  these  gen- 
tlemen, that  are  come  over  hither  in  this  capacity  of  Commissioners, 
yet  we  have  had  enough  to  confirm  us  in  our  fears,  that  their 
improvement  of  this  power  'in  pursuance  of  their  commission' 
(should  the  same  proceed)  will  end  in  the  subversion  of  our  all." 
The  Court  proceed  to  state  that  the  resources*  of  the  country  could 
not  conveniently  maintain  one  of  the  Commissioners,  although  very 
different  representations  had  been  made  to  the  home  authorities. 
They  observe  that  the  relations  given  to  the  Government  in 
England,  that  the  Colonies  here  were  so  divided  it  was  necessary 
for  them  to  have  foreign  Commissioners  come  over  and  settle  their 
difficulties,  was  not  true.  They  say  :  "  Let  our  Government  live, 
our  patent  live,  our  religious  enjoyments  live,  so  shall  we  all  yet 
have  further  cause  to  say,  from  our  hearts,  Let  the  King  live 
forever." 

While  thus  alarmed  at  what  may  be  the  policy  of  the  royal 
Commissioners,  who  were  practically  another  name  for  a  general 
government  over  and  in  the  midst  of  the  Colonies,  who  might,  if 
they  chose,  trample  upon  all  their  charter  privileges,  the  Legisla- 
ture are  sustained  by  their  constituents.  The  records  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court  have  the  subsequent  entry,  f  They  are  "  informed  that 
several  persons,  inhabitants  of  Cambridge,  were  at  the  door,  and 
desiring  liberty  to  make  known  their  errand,  were  called  in,  and 
Messrs.  Edward  Jackson,  Eichard  Jackson,  Edward  Oakes,  and 
Deacon  Stone,  coming  before  the  Court,  presented  a  petition  from 
the  inhabitants  of  Cambridge,  which  was  subscribed  by  very  many 
hands  ;  in  which  they  testified  and  declared  their  good  content  and 
satisfaction  they  took  and  had  in  the  present  Government  in  Church 
and  Commonwealth,  with  their  resolution  to  be  assisting  to  and 
encouraging  of  the  same,  and  humbly  desiring  all  means  might  be 
used  for  the  continuance  and  preservation  thereof."  A  passage  in 
this  petition  is,  "  that  we  may  not  be  subjected  to  the  arbitrary 
power  of  any  who  are  not  chosen  by  the  people  according  to  their 
Patent."  The  aim  of  this  observation  was  direct  and  well  under- 
stood. "  At  the  same  session  and  next  day,  several  petitions  of 
like  nature  from  Woburn,  Dorchester,  Reading,  Chelmsford,  Con- 
cord, Billerica,  Boston,  Dedham,  and  Meadrield.  As  also  one 
from  several  inhabitants  of  Roxbury."  From  the  one  of  Dor- 
chester, dated  the  20th,  some  passages  are  given  as  indications  of 

*  MS.  Danforth  Narrative.  f  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  and  Papers. 


0PPBB8M0N  TO  BE   RESISTED.  551 

lot;  i.] 

the  popular  sentiment  concerning  the  "imperutm  in  imperii*,  i 
government  existing  within  another  government/'  relative  to  the 
distinct  authorities  of  the  Colony  and  the  King's  Commissioners. 
"  We  do  acknowledge  with  all  thankfulness  to  God  and  to  your- 
selves, as  a  great  mercy,  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  put  it  into  your 
hearts,  in  your  late  session,  to  express  and  declare,  that  it  is  your 
resolution  (God  assisting)  to  bear  faith  and  true  allegiance  unto  bis 
Majesty,  and  to  adhere  unto  our  Patent,  the  duties  and  priviJ. 
thereof,  so  dearly  obtained  and  so  long  enjoyed  by  undoubted  right 
in  the  sii^ht  of  God  and  men.  Likewise  we  do  acknowledge  it  a 
favor  from  (iod  in  directing  the  honored  Council,  in  a  late  meeting 
of  theirs  at  Boston,  to  set  forth  such  a  declaration,  wherein  they  do 
recite  the  sum  of  sundry  particulars,  what  our  power  and  priv- 
ileges are,  granted  to  us  in  the  said  Patent,  as  this  is  one,  that  full 
power  and  authority  is  granted  to  this  Colony  for  making  and 
executing  laws  for  the  government  of  this  people,  not  repugnant 
to  the  laws  of  England.  Another  is,  that  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
this  government  by  all  fitting  means,  and,  if  need  be,  by  force  of 
arms,  to  defend  ourselves  against  all  such  as  shall  attempt  the  detri- 
ment or  annoyance  of  this  Plantation,  or  the  inhabitants  thereof. 
It  is  our  humble  request  unto  this  honored  Court,*  that  as  you 
have  expressed  and  declared  your  resolution  to  adhere  to  the 
Patent  and  the  privileges  thereof,  so  there  may  be  a  constancy 
therein,  and  no  declining  from  the  same.  Next  of  all,  one  of  the 
laws  here  established  being  this,  that  no  injunction  shall  be  put 
upon  any  church  officer  or  member,  in  point  of  doctrine,  worship, 
or  discipline,  whether  for  substance  or  circumstance,  besides  the 
institutions  of  the  Lord,  therefore  it  is  our  humble  request  that  the 
liberty  of  our  churches  and  faithful  ministers  in  this  Colony,  may- 
be still  continued,  without  the  imposition  of  any  such  injunction 
not  ordained  of  God,  whose  consciences,  truly  tender,  would  be 
troubled  withall,  but  that,  as  hitherto,  our  churches  and  ministers 
have  been  freed  from  such  human  inventions  and  impositions,  so 
thev  may  be  still,  it  being  well  known  to  the  world  that  to  be  freed 
therefrom  was  one  special  cause  that  moved  many  to  remove  from 
their  dear  native  country  into  this  wilderness,  and  how  lamentable 
and  grievous  it  would  be  to  be  here  burdened  and  encumbered, 
again  with  such  matters,  is  easy  for  any  to  judge.  We  entreat  that 
the  inhabitants  may  not  be  urged  and  compelled  to  make  any  other 
payments,  but  what  is  by  Patent  expressed,  unto  any  person  or 
persons  whatsoever,  but  such  as  do  here  reside  and  dwell,  and  are 
by  the  country  chosen  to  labor  amongst  us  in  the  church  and  civil 
government."  .  It  is  evident  from  these  clauses,  that  the  people 
were  very  fearful  lest  the  design  of  the  Commissioners  was  to 
impose  conformity  with  the  national  church  upon  them,  and  also 
taxes  for  the  support  of  royal  officials  in  this  country. 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  and  Papers. 


352  AN  ALARMING  COMET. 

[Mass. 

The  Legislature  set  apart  November  16,  as  a  Fast  day,  "  for 
frowns  of  greater  evils."  To  prevent  abuses  of  the  press,  they 
order  that  there  shall  be  no  other  besides  the  one  at  Cambridge, 
and  that  nothing  be  issued  from  it  there,  except  by  leave  from  its 
supervisors. 

26.  As  an  indication*  of  differences  between  Mr.  Parker  of 
Newbury,  and  his  people,  about  his  long  cherished  opinions  in 
favor  of  Presbyterianism,  the  major  part  of  them  vote  to  reduce  his 
salary.  The  next  year,  they  raised  it  again,  though  still  dissatisfied 
with  his  ideas  of  church  polity. 

November.  "  The  great  and  dreadful  comet,"  as  Josselyn  calls 
it,  makes  its  appearance.  Many  believe,  as  Morton  in  his  Memo- 
rial, that  it  is  "  sent  immediately  by  God  to  awake  the  secure 
world."  Such  an  alarming  luminary  continues  to  April.  Then, 
here,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  Christian  world  generally,  phenomena 
of  this  sort  were  considered  as  signs  of  speedy  judgments. 

6.  Mrs.  Lydia  Banks,  f  who  had  been  absent  twenty-two  years, 
desires  a  dismission  from  the  Salem  church,  to  the  like  body  under 
Rev.  Philip  Nye,  in  London.  Her  request  was  granted.  She  was 
united  with  the  former  church,  1637.  She  had  owned  Playne's 
farm  of  four  hundred  acres,  which  was  sold  about  1655. 

27.  The  Charlestown  church  +  adopt  the  half-way  covenant,  as 
recommended  by  the  Synod. 

29.  Several  of  the  Salem  Quakers  §  are  fined  for  non-attendance 
at  public  worship. 

This  year,  adjacent  Indians  ||  having  desired  of  the  people  of 
Northampton  leave  to  build  a  fort  within  the  town,  are  granted  such 
a  privilege  on  the  subsequent  conditions  :  "  That  the  Indians  do  not 
work,  game,  or  carry  burdens,  within  the  town,  on  the  Sabbath  ; 
nor  powow  here  or  any  where  else.  Nor  get  liquor,  nor  cider;  nor 
get  drunk.  Nor  admit  Indians  from  without  the  town.  Nor  break 
down  the  fences  of  the  inhabitants.  Nor  let  cattle  or  swine  upon 
their  fields,  but  go  over  a  stile  at  one  place.  Nor  admit  among 
them  the  murderers  Calawane,  Wuttowhan,  and  Pacquellant.  Nor 
hunt,  nor  kill  cattle,  sheep  or  swine,  with  their  dogs." 

In  every  town  of  West  Massachusetts  there  were  fortified  houses, 
to  which  the  whites  might  flee,  in  case  of  an  alarm  that  hostile 
Indians  were  near. 

1665.  February  15.  Carr,  Cartwright  and  Maverick,  having 
returned  H  from  New  York,  have  an  interview  at  the  Governor's 
house,  with  him  and  several  magistrates.  They  state  to  the  latter, 
it  is  their  purpose  to  set  out  for  Plymouth  on  the  morrow ;  that, 
on  their  return,  they  should  like  for  some  persons  to  accompany 
and  show  them  the  bounds  of  the  Patent,  and  that,  on  the  day  of 

*  Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  69.  f  MS.  First  Ch.  Rec.  %  Charlestown  Ch. 

Rec.         §  Essex  Ct.  Rec.         ||  Dwight's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  349.         11  MS.  Dan- 
forth  Narrative. 


POLKTI    OP  l  IONBRS. 

1665.] 

election,  " all  concerned  in  our  Charter "  might  be  assembled  in 
Boston,  "so  they  might  understand  his  Majesty's  favor  towards 
them."  Our  authorities  consent  to  the  first  proposition,  but  object 
to  the  last,  as  inconvenient  for  the  season  and  unsafe  to  families 
and  aged  people,  exposed  to  attacks  from  Indians.  They  observe 
that  whoever  of  the  colonists  prefer  to  be  present  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, can  he,  but  they  see  no  reason  for  summoning  them  to  appear. 
Cartwright  replied,  that  the  man  who  would  not  comply  with  such 
a  request,  was  a  traitor. 

Before  the  Commissioners  departed,  they  sent  the  following  let- 
ter to  some  non-freemen  in  the  country  towns.  "  Sir,  we  desire 
you  to  acquaint  all  your  neighbours,  that,  though  we  are  now  going 
to  Plymouth  and  so  to  .Rhode  Island,  yet  we  intend,  God  willing, 
to  be  back  here  at  Boston,  before  the  Court  of  Elections,  at  which, 
if  they  please  to  be,  they  shall  be  both  ear  and  eye-witnesses  of  the 
favours  and  kindnesses  which  his  Majesty  really  intends  them,  and 
hath  commanded  us  to  assure  all  his  subjects  hereof:  Which,  if 
they  will  do,  will  be  the  best  way  to  prevent  all  slandering  of  his 
Majesty,  and  all  misapprehensions  in  his  subjects,  and  all  prejudice 
from  us." 

'2d.  A  communication  to  the  General  Court,*  from  William  Mor- 
ris, Secretary,  is  dated  at  Whitehall.  He  informs  them  that,  as 
they  waited  for  an  order  from  the  supreme  Authority  to  deliver  up 
Maine  to  the  heir  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  such  a  document  is 
now  made  known  to  them,  and  they  are  to  conduct  accordingly. 

March  5.  Samuel  Maverick  writes  f  from  Rhode  Island  to  Col. 
Nichols  :  "  I  have  used  my  utmost  endeavours  in  the  Massachusetts 
Government  to  undeceive  the  deceived,  and  to  prepare  them  for 
the  election,  which  will  be  on  the  3d  of  May,  at  which  time,  I  hope 
we  shall  have  the  happiness  to  enjoy  your  presence." 

15.  The  Earl  of  Clarendon  writes  to  the  Massachusetts  authori- 
ties. $  He  refers  to  their  petition  to  the  King,  for  revoking  his  in- 
structions for  Carr  and  the  other  Commissioners.  He  thinks  that 
they  mistake  the  royal  purpose  in  sending  these  agents  hither,  and 
that  the  orders  of  the  letter  are  consistent  with  the  Charter  of  the 
Colony  and  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Crown.  He  says  that  the 
Commissioners  were  sent  over  to  settle  difficulties,  which  were  be- 
lieved by  the  Government  in  England,  to  demand  their  presence 
and  advice.  He  regrets,  with  Mr.  Boyle  and  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain, that  the  General  Court  had  resorted  to  such  means  of  redress, 
whde  they  appeared  to  have  so  little  occasion.  With  whatever 
purpose  these  words  may  have  been  uttered,  our  fathers  had  cause 
to  apprehend  an  unconstitutional  and  injurious  interference  of  the 
Commissioners. 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  292-2.  f  Brown,  MS.  Papers. 

X  MS.  Danforth  Narrative. 
45 


354  DECEASE  OF  EXDICOTT. 

[Mass. 

While  the  leading  men  were  anxiously  expecting  a  development 
of  the  purposes  entertained  by  the  King's  Commissioners,  as  to 
the  Union,  John  Endicott  is  taken  from  an  active  agency  among 
them  and  called  to  the  realities  of  another  world,  in  his  seventy- 
seventh  year.  Though  far  advanced  in  life,  his  knowledge,  expe- 
rience, ability  and  patriotism,  as  to  the  affairs  of  the  Commonwealth, 
made  his  loss  severely  felt  at  this  alarming  crisis.  Hull,  with  the 
record  of  his  decease,  says,  "  He  was  a  man  of  pious  and  zealous 
spirit.  He  died  poor,  as  most  of  our  rulers  do,  having  more 
attended  the  public,  than  their  own  private  interests."  In  all  his 
relations,  he  was  a  man  of  unshaken  integrity.  For  my  country 
and  my  God, — was  the  motto  inscribed  on  his  purposes,  motives 
and  deeds.  He  was  among  the  strong  pillars  which  sustained  the 
civil  and  religious  liberties  of  New  England,  while  threatened  with 
dissolution  in  different  periods  of  his  colonial  career. 

17.  Sir  Robert  Boyle  addresses  the  Governor  and  the  rest  of  the 
Legislature,  on  the  same  account  and  in  similar  style  of  Clarendon. 

Clarendon,  while  expressing  himself  as  above,  addresses*  Maver- 
ick under  the  same  date.  "  At  Boston,  where  the  scene  is  for  the 
most  of  your  business,  and  where  I  doubt  you'll  find  more  ill 
humoured  than  in  any  of  the  Provinces — I  find  by  an  address  we 
have  lately  received  from  Boston,  that  the  Governor  and  Council 
there  are  not  all  pleased  with  your  commission,  and  that  they  will 
needs  believe  all  their  privileges  are  to  be  destroyed  ;  but  I  suppose 
they  are  better  informed  since,  and  that  the  answer  they  have  re- 
ceived from  the  King  to  their  address  will  dispose  them  to  a  better 
temper." 

20.  Being  in  Rhode  Island,  f  the  royal  Commissioners  nullify  the 
claims  of  individuals  in  Massachusetts  to  Narragansett  lands,  and 
call  the  country  there  "the  King's  Province."  They  also  declare, 
that  all  grants  of  territory  by  Massachusetts  at  Misquamuck  on  the 
Eastern  side  of  Paucatuck  river  are  void,  and  thus  they  deny  the 
asserted  right  of  conquest  by  this  Colony,  to  a  portion  of  the  Pe- 
quod  country.  In  relation  to  this  matter,  they  use  such  language 
as  "  the  usurped  authority  of  the  United  Colonies." 

When  narrating  facts  afterwards  as  to  their  difference  with  the 
royal  Commissioners,  the  Legislature  speak  of  their  claim  to  such 
territory.  They  give  their  impression  of  the  Pequods,  who  owned 
it  and  lived  there  twenty-nine  years  before.  They  describe  them  as 
a  common  enemy  to  all  the  English,  "  threatening  wholly  to  root 
them  out  of  the  land  and  fish  their  corn  with  their  carcasses,  killing 
sundry  of  several  places,  on  land  and  water,  and,  after  their  cruel 
manner,  torture  them  to  death,  and  had  proceeded  to  the  utter  ex- 
tirpation of  the  name  of  an  Englishman,  had  not  his  Majesty's  sub- 
jects "  entered  on  a  perilous  war  at  their  own  expense  to  overcome 

*  Brown,  MS.  Papers.  f  MS.  Danforth  Narrative. 


A    REBELLIOUS   I  856 

1665.] 

"  bo  potent  an  enemy  as  these  Pequods,  then  a  tenor  to  all  the  In- 
dians round  aboul  them." 

21,  From  Pettiquamscut,  the  Commissioners  make  further  de- 
monstration of  their  resolve  to  exercise  a  judicial  cognizance  of 
cases  in  different  directions.  They  summon  individuals  of  Rhode 
Island,  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  to  appear  before  them 
and  answer  various  charges, 

April  1.  The  case  in  which  they  gave  most  offense  to  our 
authorities,  by  their  interference,  was  that  of  John  Porter,  Jr.,  who 
belonged  to  Salem.  He  had  been  accused  and  tried  for  aggravated 
mal-treatment  of  his  worthy  parents.  Ill  accordance  with  a  petition 
of  his,  at  this  date,  to  them,  he  had  been  in  Boston  prison  sixteen 
months.  He  had  been  sentenced  to  stand  one  hour  on  the  gallows, 
with  a  rope  around  his  neck,  receive  thirty-nine  stripes,  and  be  im- 
prisoned until  he  had  paid  £200.  4  A  late  Court  in  Boston  had 
allowed  him  to  leave  the  Colony  with  sufficient  bond  for  the  same 
sum,  that  he  would  never  return;  but,  if  refusing  to  do  this,  he 
should  stand  on  the  gallows  an  hour,  and  be  kept  a  prisoner  and  at 
hard  work,  until  he  should  pay  such  an  amount.  On  the  8th,  the 
Commissioners,  at  Warwick,  give  protection  to  Porter,  and  order 
him  to  be  without  restraint  and  appear  before  them,  the  next 
month,  in  Boston.  Hull  remarks,  under  the  12th,  of  their  conduct: 
"They  granted  protection  to  one  Porter,  that  escaped  from  our 
prison,  being  here  sentenced  to  severe  correction  for  very  great 
injuries  and  high  abuses  to  his  own  father  and  mother."  Thus 
taking  on  themselves  what  our  fathers  thought  belonged  only  to 
the  Colonial  authorities,  the  Commissioners  came  to  Boston  a  few 
days  prior  to  the  Court  of  Election. 

19.  The  Elders,  having  been  desired  by  the  Council  to  advise 
them  how  they  should  act  in  their  difficult  position,  do  advise  them 
to  fall  in  with  the  wishes  of  the  Commissioners,  so  far  as  their 
Charter  will  permit. 

On  this  date,  Cartwright  writes  from  Boston  *  to  Nichols : 
"  This  day  here  is  a  secret  Council,"  and  all  the  ministers  within 
twenty  miles  are  called  to  take  part  in  its  proceedings.  "  If  these 
men  will  rebel,  I  can  easily  tell  the  King  so,  as  that  they  are  his 
good  subjects,  and  perchance,  shall  sooner  be  believed  by  some  in 
that,  than  in  this." 

May  2.  The  Deputy  Governor,  Bellingham,  magistrates,  and 
some  deputies,  assemble  to  prepare  business  for  the  Legislature. 
The  King's  Commissioners  desire  to  confer  with  them.  They  at 
first  decline,  but  afterwards  consent.  Among  the  papers  submit- 
ted to  these  by  the  former,  is  one  relative  to  themselves.  It  says  of 
its  authors,  that  they  have  been  slandered  by  reports,  that  they  have 
come  over  by  his  Majesty's  injunction,  to  raise  £5,000  a  year  out 

*  Brown,  MS.  Papers. 


3o6  DISTRESSED  PROTESTANTS. 

[Mass. 

of  Massachusetts,  to  lay  I2d.  an  acre  on  improved  land,  and  take 
from  them  their  most  valuable  privileges.  It  denies  these  charges, 
and  gives  the  reasons  for  their  mission. 

3.  The  General  Court*  admit  over  seventy  persons  as  freemen, 
on  certificates  from  ministers  and  selectmen,  of  their  good  moral 
character.  Hull  observes  concerning  such  candidates  :  "  Sundry 
whereof  were  not  members  of  any  particular  church,  which  had 
been  the  general  rule  of  adfnission  hitherto."  Thus,  in  compliance 
with  the  King's  letter,  the  privilege  of  freemanship  was  actually 
extended  from  church  members  to  those  of  good  repute.  Who- 
ever forfeited  such  character  was  liable  to  be  disfranchised. 

Among  their  first  orders,  is  one  for  a  Fast,  the  22d  of  the  next 
month.  They  say  :  "  The  Court  taking  into  their  serious  consid- 
eration the  distressed,  bleeding,  dying  condition  of  the  Protestant 
Christian  interest  in  the  world,  the  darkness  of  the  hour  of  tempt- 
ation, referring  to  ourselves,  those  manifold  rebukes  the  Lord  hath 
given  us  in  our  concernments  at  home  and  abroad,"  they  make 
such  an  appointment. 

4.  The  Court  desire  the  Commissioners  to  lay  before  them  all 
which  the  King  had  instructed  them  so  to  communicate,  that  they 
might  have  in  view  the  whole,  expected  of  their  action.  These 
messengers  from  the  Crown  answer,  that  they  would  not  pursue 
such  a  course,  but  when  they  had  replies  to  their  communications, 
already  made,  they  would  present  others. 

5.  The  Legislature,  however,  thus  kept  in  perplexity  as  to  their 
ulterior  designs,  returned  answers,  "  reserving  liberty  to  enlarge 
afterwards,  if  there  should  be  cause."  They  appreciate  his  Majesty's 
favor  to  them,  and  are  disposed  to  showr  their  gratitude  to  him. 
They  acknowledge  the  compliment  by  the  Commissioner,  to  their 
readiness  for  assisting  in  the  reduction  of  the  Dutch.  They  say 
that  a  map  of  the  Colony  is  in  progress ;  that  the  royal  letters  and 
papers  of  the  Commissioners  had  been  laid  before  the  Court,  and 
copies  of  them  spread  about  the  country  ;  and  if  a  further  publica- 
tion of  such  documents  were  requested  by  the  Commissioners,  it 
should  be  done.  They  express  a  willingness  to  aid  in  suppressing 
the  slanders  against  these  gentlemen. 

The  Commissioners  reply  on  such  points,  f  They  wish  the  Court 
would  more  fully  comply  with  the  King's  letter  of  1662,  "which 
had  so  long  slept  in  some  hands."  They  are  "  persuaded  that  the 
printing  the  results  and  conclusions  which  should  be  made  on  his 
Majesty's  part,  and  the  part  of  the  Colony,  would  silence  all  those 
false  and  malicious  reports  which  they  expected  should  be  inquired 
into."  They  intimate  that  the  Legislature  are  not  sufficiently  warm 
in  their  expressions  of  loyalty  to  the  King. 

On  the  same  day,  the  Commissioners  lay  more  of  their  orders 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  MS.  Danforth  Narrative. 


VIOLATION   OP  CHABTER,  867 

1665.] 

before  the  Court,  as  that  they  inquire  about  neighboring  Sagamores  ; 
complaints  of  Narraganset  Indiana  ;  M  what  progreM  had  been  made 
towards  the  foundation  and  maintenance  of  any  oollege  or  schools  for 
the  education  of  youth  and  conversion  of  infidels  ;"  be  careful  how 
(hey  bear  complaints  and  decide  on  them;  "whether  all  persons 
take  the  oath  ol'  allegiance ; "  judicial  affairs  are  conducted  in  the 
long's  name  ;  persons  who  wish  it,  can  freely  "  use  the  hook  of 
common  prayer;"  and  men  of  regular  deportment  can  choose  and 
be  chosen  to  offices  of  the  government 

8.  The  Commissioners  send  other  papers,  concerning  their  royal 
instructions,  to  the  Court.  They  follow  : — ascertain  whether  any 
traitors  are  in  New  England,  and  who  have  favored  them  ;  see 
that  the  act  of  navigation  be  observed  ;  get  a  knowledge  of  the 
government  and  resources  of  the  Colony. 

1).  The  Legislature  notify  the  Commissioners  that  they  look  on 
their  warrant  to  John  Porter,  Jr.,  as  a  violation  of  their  Charter 
rights.  They  deny  the  truth  of  complaints  made  against  them  by 
the  Narragansets,  and  refer  the  Commissioners  to  the  records  of 
the  confederation  as  proof  of  their  denial. 

10.  The  Commissioners  rejoin,  and  ask  for  a  committee  to  ad- 
vise with  them  on  the  Porter  case.  For  this  purpose,  Simon 
Bradstreet  and  others  are  selected.  A  form  of  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance is  handed  to  the  Court  from  the  Commissioners.  It  declares 
against  the  Papal  excommunication,  which  justifies  treason  towards 
the  kings  of  the  English  throne. 

11.  The  Legislature  answer*  the  6th  of  his  Majesty's  instruc- 
tions. They  relate  that  there  is  a  college  at  Cambridge,  whence 
"  at  least  one  hundred  able  preachers,  physicians,  and  chirurgeons, 
and  other  useful  persons,  have  issued."  They  further  state  that 
there  is  a  small  brick  fabrick  for  Indian  youths  in  that  town, 
erected  by  the  Missionary  Corporation  of  England ;  that  there  are 
eight  of  such  young  men  here  and  at  other  schools,  one  of  whom 
is  ready  to  take  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,  besides  another  of 
the  same  standing,  killed  a  few  months  since,  with  several  English- 
men, by  Indians  at  Nantucket,  "  some  ready  to  come  into  the 
College,"  and  all  of  them  maintained  by  the  same  Society.  They 
add,  that  there  are  six  Indian  towns  in  their  jurisdiction  who  pro- 
fess Christianity,  who  have  persons  to  "  govern  and  instruct  them 
in  civility  and  religion  ;  who  keep  the  Sabbath  and  attend  public 
worship,  and  have  schools  to  teach  their  children  in  reading  and 
writing."  They  say  to  the  propositions  made  by  the  Commis- 
sioners, on  the  7th  and  8th  instructions,  to  hear  and  examine 
complaints  against  them :  "  We  consider  our  Charter  giveth  full 
power  unto  the  authority  here  established,  to  govern  all  the  people 
of  this   place,  whether  inhabitants  or  strangers."     Still  they  are 

*  MS.  Danforth  Narrative. 


358  ECCLESIASTICAL   CONSTITUTIONS. 

[Mass. 

disposed  to  hear  such  complaints,  and  hope  to  satisfy  the  Commis- 
sioners that  they  are  not  founded  in  truth. 

16.  Respecting  the  9th  instruction,  the  Court  represent  that 
they  have  ordered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his  Majesty  to  be  taken 
by  freemen,  when  they  become  so,  and  "  all  other  householders," 
who  are  not  of  this  class,  according  to  their  Charter,  and  that  "for 
some  time  past  "  they  have  had  justice  administered  in  the  King's 
name.  Under  this  head  they  remark  as  to  the  use  of  the  Com- 
mon Prayer  Book  :  "  Our  humble  addresses  to  his  Majesty  have 
fully  declared  our  main  ends  in  our  being  voluntary  exiles  from 
our  dear  native  country,  which  we  had  not  chosen  at  so  dear  a 
rate,  could  we  have  seen  the  Word  of  God  warranting  us  to  per- 
form our  devotions  in  that  way;  and  to  have  the  same  set  up  here, 
we  conceive  it  is  apparent  that  it  will  disturb  our  peace  in  our 
present  enjoyments."  "  Touching  civil  liberties,"  they  observe 
that  their  law  and  practice  accord  with  the  royal  letter  of  1662. 
Concerning  ecclesiastical  privileges  they  remark  :  "  We  have  com- 
mended to  the  ministry  and  people  here  the  Word  of  the  Lord  for 
their  rule  therein." 

With  regard  to  traitors,  in  the  10th  royal  instruction,  they  know 
of  none  who  had  been  here  so  accused,  except  Whalley  and  Goffe, 
of  whom  they  give  facts  as  they  took  place. 

As  to  the  11th  instruction,  the  Legislature  state  that  the  act  of 
trade  had  been  complied  with  here  for  some  years,  and  that  they 
had  been  misrepresented  about  it  to  their  Sovereign,  particularly  as 
to  the  case  of  Thomas  Deane  and  others,  about  a  vessel  in  Boston 
harbor,  1661,  called  the  Charles  of  Oleron. 

In  reply*  to  the  12th  instruction,  as  to  the  Government,  etc.,  of 
the  Colony,  the  Court  write  as  follows  :  "  For  our  ecclesiastical 
constitutions,  we  have  never  imposed  by  civil  authority,  but  attend- 
ance on  the  Lord's  day,  or  days  occasionally  appointed.  The 
people  here,  from  whom  the  maintenance  of  the  ministers,  and  the 
charge  of  erecting  the  places  of  public  worship,  must  and  doth 
arise,  have  the  liberty  of  calling  and  choosing  their  own  ministers, 
whose  administrations  are  publicly  known,  and,  we  hope,  generally 
consonant  to  the  Word  of  God  and  primitive  practice,  and  if  any 
deviate  from  the  same,  we  acknowledge,  and  have  made  use  of 
the  help  of  a  Synod  and  the  civil  authority  to  regulate  in  such 
cases." 

18.  The  Commissioners,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  remarks  of 
the  Legislature  on  their  7th  and  8th  instructions,  which  called  in 
question  their  power  to  try  any  cases  between  parties  in  the  Col- 
ony, assume f  a  decided  tone,  and  express  themselves  as  follows: 
"  Whereupon  we  have  thought  it  necessary  to  reduce  all  the  dis- 

*  According  to  Danforth's  MS.  Narrative,  p.  99,  this  reply  is  dated  May  12. 
f  MS.  Danforth  Narrative.     Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


DEMAND  OP  COMMISSIONERS.  859 

1665.] 

course  hereof  into  one  question,  whereunto  we  expect  your  positive 
mswer,  which  we  Bhail  faithfully  report  to  hie  Majesty,  whether 
vou  do  acknowledge  bis  Majesty's  commission,  wherein  we  are 
nominated  Commissioners,  to  be  of  full  force,  to  all  the  intents  and 

purposes  therein  contained."      They  proceed    to  declare  their    want 

of  agreement  in  other  respects  with  the  answers  of  the  Court,  and 
the  King's  disapproval  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  latter.     They 

fault  the  form  in  which  the  oath  of  allegiance  is  given,  the  condi- 
tions of  civil  liberty,  and  the  allowing  no  other  denomination  but 
of  the  Congregational  order.  They  consider  that  the  authorities 
abuse  the  royal  elemenev,  and  bid  them  beware.  Nichols,  Can* 
and  Maverick  enter  the  Court  and  present  these  views.  The  first 
of  the  Commissioners  repeat  such  ideas  to  the  members.  He  says: 
"  Tell  us  plainly  and  truly  whether  you  will  submit  to  that  Com- 
mission without  any  shuiHing.  Otherwise,  it  is  time  for  us  to  be 
gone  out  of  the  country.      We  are  a  Court  by  his  Majesty's  author- 

\\  illiam  Hathorne,  of  Salem,  apologizes  before  the  Legislature 
for  language  which  he  had  used  in  reference  to  the  Commissioners, 
though  not  the  same  for  which  they  complained  of  him. 

19.  The  Legislature  reply,*  that  they  "  see  not  the  grounds  "  of 
the  Commissioners'  demand,  and  that  they  only  plead  his  Majesty's 
Charter,  as  their  rule  of  action. 

20.  The  Commissioners  insist  on  a  direct  answer  to  their  propo- 
sition. 

21.  A  Committee  of  the  Legislature  meet  with  the  Commis- 
sioners. The  latter  insist  that  the  authorities  here  are  bound  to 
answer  complaints  to  them,  as  a  court  of  appeal.  The  Committee 
plead  exemption  from  all  such  appeal  by  the  privilege  of  their 
Charter.  When  the  Commissioners  are  asked  if  they  should  be 
allowed  to  try  complaints  brought  before  them,  whether  they 
would  have  a  jury  to  decide  on  them,  they  answrer,  No. 

22.  The  Court  rejoin  :  "  If  you  rest  not  satisfied  with  our  former 
answer,  it  is  our  trouble,  but  we  hope  not  our  fault.  It  is  known 
to  Him  that  knows  all  things,  that  it  is  our  desire,  and  hath  been 
our  endeavor,  according  to  our  best  understanding,  to  give  his 
Majesty  and  yourselves  all  due  satisfaction,  saving  only  our  duty  to 
God  and  the  privilege  of  our  Charter,  so  dearly  purchased,  so  long 
enjoyed,  and  so  graciously  confirmed  by  his  Majesty." 

23.  The  Commissioners  say,  "That  his  Majesty  will  have  just 
cause  to  manifest  his  displeasure  against  the  contrivers  of  such  dil- 
atory answers."  They  proceed  to  assert,  that  on  the  morrow  they 
shall  meet  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Bredan,  to  hear  the  complaint 
of  Thomas  Deane  and  others  vs.  the  Governor  and  Company  and 
Joshua  Scottow,  about  the  ship  Charles  of  Oleron. 

*  Brown,  MS.  Papers. 


360  DECLARATION   OF  LEGISLATURE. 

[Mass. 

24.  The  Legislature  having  drawn  up  a  declaration,*  dispatch  it 
to  the  Commissioners.  In  this  paper  they  justify  their  course  with 
them ;  complain  of  their  protection  to  John  Porter,  Jr.,  and  thus 
wresting  him  from  the  hands  of  Colonial  justice,  and  of  their  sum- 
moning the  authorities  to  answer  the  charge  of  Deane  and  others 
before  them,  as  a  judicial  tribunal.  In  view  of  these  things  they 
declare,  "  That  in  observance  of  duty  to  God  and  his  Majesty,  and 
to  the  trust  committed  to  them  by  his  Majesty's  good  subjects  of 
this  Colony,  we  cannot  consent  unto  or  give  our  approbation  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  above  gentlemen."  On  November  £0,  Carr 
and  Maverick  wrote*  to  Nichols,  that  on  the  24th  of  May,  the  time 
they  had  summoned  the  Legislature  to  answer  before  them,  they 
received  their  declaration  by  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  an  hour 
before  the  trial  was  to  begin,  and  that  this  document  was  pro- 
claimed by  sound  of  trumpet,  under  Col.  Cartwright's  chamber- 
window,  in  Bredan's  house,  the  former  of  these  two  being  confined 
with  the  gout. 

To  comply  with  the  wish  of  the  Commissioners,  that  they  would 
have  their  public  papers  in  more  loyal  style,  the  Legislature  head 
the  above  protest,  thus :  "  A  Declaration  by  the  General  Court  of 
His  Majesty's  Colony  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  New  England." 
They  ordered  this  document  to  be  published  in  three  places  of 
Boston,  by  Oliver  Purchase,  on  horseback,  with  sound  of  the 
•  trumpet ;  and  that  Thomas  Bleigh,  trumpeter,  and  Richard  Wait, 
marshal,  accompany  him  ;  and  that  "  in  the  close,  he  say  with  an 
audible  voice,  God  save  the  King." 

They  raise  a  Committee  to  answer  the  Letter  of  Secretary  Mor- 
ris, and  "  consider  what  is  further  necessary  to  be  done  in  refer- 
ence to  what  hath  passed  between  the  Honorable  Commissioners 
and  this  Court,  as  it  relates  to  England." 

The  Commissioners  send  a  communication  to  the  Court,  which 
acknowledges  the  receipt  of  their  Protest  and  says :  "  We  shall 
not  lose  more  of  our  labors  upon  you,  but  refer  it  to  his  Majesty's 
wisdom,  who  is  of  power  enough  to  make  himself  to  be  obeyed 
in  all  his  dominions."  They  also  send  proposals  in  reference  to 
the  Colonial  laws  and  other  matters. 

Among  such  proposals  are  the  following :  *  That  the  King's  arms 
be  set  up  in  every  Court  of  justice  ;  that  the  Colonial  vessels  and 
military  companies  display  "  the  true  colours  of  England  ;  "  that 
Episcopal  ministers  be  not  discouraged,  and  persons  joining  the 
national  Church,  be  subject  to  no  fine  for  such  an  act ;  that  the 
5th  of  November  and  the  29th  of  May  be  kept  as  Thanksgiving 
days,f  the  former  to  commemorate  deliverance  of  James  I.  from 

*  MS.  Danforth  Narrative. 

f  Though  the  laws  for  these  three  holidays  ceased  with  the  declaration  of  our 
independence  of  England,  yet  they  continued  to  be  in  force  there  till  recently. 
A  letter  from  London,  in  the  Boston  Recorder  of  Feb.  27.  dated  Jan.  21,  1859, 
states  that  Queen  Victoria,  had  abolished  all  services  for  State  holidays,  except 
that  for  the  anniversary  of  her  own  accession. 


RTJFTUB1  WITH  0OMMX88XONBBS.  S61 

1065.] 

the  gun-powder  treason,  and  the  latter,  the  present  King's  birth 

and  restoration  to  the  Crown.      That  the  80th  of  January  be  a  day 

of  fasting  and  prayer  for  "that  execrable  murder  of  our  late  Sov- 
ereign, Charles  First."  That  members  of  Episcopal  chinches  be 
admitted  freemen  and  to  the  privileges  thereof.     That  Christmas 

he  allowed.  That  Quakers  may  go  about  their  lawful  business, 
"though  in  other  cases  they  be  punished."  That  the  mint  house 
be  suppressed.  That  the  confederation  of  the  Colonies  is  contrary 
to  Charter,  and  therefore  not  allowable. 

The  Court  inform  the  Commissioners,  that  they  are  ready  to 
exhibit  what  claim  they  have  to  jurisdiction  over  the  Eastern 
country. 

25.  While  the  Legislature  and  the  Commissioners  are  thus  come 
to  a  rupture,*  the  former  take  measures  to  conciliate  the  King. 
They  order,  that  as  a  mark  of  their  gratitude  to  him,  "  in  the  best 
commodity  that  may  be  procured  in  this,  his  Colony,  meete  for 
transportaccon  and  accommodaccon  of  his  Majesties  navy,  unto  the 
vallew  of  500  lb,  the  whole  charge  be  forthwith  prepared  and  sent 
by  the  first  opportunity."  A  committee  are  appointed  for  this 
purpose. 

26.  The  Commissioners,  f  having  ceased  their  endeavors  to  act 
as  a  judicial  body,  depart,  except  Nichols,  for  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine,  where  they  can  more  easily  carry  out  their  purposes. 
There  they  undertake  to  exercise  various  acts  of  government.  The 
Bay  authorities  inform  the  people,  in  those  parts,  that  they  have 
not  surrendered  jurisdiction  over  them. 

28.  The  Court  invite  the  Commissioners  to  attend,  on  the  mor- 
row, an  examination  of  Deane's  case,  for  which  he  had  been  sum- 
moned before  the  Legislature.  In  their  reply  to  this  the  Commis- 
sioners say,  that  after  being  interrupted,  as  they  had  been,  which 
they  consider  "  a  violation  of  his  Majesty's  authority,"  they  could 
not  imagine  that  the  Court  would  have  proceeded  to  try  the  cause 
themselves.     They  accordingly  protest  against  such  procedure. 

With  respect  to  the  construction  which  the  Commissioners  put  on 
the  Charter,  contrary  to  that  of  our  authorities,  Danforth  remarks 
as  follows :  "  Before  I  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his  Majesty, 
which  I  am  ready  to  do,  I  do  declare,  that  I  will  be  so  understood, 
as  not  to  infringe  the  liberty  and  privileges,  granted  in  his  Majes- 
ty's royal  charter  to  this  Colony  of  the  Massachusetts."  In  this 
sense,  he  and  all  the  members  of  the  Legislature  take  such  an 
obligation. 

"  In  remembrance  +  of  the  good  services  of  the  late  John  Endi- 
cott,  Governor,  and  the  condition  of  his  relict,"  the  Court  order  the 
Treasurer  to  pay  for  the  "  wine,  cakes,  tomb,  and  powder  expend- 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.         f  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  228.  %  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

46 


362  BAPTIST  CHURCH  FORMED. 

[Mass. 

ed"  at  his  funeral,  and  that  she  have  £160  out  of  the  Colony's 
funds,  in  equal  parts,  for  five  years  ;  £60  whereof  are  a  considera- 
tion for  her  expense  of  £70  "in  mourning  clothes  for  herself, 
children  and  family." 

Thomas  Gould  and  Thomas  Osborn,*  who  separated  from  the 
Charlestown  church,  Edward  Drinker  and  John  George,  who 
were  not  church  members,  but  had  lived  many  years  in  the  coun- 
try, are  baptized,  and  joined  by  Richard  Goodall,  from  Mr.  Kif- 
fen's  church  of  London,  William  Turner  and  Robert  Lambert, 
from  Mr.  Stead's  church  of  Dartmouth,  England,  Mary  Goodall 
and  Mary  Newel,  all  enter  into  covenant  as  a  Baptist  church. 
Cotton  Mather  says  that  Seth  Sweetser,  who  came  to  Charles- 
town  in  1638,  from  Tring  in  Herdfordshire,  was  among  these 
early  Baptists.  A  note  in  the  Roxbury  church  records  states 
that  the  brethren  of  the  church  so  formed  prophesied  in  turn,  and 
some  one  administered  the  Lord's  supper,  and  that  they  held  a 
lecture  at  Drinker's  house  once  a  fortnight.  Hull  informs  us  that 
they  were  organized  privately,  baptized  by  each  other,  and  met 
every  Lord's  day, 

May.  This  month  several  Quakers  f  are  apprehended  in  Boston. 
They  are  Edward  Wharton,  Elizabeth  Hooton,  Jane  Nicholson, 
Wenlock  Christopherson,  Mary  Tomkins,  and  Alice  Ambrose.  The 
three  last  came  from  Rhode  Island  with  Sir  Robert  Carr.  Also 
Hannah  Wright,  of  about  thirteen  years  old,  from  Oyster  Bay, 
Long  Island,  who  said  that  she  was  divinely  called  to  visit  Boston, 
and  warn  the  rulers  to  "  shed  no  more  innocent  blood."  While 
they  were  before  the  magistrates,  and  when  these  joined  in  prayer, 
the  Quaker  men  kept  their  hats  on,  which  were  taken  off  and 
thrown  down.  Mary  Tomkins  set  her  foot  on  one  of  the  hats, 
and  calling  to  the  Court,  said,  "  See,  I  have  your  honor  under  my 
feet."  They  asked  her  where  she  lived.  She  replied,  "  My  hab- 
itation is  in  the  Lord."  Christopherson  and  Wharton  remarked  to 
them,  We  do  not  commune  with  you  in  prayer  :  we  know  you  are 
very  wicked,  and  therefore  your  prayers  are  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord.  These  two,  Mary  Tomkins"  and  Alice  Ambrose,  are  sen- 
tenced to  be  whipped  through  three  towns.  Wharton  was  also 
imprisoned  a  month. 

During  this  year,  as  John  Small  of  Salem  J  refused  to  pay  the 
fines  assessed  upon  him  as  a  Quaker,  his  best  yoke  of  oxen  was 
seized.  Elizabeth,  wife  of  John  Kitchen,  riding  upon  a  horse, 
was  arrested  and  the  animal  taken  from  her.  The  result  to  her, 
being  in  a  critical  condition,  was  extreme  danger  of  her  life. 

Thomas    Newhouse,   on   a   lecture    day  in   Boston,   when   the 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  355,  6.     Russell's  Narrative. 

f  Bishop,  N.  E.  Judged,  p.  459,  60.  J  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  236,  7. 


POLICE  AND  COMMISSIONERS.  363 

1665.] 

preacher  had  closed,  attempted  to  addreaa  the  audience.  He  wai 
imprisoned,  and  the  next  day  whipped  ten  stripes  in  the  market- 
place, and  then  tlu'  Bame  number  out  of  town,  and  again  at  each  of 
the  places,  Roxbury  and  Dedharo,  and  was  conducted  out  oi'  the 

colony.      For  endeavoring    to    address   the    people    ol   Medfield  ill 

the  Btreets  there,  he  met  with  similar  usage. 

A  family  of  Marblehead  Mere  friendly  to  the  Quakers.  They 
were  Edmund  Nicholson  and  wile  Elizabeth,  and  sons  Christopher 
and  .Joseph.  For  their  preference  to  such  a  denomination,  they  were 
much  opposed.  At  this  point,  a  sad  event  took  place  in  their 
circle.  The  father  was  found  dead  in  the  water  of  the  seashore. 
The  survivors  of  his  family  were  prosecuted  on  suspicion  of  being 
his  murderers.  No  conclusive  proof  was  adduced  against  them. 
Besse  declares  that  they  were  innocent.  But  the  Court  laid  a 
heavy  tine  upon  the  widow,  and  ordered  the  sons  to  stand  under 
the  gallows  with  ropes  round  their  necks. 

June  1.  The  Massachusetts  rulers*  assert  that  in  consequence  of 
the  Commissioners'  conduct  towards  them,  the  Indians  have  be- 
come insolent;  "travelers  have  been  taunted  by  them,  Whence 
are  you  of  the  Massachusetts  ?  the  Massachusetts  men  are  all  but 
a  straw,  blown  away  without  breath."  They  declare  their  integrity 
of  motive  and  purpose  to  render  to  God  and  to  Caesar  the  things 
which  relatively  belong  to  each  of  them. 

While  the  royal  Commissioners  f  were  in  Boston  at  this  period, 
they  sometimes  met  with  other  gentlemen  at  the  Ship  Tavern,  on  a 
corner  opposite  to  what  was  called  Clark's  ship-yard  in  the  north 
part  of  the  town.  For  meeting  there  on  Saturday  evening,  which 
the  law  forbid,  a  constable  called  and  rebuked  them.  Upon  this, 
Carr  beat  and  forced  him  to  retreat.  Mason,  another  constable, 
determined  to  visit  them  at  such  a  time.  Before  he  came,  they 
retired  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Kellond,  a  merchant,  on  the  other 
side.  The  officer  went  among  them  there  and  observed  that  he 
was  glad  they  were  not  at  the  tavern,  for  had  they  been  he  should 
have  carried  them  all  away  ;  that  he  wondered  at  their  beating  an 
officer,  and  thus  abusing  authority.  Carr  owned  that  he  was  one 
who  beat  the  constable,  and  asked  Mason  if  he  would  dare  inter- 
fere with  his  Majesty's  Commissioners.  Mason  replied,  Yes,  and 
with  the  King  himself,  whom  I  would  have  taken,  had  he  been 
there.  "  Maverick  cried  out,  Treason !  Mason,  thou  shalt  be 
hanged  within  a  twelvemonth."  Complaint  was  made  to  Governor 
Bellingham,  who  required  Mason  to  give  bonds  for  his  appear- 
ance. Maverick,  the  day  before  the  trial,  desired  that  the  matter 
might  be  dropped.  But  the  Governor  thought  best  for  it  to  pro- 
ceed. The  Jury's  verdict  was,  that  Mason  uttered  the  words  with 
which  he  was  charged.     The  Court  of  Assistants  referred  the  case 

*  MS.  Danforth  Narrative.  t  Hutchinson,  vol.  i.  p.  432-4. 


364  PREPARATION  FOR  DEFENSE. 

[Mass. 

to  the  next  General  Court,  who  decided  that  though  his  lan- 
guage was  highly  offensive,  yet,  as  his  accusers  cleared  him  of  any 
treasonable  design,  they  had  no  sufficient  proof  of  his  being  a 
capital  offender,  but  sentenced  him  to  be  solemnly  admonished  by 
the  Governor. 

In  view  of  hostilities  between  England  and  Holland,*  and  intel- 
ligence that  a  squadron  of  the  latter  are  bound  to  this  country,  the 
Legislature  require  the  militia  of  all  seaports  to  be  in  readiness, 
and  the  batteries  of  Boston  to  be  repaired.  There  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  a  secret  and  prominent  reason  for  such 
vigilance  was  to  guard  against  forces  which  might  be  sent  over  to 
compel  their  submission  to  the  dictates  of  the  Commissioners, 
whose  threat  covered  force  of  this  kind. 

A  committee  on  the  alteration  of  the  laws,  as  proposed  by  the 
Commissioners,  report  that  they  are  so  important  they  cannot  be 
decided  at  this  session. 

The  Court  confirm  the  act  of  the  Commissioners  for  the  united 
Colonies,  passed  September  1,  1664,  to  continue  the  Confedera- 
tion, provided  the  Legislatures  of  Plymouth  and  Connecticut  do 
the  same. 

Reflecting  on  their  rupture  f  with  the  Commissioners,  the  author- 
ities say  that  their  situation  exposes  them  either  to  the  King's  dis- 
pleasure by  neglecting  to  conform  with  the  proposals  of  his  Com- 
missioners, or  to  sacrifice  their  liberties,  peace  and  comfort,  to 
"  such  ambitiousness  as  was  never  yet  thought  fit  for  the  govern- 
ment of  any  of  his  Majesty's  subjects,  much  less  for  a  corporation 
of  them." 

2.  A  letter  of  Carr  and  Maverick  J  to  Nichols,  of  November 
20,  says  Messrs.  Symonds  and  Danforth  were  appointed  to  go  east- 
ward, and  there  counteract  the  proceedings  of  the  royal  Commis- 
sioners. 

18.  Maverick  at  Portsmouth,  §  Piscataqua,  informs  Nichols  that 
he  and  his  associates,  on  their  journey  eastward,  stopped  at  Salem  on 
the  11th,  where  they  were  "  nobly  treated  "  by  Capt.  Curwin  and 
Mr.  Brown,  and  at  Ipswich,  where  they  were  similarly  treated  by 
Major  Dennison  and  Capt.  Appleton. 

24.  John  Davenport  writes  to  John  Leverett.  Having  special 
reference  to  the  perils  which  exist  in  consequence  of  the  collision 
between  our  authorities  and  the  King's  Commissioners,  he  ex- 
presses his  sympathies  and  opinions  as  one  who  heartily  believed 
that  the  policy  of  these  agents,  if  permitted  free  course  in  New 
England,  would  subvert  its  civil  and  ecclesiastical  liberties.  Some 
of  his  remarks  follow.  In  view  of  Leverett's  being  an  Assistant 
and  Major  General  of  the  Colony,  he  says  :  "  The  good  Lord  assist 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  MS.  Danforth  Narrative. 

%  Brown,  MS.  Papers.  §  Ibid. 


^i.ativi:  STAND  JUSTIFIED.  865 

1665.] 

and  governe  you  by  his  spirit  of  wisdom,  of  courage,  and  of  the 
feere  of  the  Lord  in  l>*>t li."  He  acknowledge!  a  letter4  from  Lev- 
erett  of  May  27,  and  proceeds:  "I  perceive  that  the  power*  of 
darkness,  which  have  prevailed  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  are  at 
worke  here  also,  to  subvert  t hr  kingdom  of  Chris!  in  these  enda  of 
the  earth."      lie  mentions  the  need  of  returning  "  to  the  first  waits 

of  reformation  here  begun."     lie  fears  that  the  half-way  covenant, 

recommended  by  the  last  Synod,  is  a  sign  of  declension.      Referring 

to  the  time  of  Bishop  Laud,  he  thus  expresses  himself:  "I  would 
hope,  that  the  onely  wise  God,  who  disappointed  the  councel  of 
that  arch  prelate  in  the  raigne  of  the  last  King,  (whereby  our  pattent 
Mas  once  and  againe  demanded  by  the  said  King,  and  as  often  re- 
fased  by  your  General  Court,  to  be  returned  to  England,)  would 
also  still  appeare,  in  this  juncture,  by  frustrating  the  present  designe 
and  making  it  an  abortion,  or  a  mere  tryall  of  the  country,  whether 
they  will  stand  to  their  church  rights  and  priviledges,  or  permit 
them  to  be  invaded  and  violated  by  such  attempts,  which  when 
they  are  tried  and  found  unsuccessful,  will  cease  for  the  future." 
His  words  as  to  the  Commissioners,  are  :  "  Their  claiming  power  to 
sit  authoritatively  as  a  Court  for  appeales,  and  that  to  be  managed 
in  an  arbitrary  way,  was  a  manifest  laying  of  a  ground  worke  to 
undermine  your  whole  government  established  by  your  Charter. 
If  you  had  consented  thereunto,  you  had  plucked  downe  with  your 
owne  hands  that  house,  which  wisdom  had  built  for  you  and  your 
posterity.  For  all  your  Courts  would  then  have  signified  nothing ; 
the  sentences  of  them  being  liable  to  be  disannulled,  upon  com- 
plaints to  the  Commissioners  made  by  delinquents,  as  appeareth  in 
the  case  of  Mr.  Thomas  Deane,  etc.,  and  the  execution  of  the 
justest  censure  might  be  hindered  and  the  course  of  justice  obstruct- 
ed, as  you  have  alreadie  found  in  the  case  of  John  Porter,  Jr." 
Davenport  thinks  that  the  declaration  of  the  General  Court,  for 
maintaining  their  Charter  rights,  was  correct.  He  advises  that  all 
the  proceedings  of  the  Commissioners  be  carefully  collated  and  sent 
speedily  to  the  King,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  etc.,  and  let  them  know 
"  that  the  whole  country  (for  the  generality  of  them)  are  much 
aggrieved  at  these  doings,  and  humbly  desire  to  be  resettled  in 
their  former  state,  according  to  their  Charter,  and  that  they  may 
be  freed  from  those  new  encroachments." 

July  9.  The  records  of  Charlestown  church  f  inform  us  that, 
as  brethren  Gould  and  Osborn,  with  other  Anabaptists,  had  "  em- 
bodyed  themselves  in  a  pretended  church  way,"  deacons  Lynd 
and  Stittson  are  desired  to  ask  their  attendance  on  public  worship 
with  them  the  next  Sabbath,  and,  "at  the  evening  thereof,  to  stay 
and  give  an  account  to  the  Church  of  that  report."  16.  Gould 
states  to  the  Church,  that  he  has  nothing  more  to  do  with  them. 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  392-6.  t  MS.  Rec. 


366  ADDRESS  TO  THE  KING. 

[Mass. 

Osborn  says  he  had  given  his  reasons  for  withdrawal  from  them ; 
they  were  infant  baptism,  "  our  allowing  none  but  such  as  had 
humane  learning  to  be  in  the  ministry,  and  our  severe  dealing  with 
those  of  contrary  judgment  from  us."  Sister  Osborn  said  she  could 
not  "conscientiously  attend  on  ordinances  with  us."  They  are 
again  requested  to  meet  with  the  Church  next  Lord's  day,  and  give 
account  of  their  course.  23.  They  decline  such  compliance  and 
remark,  that  their  Church  will  partake  of  the  Lord's  supper  next 
Sabbath.  30.  Gould,  Osborn  and  his  wife  are  excommunicated 
"  for  their  impenitency  in  their  schismatical  withdrawing  from  the 
Church  and  neglecting  to  hear  the  Church." 

12.  As  an  indication*  of  the  private  feelings  with  which  the 
Commissioners  received  communications  from  our  authorities,  is  an 
endorsement  on  one,  from  the  latter  to  the  former,  as  follows  : 
"  An  insolent  Letter  from  ye  Massachusetts  to  His  Majesties  Com- 
missioners upon  the  settlement  of  the  Province  of  Maine  with  a 
warrant  to  the  constable  of  Portsmouth  to  disturb  the  same." 

During  this  month,  f  news  arrived  that  a  Dutch  fleet,  under 
De  Ruyter,  was  in  the  West  Indies,  and  he  intended  to  sail  for  our 
coast ;  that  the  Castle  was  fitted  up  to  resist  his  force ;  but  that, 
driven  back  by  contrary  winds,  he  went  to  Newfoundland  and  did 
great  spoil  there." 

August  1.  The  General  Court  agree  J  on  an  address  to  the  King. 
They  apologize  for  any  offense  they  may  have  unintentionally  given 
him  in  their  last  petition.  On  this  point,  they  say  :  "  We  confess, 
that  what  we  then  presented,  was  our  fears  of  what  we  did  then 
rather  foresee  than  feel.  But  now,  to  our  grief  and  great  sorrow 
of  heart,  we  find  (and  we  hope  your  Majesty  in  due  time  will  see) 
that  the  gentlemen  sent  hither  in  the  capacity  of  Commissioners, 
especially  three  of  them,  (for  Col.  Nichols,  wre  must  acknowledge, 
had  not  his  hand  in  many  things,  that  are  grievous  to  us,  and  we 
think,  would  not,  whereas  the  Commission  seems  to  import,  that 
without  him,  no  valid  act  can  be  done,)  who  have  steered  a  course 
so  different  from,  if  not  contrary  to  your  Majesty's  gracious  expres- 
sions and  limitations  in  your  royal  letters  and  instructions.  Your 
poor  subjects  are  threatened  with  ruin ;  reproached  with  the  names 
of  rebels ;  your  government,  established  by  Charter,  and  our  priv- 
ileges, violated  and  undermined  ;  causeless  complaints  from  Indians 
received  and  countenanced,  insomuch  the  very  deportment  of  many 
of  the  heathen  is  changed  towards  us  and  our  injurious  and  licen- 
tious neighbors  animated  against  us ;  a  notorious  malefactor  pro- 
tected from  justice ;  some  of  your  faithful  subjects  dispossessed  of 
their  lands  and  goods  without  hearing  them  speak  in  their  case  ; 
the  unity  of  the  English  Colonies  (which  is  the  wall  and  bulwark 

*  MS.  State  Papers.     Office,  London.  f  Clap's  Memoirs,  p.  19. 

1  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


LIBERTIES  OF  ENGLISHMEN.  Wl 

I66&] 

under  God  againsl  the  heathen)  discountenanced,  reproached  and 
undermined  ;  our  bounds  dipt,  and  shortened  ;  several  towns  in 
our  Northern  borders  already  (so  far  as  in  them  lies)  taken  from 
us,  they  declining  to  hear  our  just  pleas  therein."  The  Court  ob- 
serve, that,  though  the  Commissioners  may  make  strong  allegations 
against  them,  they  hope  the  King  will  exercise  charity  towards 
them.  They  go  on:  "To  bo  placed  upon  the  sandy  foundation 
of  a  blind  obedience  unto  the  arbitrary,  absolute,  and  unlimited 
power,  which  these  gentlemen  would  impose  upon  us,  is  contrary 
to  your  Majesty's  gracious  expressions  and  the  liberties  of  English- 
men, so  we  cannot  see  reason  to  submit  thereto." 

John  Levei ett  and  others  are  empowered  by  the  Court,  to  visit 
Norfolk  County,  Piscataqua,  and  Isle  of  Shoals  and  York,  to  call 
before  them  all  disturbers  of  the  peace  who  had  been  encouraged  to 
side  for  the  Commissioners.  William  Hudson  is  allowed  £9  for 
the  entertainment  of  these  gentlemen  while  in  Boston. 

3.  The  First  Church*  of  Boston,  still  cherishing  a  hope  that  Dr. 
Owen  would  become  their  minister,  send  again  for  him  by  Captain 
Peirce. 

20.  A  warrant  f  is  issued  by  Richard  Russell  of  Charlestown,  to 
the  constable  of  that  place,  instructing  him  to  find  where  the  Bap- 
tists worship,  and  require  them  to  attend  the  allowed  worship,  but 
if  they  refuse,  to  return  their  names  and  residence  to  the  next 
magistrate. 

September  4.  These  brethren  +  are  examined  before  the  Court  of 
Assistants.  The  article  of  their  faith  which  said,  "  Those  who 
gladly  receive  the  Word  and  are  baptized,  are  saints  by  calling  and 
fit  matter  for  a  visible  church,"  is  objected  to,  and  they  are  bound 
to  appear  at  the  General  Court. 

October  11.  The  Legislature  convene  in  the  town-house.  They, 
with  several  Elders,  keep  the  day,  having  been  appointed  as  one  of 
humiliation.  On  account  of  plague  in  London  and  many  other 
places  of  England,  the  Court  order  all  vessels  from  that  country 
to  ride  quarantine.  For  such  a  calamity,  they  set  apart  November 
22  as  a  day  of  fasting  §  and  prayer.  They  also  appoint  the  8th  of 
the  same  month  for  thanksgiving,  because  they  had  comfortable 
food,  the  Dutch  fleet  had  been  diverted  from  their  coast,  and  their 
peace  and  liberty  yet  preserved. 

"Whereas  at  the  last  Court  of  Assistants,  Thomas  Gould  and 
his  company,  sundry  of  them  were  openly  convicted  of  a  schismat- 
ical  rending  from  the  communion  of  the  churches  here  and  setting 
up  a  publick  meeting  in  opposition  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  here 
publickly  exercised,  and  were  solemnly  charged  not  to  persist  in 
such  pernicious  practices.     Yet,  this  notwithstanding,  (as  this  Court 

*  MS.  Records.  f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  371.  J  Hull's  MS.  Diary. 

§  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


368  DECLARATION  AGAINST  BAPTISTS. 

[Mass. 

is  informed,)  they  do  still  persist  in  contemning  the  authority  here 
established.  It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  the  aforesaid  Gould  and 
company  be  summoned  before  this  Court  to  give  an  account  of  such 
their  irregular  practices  with  their  celebrating  the  Lord's  supper 
by  an  excommunicated  person."  A  warrant  being  sent  for  the 
accused,  they  appeared.  As  they  professed  "  their  resolution  yet 
further  to  proceed  in  such  their  irregular  practices,  thereby  as  well 
contemning  the  authority  and  laws  here  established  for  the  main- 
tainance  of  godliness  and  honesty,  as  continuing  in  the  profanation 
of  God's  holy  ordinances: — This  Court  do  judge  meet  to  declare, 
that  the  said  Gould  and  company  are  no  orderly  church  assembly, 
and  that  they  stand  justly  convicted  of  high  presumption  against 
the  Lord  and  his  holy  appointments,  as  also  the  peace  of  this  Gov- 
ernment, against  which  this  Court  do  account  themselves  bound  to 
God,  his  Truth  and  his  Churches  here  planted,  to  bear  their  testi- 
mony ;  and  do  therefore  sentence  the  said  Gould,  Osborn,  Drinker, 
Turner  and  George,  such  as  are  Freemen,  to  be  disfranchised,  and 
all  of  them  upon  conviction  before  any  one  magistrate  or  Court,  of 
their  further  proceeding  herein,  to  be  committed  to  prison  until  the 
General  Court  shall  take  further  order  with  them." 

A  fair  perception  of  the  objection  made  to  the  Baptists,  as  ex- 
communicants,  requires  that  it  be  understood  they  were  so  called, 
because  they  were  cut  off  from  Charlestown  church  ;  not  for  im- 
moral conduct,  but  for  declining  to  commune  with  that  body. 

Zechariah  Rhodes,  a  Baptist  of  Rhode  Island,  being  in  Court 
when  such  a  decision  was  delivered,  said  openly,  that  they  "  had 
not  to  do  in  matters  of  religion."  For  this  he  was  committed. 
Being  sent  for,  he  regretted  that  he  had  so  expressed  himself,  and 
was  dismissed  with  an  admonition  from  the  Governor. 

The  principle  on  which  the  Legislature  dealt  with  these  Baptists, 
as  they  had  with  others  previously,  was,  that  they  obtained  and 
sustained  their  Commonwealth,  as  an  assylum  only  for  those  of 
their  faith  and  form  in  ecclesiastical  concerns.  Of  course,  the  de- 
nominations who  differed  from  them  denied  the  correctness  of  such 
ground. 

The  Legislature  "  having  perused  the  transactions  between  them 
and  his  Majesty's  honorable  Commissioners,  together  with  the  nar- 
rative and  improvement  thereof  thereunto  annexed,  collected  and 
transmitted  to  England,  approve  of  the  same,"  and  thank  the  Com- 
mittee who  prepared  them. 

November  16.  As  a  minister  expected  to  preach  the  Boston 
Lecture,  did  not  come,  John  Wilson  preaches  extempore  from  a 
text  read  in  his  family  the  morning  of  this  day,  Jere.  xxix.  8  : 
"  Neither  hearken  to  your  dreams,  which  you  cause  to  be  dreamed." 
"  Whence  he  gave  a  seasonable  warning  unto  the  people  against 
the  dreams,  wherewith  sundry  sorts  of  opinionists  had  been  endeav- 
oring to  seduce  them."     He  must  have  had  particular  reference  to 


01  TCA8T8  OF  [SRABL.  o(5(J 

1666.] 

die  prevalent  political  divisions,  to  the  Quakers,  Baptists  and  Epis- 
copalians, whose  views  of  church  order  met  with  the  determined 
resistance  of  Government    The  discourse  was  taken  down  In  Bhort 

hand  by  a  person  present,  and  published  about  twelve  years  after- 
wards. 

This  year,  as  llutehinson  state-,*  a  few  persons  of  Boston  form 
themselves  into  an  Episcopal  Society.  They  very  likely  reeeived 
the  encouragement  of  the  royal  Commissioners,  who  had  a  chap- 
lain  with  them,  and  who  were  earnest  for  the  allowanee  of  sueh 
churches. 

Though  before  the  current  year  an  impression  prevailed  in  the 
Christian  world, f  that  the  outcasts  of  Israel  were  to  be  gathered 
together,  yet  now  such  an  event  was  more  particularly  expected. 
Desirous  to  give  his  own  views  of  the  subject,  Increase  Mather 
delivered  a  monthly  lecture  on  it  in  Boston,  and  presented  the 
negative  of  it,  maintaining  that  the  set  time  would  not  yet  come. 
The  discourses  were  published  in  London,  1609,  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Mystery  of  Israel's  Salvation."  "  The  renowned  Mr.  Caryl" 
said  of  the  publication,  "  That  it  was  a  rare  thing  to  find  any- 
where a  conjunction  of  so  much  learning  and  so  much  piety,  as 
there  was  in  the  author." 

1666.  January  9.  John  Eliot  writes  J  to  Sir  Robert  Carr : 
"  Pumham  and  his  people  have  suffered  much  hard  and  ill  dealings 
by  some  English,  and  there  hath  been  both  force  and  fraud  used 
towards  them  to  drive  them  out  of  their  lands."  He  desires  that 
the  Commissioners  may  deal  kindly  with  these  Indians.  Carr 
replies  on  the  28th  of  February,  and  says  that  he  had  heard  of 
Mr.  Eliot's  complaining  of  him  for  hard  treatment  of  Pumham 
and  his  people  by  ordering  them  away  from  Warwick.  "  I  require 
you  to  make  such  improvement  of  this  advertisement,  that  his 
Majesty  and  his  Commissioners  may  be  no  more  rendered  obnox- 
ious to  the  reproach  and  contempt  of  infidels,  and  others  his  said 
Majesty's  subjects  by  your  and  others  proceeding."  Eliot  knew 
much  more  and  better  about  this  matter  than  Can*. 

February  22.  The  King  dates  a  communication  §  to  Massachu- 
setts. He  accompanies  it  with  his  declaration  of  war  against  the 
French  and  Dutch.  He  mentions'  that  it  is  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  free  themselves  from  "  inquiet  neighbours  "  who  belong 
to  those  nations.  He  encourages  them  to  use  all  their  "  force  and 
skill  "  for  the  capture  of  their  settlements,  and  particularly  Canada. 
They  declared  it  under  11th  of  September. 

23.  Robert  Boyle,  ||  as  President  of  the  Missionary  Society, 
writes  from  Cooper's  Hall,  London,  to  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies.     He  refers,  among  his  remarks,  to  the  fount  of 

*  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  318,  9.  f  Remarkables  of  I.  Mather,  p. 

X  Brown's  MS.  Papers.  §  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

||  MS.  Papers  of  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 
47 


370  NON-INTERCOURSE  WITH  MASSACHUSETTS. 

[Mass. 

letters,  some  of  which  were  Greek  and  Hebrew,  sent  over  by  the 
Society.  He  speaks  of  a  claim  made  to  them  by  Mr.  Johnson, 
who  selected  and  brought  such  types  over  for  them,  and  which  the 
Commissioners  could  not  account  for.  Still  he  expresses  a  willing- 
ness to  settle  the  matters  as  they  please. 

April  9.  Though  Nichols,  Governor  *  of  New  York,  was  less 
disliked  by  our  New  England  fathers  than  the  other  Commissioners 
from  the  King,  still  he  did  not  refrain  from  expressing  himself 
unfavorably  of  the  Bay  authorities.  In  a  communication  of  his 
to  Lord  Arlington,  he  observed  :  "  His  Majesty  will  read  the 
sophistry  of  Massachusetts,  vntill  such  time  as  wee  did  presse 
them  to  a  positive  obedience,  and  then  they  do  unmask  themselves. 
I  dare  not  presume  f  to  find  out  a  way  to  bring  down  the  pride  of 
Massachusetts,  because  the  matter  is  long  since  before  his  Majesty ; 
yet  it  is  evident  this  place,  (N.  Y.)  with  the  premises  thereunto 
relating  considered,  will  withdraw  in  a  short  time  most  of  their 
trade  hither,  where  I  have  begun  to  set  up  a  school  of  better 
religion  and  obedience  to  God  and  the  King."  The  party,  thus 
censured,  could  give  good  reason  for  their  course.  Though  tried 
and  threatened,  they  held  on  their  way  of  obligation  to  the  true 
and  the  right. 

10.  William  Morrice,  Secretary,  J  writes  from  London  to  the 
Commissioners,  that,  by  the  King's  command,  he  orders  them  to 
come  home.  He  remarks  :  "  We  have  expressed  our  dislike  of 
the  conduct  of  Massachusetts  towards  you,  and  have  sent  our 
commands  for  the  Governor  and  others  to  attend  us  and  answer 
their  proceedings." 

The  King  addresses  a  letter  §  to  Massachusetts.  He  states  to 
them  that  the  relation  of  his  Commissioners  showed  that  they  were 
satisfied  with  the  treatment  they  received  in  the  other  Colonies, 
but  not  so  with  what  they  experienced  in  the  Bay.  He  observes 
that  from  the  representation  of  the  Commissioners,  and  from  that 
of  Massachusetts,  he  infers  that  the  latter  believe  the  commission 
of  the  former  "  is  an  apparent  violation  of  their  Charter,  and 
tending  to  the  dissolution  of  it,  and  that  in  truth  they  do,  upon 
the  matter,  believe  that  his  Majesty  hath  no  jurisdiction  over  them, 
but  that  all  persons  must  acquiesce  in  their  judgments  and  deter- 
minations, how  unjust  soever,  and  cannot  appeal  to  his  Majesty, 
which  would  be  a  matter  of  such  high  consequence  as  every  man 
discerns  where  it  must  end."  He  therefore  recalls  the  Commis- 
sioners, that  he  may  hear  from  them  a  more  particular  account  of 
their  mission  hither.  Further,  his  "  express  command  and  charge 
is,  that  the  Governor  and  Council  of  the  Massachusetts  do  forth- 
with make   choice   of  four  or  five  persons  to  attend  upon   his 

*  MS.  in  London  State  paper  office.  f  Brown's  MS.  Papers. 

J  Brown's  MS.  Papers.  §  Hutchinson,  vol.  i.  App.  p.  547,  8. 


OFFENDERS  ORDERED  TO   ENGLAND.  371 

1086.] 

Majesty,  whereof  Richard  BeUingham  and  Major  Hathorne  are  to 
bo  two,  both  which  his  Majesty  commands  upon  their  allegiance  to 

attend,  the  other  two  or  three  to  he  siieh  as  the  Council  shall  make 
choice  of,  and  his  Majesty  expects  the  appearance  of  the  said  per- 
sons as  soon  as  they  can  possibly  repair  hither,  after  they  have 
notice  of  this  his  Majesty's  pleasure."  The  King  says  that  his 
purpose  in  such  an  arrangement  is  to  hear  the  advocates  of  Massa- 
chusetts as  to  their  controversy  with  the  Commissioners,  and,  hav- 
ing the  relation  of  these  also,  in  the  case,  he  "  may  pass  his  final 
judgment  and  determination  thereupon."  He  orders  the  author- 
ities here  to  discharge  all  persons  whom  they  have  imprisoned 
"  for  petitioning  or  applying  themselves  to  his  Majesty's  Commis- 
sioners." lie  requires  that  the  decisions  of  these  officials  as  to 
boundaries  of  territory,  remain  until  he  shall  make  up  his  own 
mind  about  them. 

VS.  Lord  Clarendon  addresses*  the  Commissioners.  "I  know 
not  what  to  say  of  the  demeanor  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  only 
that  I  am  very  glad  that  the  other  Colonies  behave  themselves  so 
dutifully,  for  which  they  will  receive  thanks  from  the  King;  and 
what  sense  his  Majesty  hath  of  the  behaviour  of  those  of  Boston, 
you  will  find  by  the  inclosed,  whereof  I  suppose  Mr.  Secretary 
Morrice  hath  sent  you  the  original  to  be  sent  to  those  of  Boston, 
one  or  two  more  being  sent  thither  by  other  conveyances,  that  they 
may  be  sure  to  have  notice ;  and  if  they  do  not  give  obedience  to 
it,  we  shall  give  them  cause  to  repent  of  it ;  for  his  Majesty  will 
not  sit  down  by  the  affronts  which  he  hath  received." 

Undoubtedly  his  Lordship  was  sincere  in  his  declarations,  but 
his  impressions  of  political  and  religious  obligation  differed  widely 
from  those  of  our  fathers,  who  were  not  to  be  easily  driven  from 
the  lot  they  had  chosen,  by  the  threats  of  disappointed  power,  even 
though  upon  the  high  places  of  the  kingdom. 

17.  Thomas  Gould,  Thomas  Osborne  and  John  George,  of  the 
Baptist  persuasion,  f  being  presented  by  the  Grand  Jury  to  the 
County  Court  at  Cambridge,  "  for  absenting  themselves  from  the 
public  worship  of  God  on  the  Lord's  days,  for  one  whole  year  now 
past,  alledged  respectively  as  folio weth."  They  plead,  that  they 
had  attended  on  what  they  considered  Scriptural  worship  for  that 
space  of  time,  being  connected  with  a  church,  founded  in  accord- 
ance with  the  gospel.  The  Court  recited  the  endeavors  used  by 
the  Court  of  Assistants  last  September,  and  by  the  General  Court 
the  next  October,  for  their  conviction.  The  order  of  the  latter 
body,  declaring  that  the  "said  Gould  and  company  to  be  no 
orderly  church  assembly,  and  that  they  stand  convicted  of  high 
presumption   against   the    Lord  and  his  holy  appointments,  was 

*  Brown's  MS.  Papers.  t  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  374. 


372  EXCOMMUNICATION— ADMONITION. 

[Mass. 

openly  read  to  them."  The  Court  fined  each  of  them  £4  for  the 
specified  neglect  of  worship.  They  add  :  "  Whereas  by  their  own 
confession,  they  stand  convicted  of  persisting  in  their  schismatical 
assembling  themselves  together,  to  the  great  dishonor  of  God  and 
our  profession  of  his  holy  name,  contrary  to  the  act  of  the  General 
Court  of  October  last,  prohibiting  them  therein  on  penalty  of  im- 
prisonment, this  Court  doth  order  their  giving  bond  respectively  in 
£20  each  of  them,  for  their  appearance  to  answer  their  contempt, 
at  the  next  Court  of  Assistants."  The  defendants  appealed  to  this 
Court,  but  declining  the  surety  required,  they  were  committed  to 
prison. 

22.  John  Farnum*  is  excommunicated  by  the  Second  Church  of 
Boston,  for  becoming  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  In  1683, 
he  confessed  that  he  had  acted  erroneously  and  sinfully  in  this 
matter,  and  was,  therefore,  restored  to  his  membership.  On  July 
17,  Henry  Shrimpton  of  Boston,  brazier,  f  bequeathes  £10  to  the 
Society  of  Christians,  who  now  meet  at  Noddle's  Island,  of  whom 
are  Gould  and  Osborne. 

.  May  23.  To  restrain  drunkenness  J  among  Indians,  it  is  ordered 
that  any  of  the  English  who  know  that  they  have  intoxicating  drink 
contrary  to  law,  may  take  it  from  them  and  deliver  it  to  the  con- 
stables. If  Indians  be  found  drunk,  and  they  refuse  to  confess 
who  supplied  them  with  liquor,  they  shall  be  put  in  prison  or 
house  of  correction. 

As  Thomas  Gilbert,  of  Topsfield,  had  uttered  several  expressions 
in  his  preaching  and  praying,  which  were  offensive  to  the  Court, 
they  order  that  he  shall  be  admonished  in  their  presence  by  the 
Governor. 

It  is  probable  that  his  offense  consisted  in  severe  censure  of  the 
King,  relative  to  his  Commissioners'  course  here,  because  his  tomb- 
stone epitaph  at  Charlestown  says,§  that  he  was  "the  proto-martyr " 
of  ejection  from  the  ministry  in  England  under  Charles  II. 

As  in  the  case  of  Endicott  about  cutting  the  cross  from  the 
English  colors,  public  sympathy  was  with  him,  though  the  authori- 
ties of  the  Colony  deemed  it  necessary  to  notice  the  act  as  offensive 
to  his  Majesty,  lest  his  displeasure  should  be  multiplied  against 
them.     So  it  may  have  been  in  relation  to  Gilbert. 

June  3.  About  300  English,  of  whom  was  Lt.  Col.  Theodore 
Loveranne,  speaker,  arrive  ||  in  a  ship,  Capt.  Robert  Gourden,  at 
Boston.  They  came  from  St.  Christopher  Island,  which  had  been 
taken  by  the  French.  They  expected  more  of  their  fellow  captives 
to  follow  them.  The  Legislature  appoint  a  committee  to  provide 
relief  for  those  of  them  who  are  necessitous,  until  a  passage  be  ob- 
tained for  them  so  assisted. 

*  Robbing's  Hist.  2d  Boston  Ch.  p.  295,  6.  f  MS.  Suffolk  Probate  Rec. 

X  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  467.  ||  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


REDUCTION   OF  CANADA.  878 

1666.] 

:>(>.  Quakers  of  Salem*  are  still  fined  by  the  County  Court,  for 
absence  from  public  worship]  as  legally  construed. 

Josiah  and  Daniel  Southwick  and  John   Blevin,  among  them, 

refusing  to  pay  a  line  of  one  pound  a-pieee,  are  ordered  to  he  whip- 
ped. On  August  9,  Nicholas  Upshall,  of  Boston,  says  in  his  will, 
u  I  do  give  for  the  use  of  sueh  servants  of  the  Lord,  as  are  com- 
monly termed  Quakers,  a  lodging  room,  well  furnished,  during 
the  lite  of  my  wife  and  daughter." 

July  I).  I  iovei  nor  Nichols,  of  New  York,  f  writes  to  the  Governor 
and  Council,  lie  states,  that  he  was  informed  the  King  had 
"authorized  and  required"  them  "to  reduce  Canada."  He  says 
that  news  had  reached  him,  that  the  French  from  this  quarter 
were  marching  inconsiderable'  force  towards  Albany,  lie  advises 
that  cavalry  from  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  go  against  them, 
and  believes  that  they  may  be  mostly  destroyed,  and  their  country 
taken. 

In  a  letter:}:  of  Daniel  Gookin,  one  of  the  Assistants,  we  have 
this  passage  :  "  Doctor  Owen  and  some  choice  ones  who  intended 
to  come  with  him  in  Mr.  Pierce  are  diverted,  and  that  not  from 
hopes  of  better  times  there,  but  from  fears  of  worse  here,  which 
some  new  counsels  there  acting  gave  them  occasion  for,  so  that  in 
all  probability,  a  new  cloud  is  gathering  and  a  storm  preparing 
for  us." 

August  15.  "  Our  private  meeting  §  kept  at  our  house  a  day  of 
humiliation,  to  shew  their  sympathy  with  me,  to  implore  the  Lord 
for  his  poor  people  here,  to  direct  vs  and  our  Rulers,  etc.  And  for 
his  poor  suffering  saints  in  England." 

September  11.  The  General  Court  meet  to  consider  the  King's 
command  for  them  to  send  over  five  persons,  who  may  answer  be- 
fore him  for  the  refusal  to  comply  with  the  injunctions  of  his  Com- 
missioners. They  agree  to  spend  the  forenoon  of  the  next  day  in 
prayer  for  divine  guidance.  They  appoint  a  Committee  to  answer 
the  papers,  dated  the  6th,  and  presented  by  Samuel  Maverick,  one 
of  the  Commissioners. 

12.  The  Court  assemble  with  several  Elders.  Of  these  who 
lead  in  devotional  service  are  Messrs.  Wilson,  Mather,  Symmes, 
Whiting,  Cobbett  and  Mitchel. 

13.  The  Court  convene  ||  with  the  Elders  after  Lecture.  The 
latter  were  invited  by  the  former  so  to  do,  that  they  might  give 
"their  advice  on  weighty  matters  now  in  hand." 

14.  Petitions  from  twenty-six  persons  of  Boston,  thirty-five  of 
Salem,  seventy-three  of  Ipswich,  and  thirty-nine  of  Newbury,  are 
presented.  These  documents  are  alike  in  ideas  and  words.  They 
regret  that  the  Government  have  offended  his  Majesty,  so  that  he 

*  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec.  f  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  407,  8. 

X  Hutch.  3d  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  207.  §  Hull's  Diary.  ||  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


374  OPINIONS  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

[Mass. 

has  charged  them  with  maintaining  that  he  has  no  jurisdiction 
over  the  Colony.  They  contain  the  following  clause :  "  Your 
petitioners  intreat,  that  if  any  occasion  hath  been  given  to  his 
Majesty  so  to  resent  any  former  actings,  as  in  his  last  letter  is  held 
forth,  that  nothing  of  that  nature  be  further  proceeded  in,  but  con- 
trarywise,  that  application  be  made  to  his  Majesty  by  meet  persons, 
immediately  to  be  sent  for  the  end,  to  clear  the  transactions  of  them 
that  govern  the  Colony  from  any  such  construction."  They  earn- 
estly desire,  that  such  caution  may  be  manifested,  so  that  they  may 
not  be  under  the  necessity  of  making  "  their  particular  address  to 
his  Majesty  and  declaration  to  the  world,  to  clear  themselves  from 
the  least  imputation  of  so  scandalous  an  evil,  as  the  appearance  of 
disaffection  or  disloyalty  to  the  person  and  government  of  their 
lawful  prince  and  sovereign  would  be."  They  add,  "Lest  other- 
wise that  which,  if  duly  improved,  might  have  been  as  a  cloud  of 
the  latter  rain,  be  turned  into  that  which,  in  the  conclusion,  may 
be  found  more  terrible  than  the  roaring  of  a  lion." 

A  report  of  the  debate  which  took  place  in  the  Council,*  gives 
the  initials  of  the  speakers,  who  are  supposed  to  be  as  follow. 
These  will  be  mentioned,  with  the  chief  substance  of  their  opinions. 
Bellingham  proposes,  that  some  regular  course  be  pursued  so  that 
the  King's  offense  against  him  or  others,  may  be  brought  to  a  legal 
issue.  Bradstreet  thinks,  that  the  King  has  power  to  command 
their  appearance  before  him.  Dudley  holds,  that  the  royal  in- 
j  unction  is  applicable  in  all  the  English  dominions ;  that  the  gov- 
ernor can  have,  if  he  choose,  a  trial  at  law,  in  England.  Wil- 
loughby  says,  that  the  question  should  be  whether  God's  displeasure 
should  not  be  considered  as  well  as  the  King's ;  the  interest  of  the 
Colonists  and  God's  glory,  as  well  as  his  Majesty's  prerogative ;  if 
the  King  can  demand  their  attendance  in  London  at  any  time,  they 
are  miserable  indeed.  Hathorne  maintains,  that  royal  prerogative 
is  not  above  law.  Stoughton  observes,  that  Corporations  in  Eng- 
land may  lose  their  privileges,  but  not  their  government,  because 

the  national  laws  protect  them.     E remarks,  that  it  is  hard 

for  two  persons,  designated  by  the  King,  to  appear  before  him, 
when  no  definite  charges  are  made  against  them.  Bradstreet  states, 
that  merchants  are  afraid  to  send  their  property  to  England,  unless 
something  be  done.  Dudley  suggests,  that  though  the  authorities 
here  have  a  right  to  execute  their  laws,  the  King  may  accept  com- 
plaints and  require  an  answer  to  them. 

Mr.  Winthrop,  of  Connecticut,  and  Sir  Thomas  Temple,  after 
dinner,  propose  to  the  Governor  and  Magistrates,  that  there  may  be 
a  "joint  consideration,"  as  to  their  respective  Colonies,  of  the  royal 
letters  to  Massachusetts,  concerning  the  invasion  of  Canada.  Tem- 
ple says,  that  if  Nova  Scotia  be  taken  by  the  French,  their  vessels 

*  MS.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


ROYAL  OHDBR  DEOUNSD.  81  i 

loot).] 

will  infest  the  Bay.     He  adds,  Bhould  "Tracy  be  settled  in  Nova 

Scotia,  you  will  tiiul  him  the  worst  neighbour  you  ever  had." 
17.  A  majority  of  the  Court  agree  on  a  letter  to  William  Mor- 

rioe,  the  Bang's  Secretary.*  They  acknowledge  the  royal  kindness 
10  giving  them  information  of  the  war  with  the  French  and  Dutch, 

and  advising  them  to  prepare  for  defense.  They  remark  that  the 
declaration  of  war  against  the  former  nation,  and  sent  over  to  them, 
u  was  solemnly  published  here  by  sound  of  trumpet."  They 
state  that  they  had  advised  with  Sir  Thomas  Temple,  governor  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and  with  Mr.  Winthrop,  governor  of  Connecticut,  as 
to  the  invasion  of  Canada,  proposed  by  the  King,  and  concluded 
their  inability  to  accomplish  such  an  enterprise.  They  assign  the 
reasons  for  this  result  to  be  the  strength  of  the  French  there,  and 
the  dilliculty  of  marching  over  "  rocky  mountains  and  howling 
deserts  about  400  miles."  They  observe  that  they  have  sent  to 
his  Majesty  the  explanations  of  their  course  in  non-compliance 
with  the  mandates  of  the  Commissioners  last  year  ;  that  they  can 
add  nothing  to  the  substance  thereof,  and  that  the  ablest  persons 
whom  they  might  send  to  London  would  be  unable  to  declare 
their  case  more  fully.  This  was  virtually  declining  obedience  to 
the  royal  injunction  for  persons  to  be  sent  from  the  Colony  to 
England,  and  there  answer  the  accusations  made  against  them  by 
the  Commissioners.  The  Court  close  their  communication  by  com- 
mitting their  cause  to  God,  and  desiring  the  King  to  deal  kindly 
with  them. 

Bradstreet  dissented  from  the  letter,  so  far  as  it  did  not  meet 
the  royal  order  for  colonial  messengers  to  appear  and  answer  the 
charges  in  London. 

With  regard  to  the  petitions  of  Boston,  Salem,  Ipswich,  and 
Newbury,  the  Court  take  the  following  action  :  "  Finding  that  the 
petitioners  do  therein  unjustly  charge,  threaten  and  reflect  upon  this 
Court,  to  the  dishonour  of  the  members  thereof,  it  is  ordered  that 
Captain  William  Gerrish  of  Newbury,  Captain  John  Appleton  of 
Ipswich,  Mr.  Edmund  Batter  of  Salem,  and  Captain  Thomas 
Savage,  Mr.  Thomas  Brattle,  Mr.  Habakkuk  Glover,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Dean,  of  Boston,  all  of  them  principal  persons  in  the  said 
petitions,  some  of  them  persons  in  public  trusts,  all,  save  one, 
freemen  of  this  Colony  and  members  of  churches,  be  by  the  Sec- 
retary warned  to  attend  this  Court  in  October  next  to  answer  for 
the  same." 

Aware  of  the  difficulty  and  peril  which  are  involved  with  their 
relations  to  his  Majesty,  the  Court,  as  a  means  of  diminishing  his 
present  and  anticipated  displeasure,  empower  the  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor, Francis  Willoughby,  to  purchase  two  very  large  masts,  on 
board  Capt.   Pierce's  ship,   for  the  royal  navy.     They  order  an 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


370  PRESENT  FOR  THE  KING. 

[Mass. 

immediate  loan  of  £1,000  to  be  negotiated  for  meeting  all  the 
charges,  among  which  are  those  of  getting  the  masts  to  London. 
They  intend  that  if  "  God  please  that  they  arrive  safe  in  England, 
then  to  be  presented  to  his  Majesty  as  a  testimony  of  loyalty  and 
affection  from  the  country."  They  choose  a  committee  to  carry 
the  resolve  into  effect,  and  write  to  the  King  that  it  is  made. 

18.  The  Assistants  order*  that  Thomas  Gould  and  Thomas 
Osborne,  Baptists,  may  be  released  from  prison,  if  paying  their 
fines  and  costs,  as  had  been  decided.  They  add  that  if  they  meet 
publicly  on  the  Sabbath  to  worship,  as.  Baptists,  again,  for  which 
such  sentence  was  passed  on  them,  they  shall  give  bonds  of  £20 
each  to  appear  and  answer  for  schismatical  assembling  together  on 
the  Lord's  day,  and  shall  be  banished  from  the  jurisdiction,  on 
penalty  of  £20  each.  They  also  require  that  the  injunction  of  the 
General  Court,  October,  1665,  against  the  assembling  of  the  Bap- 
tists to  worship,  shall  continue  in  force.  The  Deputies  consent 
to  this  result,  except  the  second  clause,  which  includes  banishment. 
But  they  wish  the  whole  subject  may  lay  over  to  their  next  session. 

19.  Major  Daniel  Dennison  wishes  his  dissent  from  the  Court's 
letter  to  Secretary  Morrice  to  be  entered,  because  he  thinks  it  "  not 
proportionate  to  the  end  desired,  and  he  hopes  intended,  viz., 
due  satisfaction  to  his  Majesty,  and  the  preservation  of  the  peace 
and  liberty  of  this  Colony." 

Some  of  the  Elders  think  f  that  the  two  magistrates  should  obey 
the  royal  order  for  them  to  appear  and  answer  for  the  Colony  in 
London.  Mr.  Mitchel  takes  an  opposite  ground,  "  urging  that  if 
two  might  be  sent  for,  ten  might." 

October  10.  The  General  Court  assemble.  They  set  apart 
November  8  as  Thanksgiving  day,  for  the  continuance  of  their 
civil  and  religious  privileges  ;  for  preservation  from  invasion  by 
the  common  enemy,  and  for  sustenance  through  a  drought. 

They  designate  November  20  for  a  Fast,  because  of  sins,  blast- 
ings, mildew,  drought,  grasshoppers,  caterpillars,  and  small-pox, 
wars  and  pestilence  in  England ;  "  the  low  estate  of  the  true  pro- 
fessors of  Christian  religion  in  all  parts  ;  "  and  to  pray  that  their 
liberties  may  be  continued,  the  country  kept  from  invasion,  and  the 
fleet  lately  sailed  have  a  prosperous  voyage. 

In  addition  to  the  two  great  masts  for  the  King,  the  Court 
appoint  a  Committee  to  purchase  others  and  send  them  to  London, 
accompanied  with  a  suitable  letter  for  him. 

Sir  Henry  Ashurst  and  other  friends  of  the  Colony  in  England, 
are  impowered  to  hire  £1,000  for  the  charges  of  such  a  present. 

12.  A  Committee  of  the  General  Court  agree  on  the  mode+  of 
procedure  with  the  petitioners  from  Boston,  Salem,  Ipswich  and 
Newbury. 

*  MS.  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers,     f  Cobbett's  Letter.  Hutch.  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  232. 
t  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


EXAMINATION  OF   PETITION]  377 

1666.] 

That  the  Court  may  be  pleased  to  call  them  to  their  answer 

Singly,  one  by  one,  and  that  their  answers  be  taken  in  Writing.4 

Questions  to  be  proposed,  it'  they  own  their  hands  to  this  peti- 
tion : 

1.  Who  is  the  party  you  intend,  that  so  irresistibly  carry  on  a 
design  <>t  dangerous  consequence  ( 

%  What  is  that  design  you  intend,  that  is  of  so  dangerous  con- 
sec  [Uence?  * 

o.  When  will  it  be  seasonable  and  ripe  for  you  to  declare  to  the 
world  ( 

4.  What  is  the  reason  that  you  reproach  the  Court  with  dis- 
loyalty \ 

5.  Do  you  judge  it  a  thing  reasonable,  or  consistent  with  our 
political  being,  for  the  Court,  or  any  other  persons,  front  time  to 
time,  to  pass  3,000  miles,  leaving  their  families  and  callings,  upon 
the  complaint  of  discontented  persons,  whose  estates  may  not  be 
able  to  make  satisfaction  ? 

6.  Either  it  is  the  Court,  or  some  other  party,  that  are  carrying 
on  a  dangerous  design ;  and  if  it  be  another  party,  why  have  not 
you,  out  of  conscience,  according  to  your  oath  of  fidelity,  dis- 
covered the  same?     If  it  be  the  Court,  it  shall  be  considered  of. 

7.  Wherein  is  it  that  (in  your  apprehension)  the  Court  vie  with 
our  Prince,  or  divest  him  of  his  sovereignty  ? 

8.  Who  was  the  inditer  or  framer  of  these  petitions,  and  what 
arguments  were  used  to  draw  or  fear  men  to  subscribe  ? 

Further,  it  is  proposed  that  the  Court  may  be  pleased  to  hear 
all  their  answers  before  any  answers  or  sentences  be  declared ;  and 
that  some  meet  person  or  persons  be  deputed  in  behalf  of  the 
Court  to  implead  the  petitioners  ;  and  that,  as  to  so  many  of  them 
as  do  ingenuously  acknowledge  their  error,  the  Court  would  be 
pleased  to  exercise  so  much  moderation  as  the  honor  and  safety  of 
the  Court  and  country  may  admit. 

The  royal  Commissioners,  having  returned  from  the  eastward,  f 
are  charged  by  the  General  Court  with  disturbing  the  public  peace, 
and  are  desired  to  hold  a  conference  with  them  on  the  subject. 
"  No,  not  a  word  need  pass,"  replied  Carr  ;  "  but  remember,  the 
King's  pardon  of  the  late  rebellion  is  conditional,  and  the  authors 
of  the  opposition  among  you  must  expect  the  punishment  awarded 
the  rebels  in  England,  and  you  well  know  their  fate."  Thus 
occurred  another  hindrance  to  intercourse  between  the  King's 
Commissioners  and  the  General  Court. 

24.  Nichols  writes  to  Secretary  Morrice.  +  "  The  copy  of  his 
Majesty's  signification  to  Massachusetts  was  surreptitiously  sent  over 
to  them  by  some  unknown  hand  before  the  original  came  to  Boston. 

*  Hutch.  MS.  vol.  ii.  p.  257.  f  Hutch.  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  228,  9. 

%  Brown's  MS.  Papers. 
48 


378  FRENCH  DESIGNS. 

[Mass. 

The  Massachusetts  Colony  persist,  or  rather  fly  higher,  in  contempt 
of  his  Majesty's  authority.  The  General  Court  have  resolved  to 
send  no  man  out  of  the  Colony  according  to  his  Majesty's  sum- 
mons. Several  considerable  men,  both  of  the  Council  and  Dep- 
uties in  the  General  Court,  have  entered  their  protest  against  the 
resolution  there  taken.  Most  of  the  considerable  merchants  and 
men  of  estates  in  the  country  petitioned  the  General  Court  to 
comply  with  his  Majesty's  commands,  but  they  are  now  to  be 
questioned  before  another  Court  as  seditious  persons.  The  eyes 
and  observations  of  all  the  other  Colonies  are  bent  upon  this 
strange  deportment  of  the  Massachusetts.  His  Majesty  is  wise, 
and  may  easily  chastise  their  undutifulness,  not  by  force  which 
might  frighten  the  innocent  as  well  as  nocent,  but  by  a  temporary 
embargo  upon  their  trade,  till  such  and  such  persons  are  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  justice ;  the  numerous  well-affected  people  in 
that  and  other  Colonies  would  soon  give  up  the  ringleaders,  at  his 
Majesty's  disposal." 

26.  Samuel  Nahorth,*  in  Massachusetts,  writes  to  Secretary  Mor- 
rice,  in  London :  "  The  truth  is,  ye  actings  of  the  late  Commis- 
sioners, putting  spurs  too  hard  to  ye  horse's  side,  before  they  were 
got  into  the  saddle,"  and  the  oppressive  conduct  of  Lord  Willoughby 
at  Barbadoes,  "  have  greatly  alarmed  the  people  here,  making  the 
name  of  a  Commissioner  odious  to  them." 

"  It  is  a  great  pity  that  so  hopeful  a  Plantation  should  be  now 
lost,  through  the  malice  of  those  whose  design  is  to  beget  a  misun- 
derstanding in  his  Majesty  of  his  people.  Their  hope  is  in  God, 
who  hath  the  hearts  of  Kings  in  his  hand.  This  I  clearly  see, 
that  the  body  of  the  people  have  a  higher  esteem  of  their  liberties, 
sacred  and  civil,  than  of  their  lives ;  they  well  know  they  are  such 
twins  as  God  and  not  nature  have  joined  together,  and  are  resolved 
to  bury  their  estates  and  liberties  in  the  same  grave."  If  the  King 
frown  on  Massachusetts,  the  French  will  be  encouraged.  '<  The 
French  King  (as  is  here  reported  by  some  Rochellers)  designing  to 
secure  these  parts  of  America  for  himself."  The  French  came 
from  Canada  last  winter  to  Fort  Albany.  It  is  reported  that  they 
are  building  forts  on  this  side  of  the  great  lake,  above  our  planta- 
tions.    Our  frontier  settlers  are  alarmed  by  such  reports. 

November  3.  Carr,  Maverick  and  Nichols,  of  the  King's  Com- 
missioners, send  a  letter  from  Fort  James  at  New  York,  to  the 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  f  They  express  their  thoughts  as 
follow.  They  supposed  that  the  Court  would  not  fully  comply 
with  his  Majesty's  pleasure.  When,  however,  they  understood 
the  petitions  from  Boston,  Salem,  Ipswich  and  Newbury,  and  the 
character  of  the  petitioners,  they  were  encouraged  to  hope  that  the 
Court  would  satisfy  the  royal  commands.     But,  assured  that  they 

*  Brown's  MS.  Papers,  State  Paper  Office,  London,     f  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  408-10. 


PHRXL0U8  divisions.  379 

MO.] 

bad  concluded  to  send  neither  Governor  Bellingham  nor  Major 
Hathorne,  whom  the  Kim;  commanded  to  appear  before  him,  nor 
two  or  three  other  individuals,  as  the  royal  injunction  required; 
and  thai  they  had  laid  heavy  charges  against  the  petitioners,  they 
declare  themselves,  as  Commissioners,  bound  to  protest,  in  the  name 
of  his  Majesty,  against  such  a  course.  They  Btafe  that  Massachu- 
setts ought  to  have  received  the  letter  of  the  King,  as  authentic, 
and  their  failure  so  to  do  had  blotted  their  "  scutcheon, "  while  the 
other  Colonies  had  acted  differently,  to  their  "joy  and  satisfac- 
tion." They  say  that  his  Majesty  "will  be  justly  displeased"  with 
their  resolution  not  to  comply  with  his  injunction,  and  that  he 
cannot  but  approve  of  the  petitioners  who,  by  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land, should  not  be  molested  for  anything  in  their  petitions.  They 
express  their  concurrence  with  these  documents,  and  earnestly 
solicit  the  Court  to  take  the  whole  matter  into  "  most  serious  con- 
sideration," that  the  King  may  be  honored  by  the  obedience  of  his 
subjects  and  encouraged  to  favor  Massachusetts,  to  which,  as  their 
words  are,  u  we  are  hearty  well-wishers,  and  will  contribute  our 
best  endeavors,  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  when  by  your  submis- 
sion to  his  Majesty,  we  shall  be  encouraged  to  remain." 

13.  Governor  Bellingham*  informs  Secretary  Rawson,  that  he 
received,  on  the  10th,  the  communication  from  Carr,  Maverick  and 
Nichols.  He  desires  the  Secretary  to  inform  Maverick,  that  the 
Court  had  dissolved  and  sent  a  letter  to  Sir  William  Morrice ;  and 
that  when  the  Assistants  come  together,  he  will  lay  the  communi- 
cation of  the  Commissioners  before  them. 

Danforth  relates  that  there  is  perilous  division  among  the  people. 
Some  assert  they  will  send  the  Government  no  money,  because  they 
do  not  obey  the  royal  injunction;  and  others,  that  they  will  also 
refuse,  because  the  present  of  masts  is  sent.  A  proposal  is  made  to 
assess  a  rate  for  the  money.  ■  This,  it  is  feared,  will  raise  a  tumult 
among  those  who  are  dissatisfied  that  the  Governor  and  others 
have  not  been  sent  over  to  his  Majesty.  Some  are  anxious  lest 
what  the  Court  have  done  will  hasten  the  ruin  of  the  Colony,  and 
others,  lest  if  they  do  more,  this  will  necessarily  bring  on  its 
destruction.  The  same  writer  adds :  "  Here  is  man's  weakness 
and  extremity.  What  a  favor  will  it  be,  if  it  may  be  God's  oppor- 
tunity." 

About  this  time,  a  narrative  by  the  royal  Commissioners  had 
been  prepared.  This  paper,  f  while  referring  to  other  parts  of  New 
England  as  well  as  Massachusetts,  shows  that  the  Commissioners 
cherished  strong  feelings  against  the  course  of  this  Colony  with 
regard  to  them.  It  makes  various  statements  as  follow.  On  the 
report  that  his  Majesty  had  sent  over  to  raise  £5,000  a  year  for 
his  own  use,  "  Major  Hawthorne  made  a  seditious  speech  at  the 

*  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  410.  f  MS.  Brown  Papers.     Hutch.  Coll.  p.  412-25. 


380  FREE   COMMONWEALTH. 

[Mas  9. 

head  of  his  company,  and  the  late  Governor  another  at  their  meet- 
ing-house in  Boston,"  without  being  called  to  account.  The  Com- 
missioners were  disappointed  that  the  example  of  submission  to 
the  King's  instructions  by  the  other  Colonies  had  not  "  abated  the 
refractoriness  of  this  Colony."  The  authorities  here  would  allow  no 
appeal  to  the  Commissioners,  and  declared  "  by  sound  of  trumpet, 
that  the  General  Court  was  the  supreme  judicatory."  They  elude 
his  Majesty's  desire  for  the  privilege  of  freemen  to  be  less  re- 
stricted. They  have  enacted,  that  "whoever  is  24  years  old,  a 
housekeeper,  and  brings  a  certificate  of  his  civil  life,  and  another 
of  his  being  orthodox  in 'matters  of  faith,  and  a  third  of  his  paying 
10/.,  besides  head-money,  at  a  single  rate,"  may  apply  to  the 
Court,  and  they  may  vote  whether  he  shall  become  a  freeman. 
The  Commissioners  say  that  they  "  examined  many  townships,  and 
found  that  scarce  three  in  a  hundred  pay  10/.  at  a  single  rate. 
He  that  is  a  church  member,  though  he  be  a  servant  and  pay  not 
2d.,  may  be  a  freeman.  They  will  not  admit  any  who  is  not  a 
member  of  their  church  to  communion,  nor  their  children  to  bap- 
tism. Whoever  keeps  Christmas  day  is  to  pay  five  pounds." 
They  favored  Whalley  and  GofFe,  for  whom  Daniel  Gookin  is 
reported  to  have  brought  over  their  property,  and  to  have  managed 
it  for  their  support.  They  contend,  that  so  long  as  they  comply 
with  their  Charter  in  paying  the  Crown  one-fifth  of  all  the  gold 
and  silver  which  may  be  found  in  their  limits,  this  document 
secures  to  them  the  power  to  "  make  laws  and  execute  them,  and 
that  they  are  not  obliged  to  the  King,  but  by  civility."  "  They 
hope,  by  writing,  to  tire  the  King,  Lord  Chancellor  and  Secretaries 
too.  Seven  years  they  can  easily  spin  out  by  writing,  and  before 
that  time  a  change  may  come,  nay,  some  have  dared  to  say,  who 
knows  what  the  event  of  this  Dutch  war  will  be  ?  This  Colony 
furnished  Cromwell  with  many  instruments  out  of  their  corpora- 
tion and  their  College,  and  those  that  have  retreated  hither  since 
his  Majesty's  happy  return  are  much  respected,  and  many  advanced 
to  be  magistrates."  They  did  solicit  Cromwell,  by  one  Mr.  Wins- 
low,  to  be  declared  a  "  free  State,  and  many  times  in  their  laws 
styling  themselves  this  State,  this  Commonwealth,  and  now  believe 
themselves  to  be  so."  They  say  in  reference  to  Boston,  "  there 
neither  months,  days,  seasons  of  the  year,  churches  nor  inns  are 
known  by  their  English  names."  The  Commissioners  evidently 
speak  of  the  Indian  mission  under  the  influence  of  strong  prejudice. 
They  state  that  our  Rulers  convert  Indians  by  hiring  them  to  come 
and  hear  sermons,  by  teaching  them  not  to  obey  their  heathen 
Sachems,  and  by  appointing  rulers  among  them,  over  tens,  twenties, 
forties,  etc.  "  At  Cambridge,  they  have  a  wooden  college,  and 
in  the  yard  a  Brick  Pile  of  two  Bayes*  for  the  Indians,  where  the 

*  Bay,  space  between  two  beams.     Bailey.     Brown  MS.  Papers. 


COLLEGE  fkakki).  381 

L66&] 

Commissioners  saw  bat  one;  they  say  they  have  three  or  four 
More  at  school,     It  may  be  feared  thai  this  College  may  afford  as 

many  schismatics  to  the  church  and  the  corporation,  as  many 
rebels  to  the  King,  as  formerly  they  have  (lone,  it*  not  timely  : 
vented."  These  representations  of  persona  adverse  to  the  views 
and  wishes  of  our  fathers,  need  many  grains  of  allowance  in  order 
for  them  to  meet  the  explanation,  which  the  latter  could  have 
rightly  given  them.  They  mention  the  petitioners  of  .Boston, 
Salem,  [pswich  and  Newbury  with  approbation,  who  say,  "It  is 
now  with  them  as  it  was  with  the  King's  party  in  Cromwell's 
time,  and  who  are  so  overawed  by  the  faction,  they  cannot  put  it 
down."  They  observe  of  the  Colony,  "  Their  way  of  government  is 
Commonwealth-like  ;  their  way  of  worship  is  rude  and  called  Con- 
gregational ;  they  are  zealous  in  it,  for  they  persecute  all  other 
forms." 

The  supposition  previously  made,  that  a  chief,  though  secret 
purpose  for  which  the  King's  Commissioners  came  to  New  Eng- 
land, was  to  compass  the  long-cherished  object  of  bringing  this 
country  under  subordinate  Governors,  dependent  on  royal  election, 
and  one  general  Governor  over  them,  alike  dependent  for  his 
office,  is  partly  confirmed  by  the  pains  which  the  Commissioners 
took  with  Plymouth  and  Maine,  to  have  them  surrender  their 
choice  of  Governors  to  his  Majesty,  as  contained  in  their  narrative, 
whence  the  preceding  extracts  are  taken. 

21.  Some  of  the  Quakers  in  Salem*  are  still  fined  for  absence 
from  public  worship  of  the  allowed  congregation.  This  year, 
Richard  Gardner,  of  the  same  town,  moved  to  Nantucket.  He 
married  Sarah  Shattock,  about  1652.  She  was  cut  off  from  the 
church,  1662,  for  attaching  herself  to  the  Quaker  Society,  and,  as 
one  of  them,  was  often  prosecuted.  It  is  supposed  that  these  things 
induced  them  to  leave  Salem. 

Here,  a  cage  is  ordered  to  be  built  from  the  proceeds  of  a  wreck. 
In  such  places  of  confinement,  offenders  were  exposed  to  public 
view  on  Lecture  days. 

December  10.  The  Rev.  William  Tompson  of  Braintree,  dies, 
aged  sixty-eight.  His  first  wife,  Abigail,  died  while  he  was  on  his 
mission  to  Virginia.  He  left  another  wife,  Anna,  and  children. 
He  was  concerned  with  Richard  Mather  in  writing  several  books. 
One  of  these  was  published  in  London,  1644,  being  a  reply  to  Mr. 
Charles. Herle's  arguments  against  the  "  Independency  of  Churches." 
The  Magnalia  calls  him  "a  very  powerful  and  successful  preacher." 
The  darkness  which  had  rested  on  his  mind,  for  years,  was  removed 
prior  to  his  decease.     The  epitaph  on  his  grave  stone,  truly  says : 

«  He  was  a  learned,  solid,  sound  divine, 
Whose  name  and  fame  in  both  Englands  did  shine." 

*  MS.  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 


882  INDIAN   GRADUATE. 

[Plym. 

This  year,  Caleb  Cheeschaumuck,*  an  Indian,  who  had  been 
educated  by  the  Missionary  Society  in  England,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  the  year  before,  with  the  hope  that  he  would  preach  the 
gospel  to  his  brethren,  is  called  to  finish  his  probation.  Of  those 
from  among  his  Tribes  who  sought  for  such  an  honor,  he  alone 
succeeded  in  its  attainment.  Thus  was  his  own  expectation,  and 
that  of  many  friends  to  the  cause  of  missions,  suddenly  cut  off. 
The  event  seemed  to  confirm  the  general  impression,  which  must 
have  been  made  on  the  public  mind,  that,  however  much  encour- 
agement had  been  long  given  in  the  direction  of  turning  heathen 
from  their  idolatry  to  the  profession  of  Christianity,  yet,  in  reference 
to  training  up  ministers  of  the  gospel  from  among  them,  the  re- 
peated exertion  had  failed.  So  much  so  was  this  true,  that  we  hear 
of  no  more  endeavors  for  such  an  object  by  the  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed for  the  New  England  mission.  The  deceased  was  son  to 
a  sub-sachem,  Cheschaamog,  of  Holmes's  Hole.  He  left  a  sister, 
Ammapoo,  noted  for  her  piety,  who  married  an  Indian  minister, 
and  died  at  Sanchechantacket,  in  Edgartown. 


PLYMOUTH. 

1664.  March  1.  George  Vaughan,f  of  Marshfield,  is  fined  for 
neglect  of  public  worship.  Robert  Harper,  for  disturbance  of  the 
congregations  at  Barnstable  and  Sandwich,  and  his  language  to 
Messrs.  Walley  and  Wiswal,  is  sentenced  to  be  publicly  whipped. 
William  Maaz,  of  Taunton,  and  Richard  Willis,  are  sentenced  to  sit 
in  the  stocks  on  some  public  occasion,  for  profanity. 

April  23.  A  letter  from  the  King  J  to  the  Governor  and  Council 
of  the  Colony,  is  dated.  It  mentions  that  Commissioners  are  to 
visit  them  and  other  Colonies,  to  ascertain  their  condition  and 
compromise  difficulties  which  may  exist.  It  promises  the  contin- 
uance of  their  political  and  religious  privileges. 

28.  Governor  Prince  writes  §  to  the  Secretary  of  Massachusetts 
about  the  proposition  for  a  session  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Union  at  New  Haven,  to  resist  the  claim  of  Capt.  Scott  to  Long 
Island,  because  the  Colony  of  New  Haven  exercised  jurisdiction 
over  the  east  end  of  said  Island.  He  observes,  "  It  being  a  case 
wherein  the  whole  (Confederation)  may  be  deeply  concerned." 
Scott  was  taken  and  imprisoned,  but  the  difficulty  between  him  and 
New  Haven  was  quashed  by  the  Island's  being  granted  to  the 
Duke  of  York  by  the  King. 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  ii.  p.  31.     E.  Mayhew,  Ind.  Converts.[|f 

f  Plym.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  %  Morton,  217,  8.  $  Hutch.  MS.  Papers. 


AI.AKMIXd    COMET. 

1665.] 

June  s.  The  Genera]  Court  resolve*  to  addreta  hu  Majesfrj 
tin4  confirmation  of  their  Patent;  to  entertain  the  Commissioners 

from    England,    il'  coming   hither,  (i  in  a  civil   manner,  behool'ul   lo 
their  condition  ;  "   to  maintain  their  right  to  their  present  territory; 

and  to  inform  the  Government  at  Rhode  Island  of  this  purpose,  and 

request  them  to  "  reclaime  sueh  as  have  thrust  in  upon  us  neare  to 

Pochasset  or  elsewhere. " 

August  27.  New  Ne(herland  surrenders f  to  the  royal  Commis- 
sioners. One  oi  these,  Nichols,  becoming  Governor  of  the  eaptured 
territory,  has  Thomas  \Y  illet,  sent  from  Plymouth  to  attend  them 
in  the  enterprise,  appointed  Mayor  of  the  capital,  now  called  New 
York,  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  York. 

November.  Morton,  in  his  Memorial,  (212  p.)  mentions  a  re- 
markable comet  as  making  its  appearance  the  17th,  though  other 
authority  gives  it  as  the  8th.  This  luminary  continued  to  be  seen 
here  over  four  months.  His  words  relative  to  it,  follow :  "  This 
was  looked  at  by  the  judicious  and  conscientious  of  the  land,  as  u 
speaking  Providence  against  unthankfulness  and  licentiousness  in 
drinking  and  fashions  in  apparel."  It,  "  with  other  particulars, 
occasioned  the  observation  of  some  days  in  a  way  of  humiliation 
before  the  Lord,  somewhat  more  frequently  than  ordinary." 

1665.  February  7.  On  the  request*  of  Richard  Bourne,  that 
the  Indians  instructed  by  him  may  be  under  orderly  government, 
the  Court  appoint  selectmen  from  among  them,  who  are  to  advise 
with  Mr.  Bourne.  He  was  allowed  last  year  £30  salary  out  of  the 
mission  funds. 

18.  James  Keith  is  ordained  §  over  the  church  at  Bridgewater. 
They  had  been  there  about  twelve  years.  The  record  of  his 
ordination  calls  him  "  a  student  of  divinity,  having  some  competent 
time  improved  his  gifts  among  them  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  having  also  due  approbation  by  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Elders 
of  other  churches  of  Christ  to  whom  he  was  known."  He  was  a 
native  of  Scotland,  had  his  education  at  Aberdeen,  arrived  at 
Boston  about  1G62,  and  was  recommended  to  his  charge  by  In- 
crease Mather,  whom  he  ever  regarded  as  his  good  friend  and 
patron.  His  people  allow  him  twelve  acres  of  land  and  a  house, 
a  right  in  the  township,  being  one  fifty-sixth  part  of  it,  and  £40  a 
year,  half  of  it  in  money  and  the  other  in  produce.  In  1667,  they 
granted  him  30  cords  of  wood  annually,  "  the  cutters  of  the  wood 
to  have  live  groats  and  the  drawers  seven  groats  a  cord."  In  1681, 
they  added  £10  to  his  salary,  payable  in  corn  and  provisions.  In 
1689,  they  agreed  to  give  him  for  his  wood  every  year,  £10  worth 
of  corn.  His  wife  was  Susannah,  daughter  of  Samuel  Edson. 
She  died  at  an  advanced  age.     He  married,  in  1707,  Mary,  widow 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  216.  X  Plym.  MS.  Rcc. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  496.  §  Mitchell's  Hist,  of  Bridgewater,  p.  43. 


384  CONFEDERATION  SUSPECTED. 

[Plym. 

of  Thomas  Williams,  of  Taunton.  He  died  July  23,  1719,  aged 
76.  He  had  children,  James,  Joseph,  Samuel,  Timothy,  John  and 
Josiah,  and  Margaret  Hunt  and  Mary  Howard.  He  faithfully 
spent  a  long  life  in  the  service  of  his  Redeemer,  and  fell  asleep  to 
awake  in  his  likeness  forever. 

22.  The  Royal  Commissioners  having  reached  Plymouth  on  the 
16th,  propose  the  following*  to  the  General  Court.  That  all 
householders  take  an  oath  of  allegiance,  and  that  justice  be  admin- 
istered in  his  Majesty's  name.  That  all  men  of  competent  estates 
and  civil  deportment,  "  though  of  different  judgments,"  may  be 
admitted  freemen,  and  capable  of  holding  office,  civil  and  military. 
That  all  men  and  women  of  orthodox  opinions,  of  fit  knowledge 
and  lives,  may  be  admitted  to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  have  their  children  baptized.  That  all  laws  and  expressions 
in  laws  "  derogatory  to  his  Majesty,  if  any  such  have  been  made 
in  these  late  troublesome  times,  may  be  repealed." 

The  following,  from  the  Commissioners,  probably  accompanied 
the  preceding  communication.  "  We  desire  that  when  youf  send 
us  your  assent  to  the  third  proposition,  you  would  let  it  and  the 
other  three  be  fairly  written  together,  so  that  they  may  be  pre- 
sented to  his  Majesty.  And  that,  at  the  end  of  them,  you  would 
add  something  to  this  purpose  : — That  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration (when  the  four  Colonies  entered  into  an  offensive  and 
defensive  league)  neither  did  nor  shall  oblige  you  to  refuse  his 
Majesty's  authority,  though  any  one  or  all  the  other  three  should 
do  so ;  not  that  we  have  the  least  imagination  of  your  denying 
your  obedience  to  his  Majesty,  but  that  we  might  stop  some  foul 
mouths  in  America,  and  that  his  Majesty  may  be  the  more  confirmed 
in  his  good  opinion  of  your  loyalty,  who  was  informed  (as  we  are 
told)  that  that  union  was  a  combination  made  by  the  four  Colonies, 
when  they  had  a  design  to  throw  off  their  dependence  on  England 
and  for  that  purpose." 

May  2.  The  General  Court  give  replies  to  the  four  propositions 
of  the  Commissioners,  made  by  them  on  the  22d  of  February.  £  To 
the  first,  we  have  been  accustomed  to  require  that  every  house- 
holder take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  to  administer  justice  in  his 
Majesty's  name.  To  the  second,  we  have  allowed  men  of  com- 
petent estate  and  good  character,  "  though  of  different  judgments" 
from  us,  "  yet  being  otherwise  orthodox,  to  be  freemen  and  to 
choose  or  be  chosen  officers,  both  civil  and  military."  To  the 
third,  we  count  it  a  high  privilege  to  worship  God  as  our  con- 
sciences dictate,  and  should  rejoice  if  all  our  neighbors,  "  of  ortho- 
dox opinions,  competent  estates,  knowledge,  civil  lives  and  not 
scandalous,  would  adjoin  themselves  to  our  societies  according  to 

*  Thacher's  Hist,  of  Plymouth,  p.  120. 

f  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  MS.  Papers,  and  1  s.  vol  v.  p.  192,  3,  of  Coll. 

J  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


IN  ion    FOR   INDEPENDENCE,  885 

1665.] 

the  order  of  the  gospel,  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  sacraments  to 
themselves  and  others;"  but  if  any  of  them,  so  qualified,  differ 
from  us  in  church  government,  and  cannot  obtain  such  a  privilege 
in  churches,  we  would  consent  to  their  formation  into  a  society  of 
their  own,  provided  they  maintain  ''an  able  preaching  ministry  for 
carrying  on  of  public  Sabbath  worship,  and  withdraw  not  from 
paying  their  due  proportion  of  maintenance  to  such  ministers  as 
are  orderly  settled  in  the  places  where  they  live,  until  they  have 
one  of  their  own,  and  that  in  such  places  as  are  capable  of  main- 
taining the  worship  of  God  in  two  distinct  congregations."  We 
are  encouraged  by  the  King's  letter,  and  the  interpretation  of  it  by 
u  your  honours,  that  where  places,  by  reason  of  paucity  and  pov- 
erty, are  uncapable  of  two,  it  is  not  intended  that  such  congrega- 
tions as  are  already  in  being,  should  be  rooted  out,  but  their  liber- 
tics  preserved,  there  being  other  places  to  accommodate  men  of 
different  persuasions  in  societies  by  themselves."  To  the  fourth, 
we  agree  that  if  any  of  our  laws  or  expressions  in  them,  be  deroga- 
tory to  the  King,  they  "  shall  be  repealed,  altered  and  taken  off 
the  file."  The  Court  observe  that  they  have  no  knowledge  that 
the  union  of  the  four  Colonies  was  formed  to  cast  off  their  depend- 
ence on  England. 

June  7.  A  proposition*  having  been  made  by  the  Royal  Com- 
missioners as  to  the  manner  of  choosing  the  Governors  of  the  Col- 
ony and  an  address  to  the  King,  and  "  largely  agitated  by  the  free- 
men of  the  jurisdiction  assembled,"  the  Court  decide  that  these 
"  particulars  be  referred  to  future  consideration."  As  the  Legisla- 
ture feel  themselves  unable  to  send  an  agent  over  to  England  for 
soliciting  his  Majesty  to  confirm  the  bounds  of  their  Patent,  as  set 
by  his  Commissioners,  they  conclude  that  these  gentlemen  "  be 
solicited  to  improve  their  best  interest"  for  such  an  object. 

The  General  Court,f  in  reference  to  the  question  concerning  the 
continuance  of  the  confederation  of  the  United  Colonies,  "  have 
ordered  that  a  loveing,  curteous  letter  be  directed  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts  Colony,  therein  declaring,  that  we  see  not 
light  to  persist  on  therein  ;  and  that  yet  notwithstanding  that  if  upon 
further  information  and  consideration  of  any  return  from  them  or 
otherwise,  we  shall  see  cause  to  send  to  another  meeting  in  refer- 
ence unto  a  more  civil  and  orderly  breaking  off,  that  we  so  do." 

Careful  of  the  moral  as  well  as  religious  character  of  the  Colony, 
the  Legislature  write  to  the  clerk  of  iron  works  at  Taunton,  that 
he  request  the  proprietors  to  have  better  iron  manufactured  there, 
because  great  complaint  was  made  that  it  was  of  an  inferior  qual- 
ity, "  that  so  the  country  be  no  more  wronged  on  that  behalf." 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  502,  3. 

Note. — June  7,  1665.     Philip,  who  is  to  put  influences  in  motion,  threatening  the 
ruin  of  New  England,  had  desired  the- General  Court  of  Plymouth,  that  he  might 
buy  a  horse  in  their  Colony.     They  present  one  to  him,  used  by  the  trumpeter  of  the 
troop,  "  as  judging  it  meeter  than  to  give  him  liberty  to  buy  one." 
49 


386  ORTHODOX  TRUTH. 

[Pltm. 

August  3.  Plymouth*  send  a  letter  to  Massachusetts.  They 
say  in  it :  "  We  find  not  our  reason  seated  in  sufficient  light  to 
continue  Confederation  with  three  Colonies,  as  we  did  with  four." 
This  subject  came  before  the  Commissioners  at  their  next  session. 

October  3.  As  the  King's  Commissioners  requested,  the  Court 
grant  two  hundred  acres  of  land  to  Lieut.  Peregrine  White,  for 
being  "  the  first  of  the  English  born  in  these  parts."  On  June  3, 
1662,  he  with  other  persons,  who  had  their  births  in  an  early 
period  of  the  Colony,  had  a  similar  donation. 

11.  It  is  ordered  by  the  General  Court,  that  persons  who 
stay  without  the  meeting-house  in  time  of  divine  service,  "  mis- 
demeaning  themselves  by  jesting,  sleeping  or  the  like,"  shall  be 
admonished  by  the  constable,  and,  if  this  be  not  effectual,  shall 
be  put  in  the  stocks,  and  in  case  they  are  not  reclaimed  by  such 
punishment,  their  names  shall  be  returned  to  the  Court.  As  it  was 
a  law  that  no  "  liquors  "  should  be  sold  to  Indians,  the  Legislature 
authorize  any  person  to  seize  such  drink  in  the  possession  of  these 
people  and  retain  them,  until  the  matter  is  duly  examined. 

November  19.  George  Shove,  a  native  of  Dorchester,  is  ordained 
at  Taunton,  as  successor  to  Mr.  Street,  who  moved  to  New  Haven, 
August  12,  1664.  He  married  Hopestill  Newman,  July  12,  of 
the  last  year. 

Samuel,  one  of  the  Christian  Indians,  is  admitted  an  inhabitant 
of  Pehoboth. 

1666.  February  6.  Mr.  Samuel  Arnold,f  minister  of  Marsh- 
field,  complained  of  William  Thomas,  on  the  2d  of  December,  for 
charging  him,  in  teaching  the  catechism,  with  horrible  doctrine, 
because  he  said  that  Christ  as  God,  was  equal  to  the  Father,  but  as 
Mediator,  the  Father  was  greater  than  He.  The  Court  disapprove 
of  Mr.  Thomas's  course,  and  advise  him  to  walk  more  soberly  and 
receive  the  truth  in  the  love  thereof.  They  decide  that  Mr.  Arnold 
"  hath  asserted  an  orthodox  truth." 

March  5.  Thomas  Starr  and  Jonathan  Barnes  J  are  each  fined 
40/.,  and  Abraham  Hedge  20/.  for  Mr.  Anthony  Thacher,  because 
of  "  their  abusive  carriage  towards  him  at  his  house." 

April  10.  The  King  writes  §  to  the  Colony  through  Mr.  Mor- 
rice,  a  Secretary  of  State.  He  expresses  his  approbation  of  their 
carriage  towards  his  Commissioners.  In  this  connection  he  men- 
tions "  the  refractoriness"  of  Massachusetts.  He  promises  his  favor 
to  Plymouth. 

13.  The  people  of  Pehoboth  ||  vote,  that  Mr.  Myles  lecture  for 
them  "once  a  fortnight  on  the  week  day,  once  on  the  Sabbath 
day."  They  admit  Mr.  Symmes,  who  had  preached  for  them  sev- 
eral years,  to  be  an  inhabitant  among  them. 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.       f  Ibid.       t  Ibid.       §  Hutch.  Hist.  3  ed.  vol.  1,  p.  365,  6. 
||  Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  212,  6. 


FORMATION  OP  an   Indian  CHURCH.  387 

ieea] 

May  23.   The  same  town  agree  "  that  a  third  man  alone  for  the 

work  of  the  ministry  should  be  forthwith  looked  for,  Mid  such  an 
one  as  may  preach  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  whole,  if  it  be  the  will 
ot  God  for  the  settling  oi  peace  amongst  us,  according  as  the  former 
and  renewed  Council  sent  us  from  our  honored  Governor  and  As- 
sistants." "  Richard  Bullock  declared  his  protest  against  this  act, 
as  judging  it  the  sole  work  of  the  church." 

Mr.  Mvlrs  is  admitted  an  inhabitant  of  Rehoboth.  The  diffi- 
culty, signified  by  the  above  record,  was  very  probably,  in  part  or 
altogether,  owing  to  the  preference  of  some  for  Myles,  a  Baptist, 
and  of  others  for  Symmes,  a  Pedobaptist. 

June  5.  As  a  majority  of  the  military  company*  at  Scituate, 
contrary  to  the  protest  of  "  many  sober  and  discreet  persons  " 
among  them,  had  elected  James  Cudworth  as  their  commander, 
who  had  been  disfranchised  as  a  supporter  of  the  Quakers  and  a 
writer  against  the  rulers,  these  nullify  such  a  choice,  and  appoint 
Serjeant  John  Damman  to  take  charge  of  the  soldiers.  At  the 
same  time,  the  Court  observe  to  this  body  :  "  We  do  expect  that 
you  do  peaceably  and  readily  attend  the  same  until  wre  may  other- 
wise provide  for  you." 

7.  The  selectmen  f  of  towns  are  required  to  notice  all  persons 
who  come  to  dwell  amons:  them  without  leave  from  the  Governor 
and  two  assistants,  and  advise  them  to  obtain  such  permission.  If 
those  who  are  so  advised  refuse  compliance,  they  are  to  be  prose- 
cuted and  tried  for  their  offense. 

The  Court,  perceiving  great  neglect  of  public  worship,  order 
the  selectmen  to  call  individuals  thus  delinquent  to  an  account, 
and,  if  not  satisfied,  to  return  their  names  to  them. 

July.  About  the  middle  of  this  month,  J  the  following  persons 
meet  at  Mashippaug  or  Marshpee :  Thomas  Prince,  the  Governor, 
Thomas  Southworth,  Thomas  Cushman,  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Eliot, 
Sen.,  John  Eliot,  Jr.,  Samuel  Arnold,  John  Holmes,  William 
Brimsmead.  They  come  together  at  the  desire  of  Richard  Bourne, 
minister  of  Sandwich.  He  washed  for  them  to  examine  some  of 
the  Indians,  whom  he  had  taught  under  the  direction  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  England,  with  reference  to  their  union  in  church 
fellowship.  The  result  of  their  examination  was,  that  a  written 
account  of  their  discourse  with  the  Indian  candidates  should  be 
laid  before  the  adjacent  churches ;  and,  if  these  did  not  object, 
such  candidates  may  become  a  church.  Morton  remarks  that  he 
"  notices  these  passages  in  regard  that  they  are  the  first  fruits  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  New  Plymouth,  that  have  come  on  to  so  good  per- 
fection in  this  kind." 

October  31.  As  William  Nicarson,  sen.,  of  Mannamoiett,  §  had, 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Ibid.     Plymouth  Laws,  p.  150. 

%  Morton's  Memorial,  1721  ed.  p.. 224,  5.     Mather's  Mag.  b.  iii.  p.  199. 
§  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


388  ROYAL  CHOICE   OF  GOVERNOR. 

[Plym. 

in  a  letter  to  Richard  Nichols,  Governor  of  New  York,  "  scandal- 
ously reproached  the  Court  of  New  Plymouth,  and  the  freemen  of 
this  jurisdiction,"  the  Legislature  order  Nicarson  to  give  bonds  for 
his  appearance  to  answer  for  such  an  offense,  and  also  that  his  sons- 
in-law,  Robert  Eldred,  Nathaniel  Couell,  and  Trustrum  Hedges, 
who  were  privy  to  his  conduct  in  this  concern,  and  consented  to  it, 
should  become  similarly  obligated.  This  matter  was  up  at  several 
sessions  of  the  Legislature,  who  felt  themselves  obligated  to  notice 
it,  though  they  were  desirous  to  handle  it  leniently.  At  last,  on 
October  30,  1667,  for  the  letter  mentioned  of  April  2,  1666,  and 
another  of  February  23,  1667,  to  Nichols  from  Nicarson,  they 
fine  the  latter  £10,  and  Eldred  and  Couell  each,  £5  as  his  abettors. 
The  Court  remark  that  they  might  justly  amerce  them  in  a  greater 
sum,  but  for  their  apparent  regret,  and  Colonel  Nichols's  interces- 
sion for  them,  they  set  the  amount  very  low. 

November.  Near  this  time,  the  narrative  by  the  royal  Commis- 
sioners gives  the  following  facts  relative  to  Plymouth.  These 
Commissioners  proposed  to  the  General  Court  that  they  would  get 
them  a  charter,  free  of  charge,  if  they  would  allow  the  King  to 
choose  a  governor  for  them  every  three  or  five  years,  from  any 
three  candidates  whom  the  Court  may  send  to  him.  But  the 
proposition  being  feared  as  a  lure  to  the  relinquishment  of  Puritan 
privileges,  was  not  accepted. 

While  so  intent  on  destroying  the  liberties  of  any  colony  be- 
longing to  the  confederation  of  New  England,  the  Commissioners 
could  no  more  veraciously  assert  that  they  intended  no  injury,  than 
the  besiegers  of  Troy  could  that  their  purpose  was  harmless,  when 
they  introduced,  as  poetically  represented,  the  wooden  horse,  full 
of  armed  men,  into  that  desolated  city. 

The  narrative  further  relates  :  "  They  are  so  poor  that  they  are 
not  able  to  maintain  scholars  to  their  ministers,  but  are  necessitated 
to  make  use  of  a  gifted  brother  in  some  places." 

December  10.  The  inhabitants*  of  Rehoboth  vote,  "that  Mr. 
Buckley  should  continue  still  amongst  us  till  the  first  of  April 
upon  further  trial,  in  reference  to  the  former  vote  of  August  13, 
1666,  which  is  in  order  to  the  settlement  in  the  ministry,  if  he  be 
approved  of." 

About  this  and  the  two  preceding  years,  Plymouth  Church 
obtained  James  Williams,  an  able  gospel  preacher,  f  and  had  hopes 
at  his  first  coming,  of  his  continuance  with  them ;  but  he  soon  left 
them  and  went  to  England.  Afterwards,  William  Brimsmead 
preached  several  months  for  them,  and  settled  in  Marlborough, 
Massachusetts.  During  the  vacancy  of  ministers,  Elder  Robert 
Cushman,  assisted  by  some  of  the  brethren,  carried  on  the  worship. 


*  Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  213. 

f  Cotton's  Plymouth  Church.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  it.  p.  122. 


CHARTER  TO  THE   DUKE  OF   TORE. 
1664.] 


MA  INK. 

1664.  March  12,    As   a   means  of  disturbing  the  political  and 

ecclesiastical  relations  of  a  large  portion  of  Maine,4  and  bringing 
them  more  under  the  influence  of  Romanism,  James,  the  Duke  of 
York,  a  strenuous  Papist,  receives  a  Charter  from  his  brother, 
Charles  II. ,  which  includes  the  territory  from  St.  Croix  to  Pema- 
quid,  a  tract  granted  to  William  Alexander,  Earl  of  Sterling.  One 
main  object  of  the  policy  which  promoted  such  a  change,  was 
probably  to  diminish  the  Puritan  influence  of  Massachusetts  and 
Plymouth  in  Maine. 

June  11.  The  King  writes  to  the  people  of  Maine,f  claimed  by 
the  heir  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  orders  them  as  follows  : 
"  That  you  forthwith  make  restitution  of  the  said  Province  unto 
him  or  his  Commissioners,  and  deliver  him  or  them  the  peaceable 
possession  thereof."  Thus  the  favorers  of  the  national  church  here, 
have  high  authority  to  revive  its  forms  amongst  themselves  and 
neighbors.  To  see  that  this  change  is  effected,  John  Archdale 
came  with  the  royal  Commissioners,  as  the  agent  for  the  Gorges 
claim.  X 

Joseph  Emerson,  §  who  preached  at  York,  1648,  freeman,  1653, 
perhaps  son  of  Thomas  Emerson,  living  at  Ipswich  in  1639  to 
1660,  is  settled  at  Wells.  Pie  continued  here  to  about  1667.  He 
became  the  first  pastor  of  the  church  at  Mendon,  where  he  re- 
mained till  the  place  was  broken  up  by  Philip's  Indians  in  1675. 
He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Rev.  Edward  Bulkley,  in  1665, 
and  left  three  sons.  From  Mendon  he  went  to  Concord,  and  died 
January  3,  1680.  His  widow  married  Capt.  John  Brown,  of 
Heading.  He  labored  for  souls  in  troublesome  times.  But  it  was 
a  consolation  to  him,  that  the  Arbiter  of  all  rewards  according  to 
faithfulness,  and  not  outward  circumstances. 

1665.  May  3.  The  General  Court ||  of  Massachusetts,  amid  a 
warm  controversy  with  the  royal  Commissioners,  take  thought  for 
Maine,  which  these  agents  and  friends  to  the  claim  of  Gorges,  wish 
to  be  taken  from  their  jurisdiction.  With  a  strong  array  of  author- 
itative power  in  England,  against  their  retention  of  such  territory, 
the  Legislature  still  determine  to  hold  it  until  further  and  sufficient 
order  to  the  contrary.  They  mention  the  distracted  condition  of 
Yorkshire,  declare  their  jurisdiction  over  it,  and  call  on  its  inhab- 
itants to  comply  with  their  obligation  accordingly.     They  require 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  vi.  p.  186,  7. 
f  Dudley's  MS.  Narrative.     Williamson,  vol.  i.  p.  412. 
I  Willis's  Portland,  vol.  i.  p.  100. 

§  Whitney's  County  of  Worcester,  p.  56.  Worcester  Magazine,  vol.  ii.  p.  373. 
Greenleaf  s  Sketches,  p.  20.  ||  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


390  CHARGE  OF  REBELLION. 

[Me. 

the  County  Court  to  proceed,  under  their  authority,  as  usual,  and 
order  that  if  Edward  Rishworth,  the  Recorder,  neglect  to  serve, 
Peter  Ware,  of  York,  take  his  place.  They  intend  to  inform  the 
people  there,  of  the  reason  why  they  had  not  yet  given  up  the  ter- 
ritory claimed  by  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  they  appoint  Ezekiel 
Knight,  of  Wells,  as  a  magistrate. 

June  11.  The  Council  of  the  Bay,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  John 
Archdale  and  others,  in  behalf  of  Ferdinando  Gorges,  for  the  sur- 
render of  Maine,  declare  that  this  Province  is  within  the  patent 
of  Massachusetts,  and  forbid  the  people  there  to  obey  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Gorges. 

12.  A  communication*  bears  the  following  endorsement.  "An 
insolent  letter  from  ye  Massachusetts  to  his  Majestie's  Commis- 
sioners upon  settlement  of  the  Province  of  Maine,  with  a  warrant 
to  the  constable  of  Portsmouth  to  disturb  the  same." 

23.  The  royal  Commissioners  f  having  passed  to  Maine  about  the 
middle  of  this  month,  assemble  the  people  of  Kittery  and  assured 
them  that  it  was  perilous  for  them  to  continue  under  Massachusetts, 
who  were  rebels  and  traitors,  whose  conduct  would  be  soon  laid 
before  the  King,  and  whose  doom  was  easily  foreseen.  They  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  his  Majesty  for  a  new  Government.  This 
received  signers  of  various  characters  and  conditions. 

At  York  they  appoint  J  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  constitute 
them  a  Court  "  to  order  all  the  affairs  of  the  Province  for  the  peace 
and  defense  thereof,  according  to  the  laws  of  England,  till  the 
appointment  of  another  government  by  the  Crown."  Their  order 
for  this  says,  "  In  his  Majesty's  name  we  require  all  the  inhabitants 
of  said  Province,  to  yield  obedience  to  the  said  Justices,  and  forbid 
as  well  the  Commissioners  of  Mr.  Gorges,  as  the  Corporation  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  to  molest  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province, 
till  his  Majesty's  pleasure  be  known." 

July  2.  Carr  orders  Capt.  John  Davis  and  his  Company  to 
appear  armed,  "  Tuesday  morning  next,"  to  prevent  the  session  of 
a  Court,  to  which  two  Assistants  were  coming  from  Boston.  When 
these  persons  reached  Piscataqua,§  and  were  informed  of  such  in- 
tended resistance,  they  proceeded  no  further,  but  returned  home. 

At  a  July  term  of  the  Court  ||  instituted  by  the  King's  Commis- 
sioners, It  is  required  that  every  town  provide  a  pair  of  stocks, 
and  a  cage  and  ducking  stool,  by  the  next  Court.  Of  course,  these 
instruments  of  punishment  were  for  moral  delinquents.  At  the 
November  Court,  Kittery,  York,  Isle  of  Shoals,  Wells,  Cape  Por- 
pus,  Saco,  Black  Point,  Falmouth,  Westcustogo  and  Kennebeck, 
were  fined  each  40/.  for  not  providing  such  instruments.  John 
Jocelyn  is  presented  for  neglect  of  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath. 

*  MS.  at  London  State  Paper  Office.  f  MS.  York  Rec. 

X  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Williamson,  vol.  i.  p.  416,  7. 

§  Williamson,  vol.  ii.  p.  217.  ||  Willis's  Portland,  vol.  i.  p.  117,  8. 


GOVERNMENT  OP  THE   uw    PREFERRED.  891 

M8&] 

August  1.  George  Cleayea  and  twenty-one  more  signed  ■  peti- 
tion* to  the  King.     They  were  of  Lygonia,  and  opposed  to  the 

Government  instituted  by  the  royal  Commissioners  and  Archdale, 
the  agent  of  ( iorgi 

In  assigning  reasons  why  they  preferred  to  be  under  Massachu- 
setts, they  use  the  subsequent  language:  "Against  whom  we  have 
nothing  to  say,  but  have  by  good  experience  found  that  expression 
of  your  Majesty  verified  concerning  them,  that  whereas  they  have 
exceeded  others  in  piety  and  sobriety,  so  God  hath  blessed  them 
above  others,  so  we  having  had  piety  so  countenanced,  and  justice 
so  well  executed,  that  we  have  found  God's  blessing  in  our  lawful 
callings  and  endeavors  more  in  one  year,  than  in  several  before  or 
since  our  late  troubles." 

The  people  of  Maine,  thus  required  by  three  different  and  con- 
flicting parties  to  comply  with  their  authority,  must  have  been  in  a 
very  unsettled  and  perplexed  situation. 

After  spending  more  than  two  months  f  in  Maine,  chiefly  at 
York,  Scarborough  and  Falmouth,  to  bring  the  Province  under 
their  influence,  the  King's  Commissioners  depart  for  Sagadahock, 
which  had  been  granted  to  the  Duke  of  York.  Though  Nichols, 
of  New  York,  was  the  Duke's  Deputy,  yet  they  order  affairs  as 
they  please,  probably  with  his  consent. 

September  5.  They  open  a  Court.  They  have  the  territory 
made  a  County  by  the  name  of  Cornwall.  They  summon  the  in- 
habitants to  appear  and  submit  to  his  Majesty.  Part  of  them  did, 
and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

October  10.  On  their  way  J  to  hold  a  session  of  the  Yorkshire 
Court,  Messrs.  Danforth,  Lusher  and  Leverett,  are  stopped  at 
Piscataqua,  by  a  severe  letter  from  Carr,  who  peremptorily  com- 
manded them  to  desist  and  go  back.  They  concluded  that  it  would 
not  be  best  to  contend,  and  they  therefore  returned.  The  Commis- 
sioners soon  after  went  to  the  Bay,  and  were  called  to  an  account 
there  by  the  authorities,  but  they  refused  to  comply. 

1666.  April  10.  The  King,  in  his  letter  §  to  Massachusetts, 
says  "  his  further  command  is  that  there  may  be  no  alterations  with 
reference  to  the  government  of  the  province  of  Maine,  till  his 
Majesty  hath  heard  what  is  alledged  on  all  sides,  but  that  the  same 
continue  as  his  Majesty's  Commissioners  have  left  the  same,  until 
his  Majesty  shall  further  determine." 

July  26.  A  Court  at  Casco||  make  the  following  orders,  to  be 
executed  within  this  town.  The  selectmen  and  constable  are 
required  to  have  an  oversight  of  children  and  servants,  and,  if 
disobedient  to  their  parents,  master  or  overseers,  to  correct  them  as 
they  shall  deem  best.      George  Munjoy  is  authorized  to  marry 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  396,  8.  f  Sullivan.     Williamson,  vol.  i.  p.  420. 

X  Williamson,  vol.  i.  p.  426.  §  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  466,  7. 

||  Willis's  Portland,  part  i.  p.  118,  9. 


392  IMPRISONMENT   OF  MR.   JORDAN. 

[N.  H. 

persons  ;  to  see  that  all  weights  and  measures  agree  with  the 
Winchester  standard  ;  and  if  found  false,  to  have  them  destroyed. 

The  Court  enact  that  the  laws  against  swearers,  drinkers,  and 
Sabbath-breakers  of  the  Province,  including  such  as  fail  to  attend 
public  worship,  shall  be  enforced,  and  also  the  prohibition  of  selling 
liquors  to  the  Indians,  shall  be  carried  into  effect.  They  decide 
that  the  last  Thursday  of  July  "  shall  be  set  apart  by  all  the  in- 
habitants residing  within  the  Province,  to  humble  and  afflict  their 
souls  before  the  Lord." 

November.  About  this  time  a  copy  of  the  narrative*  by  the 
King's  Commissioners  gives  several  particulars.  It  relates  that 
Mr.  Jordan,  as  previously  stated,  had  been  imprisoned  and  severely 
used  by  the  authorities  of  the  Bay  for  baptizing  children  in  the 
Episcopal  form.  The  Commissioners  took  the  people  from  Massa- 
chusetts and  placed  them  under  the  protection  of  the  Crown. 
"  The  inhabitants  afterwards  petitioned  his  Majesty  that  they  might 
always  continue  under  his  immediate  government,  and  that  Sir 
Robert  Carr  might  continue  their  governor,  which  petition  was  lost 
at  sea." 

The  part  acted  by  the  Commissioners  demonstrated  that  the 
most  which  they  wanted  was  power  to  have  entirely  nullified  the 
authority  of  Massachusetts. 

Seth  Fletcher  is  employed  by  Biddefordf  for  their  minister. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  continued  to  preach  for  them  until  1675, 
when  they  were  forced  to  flee  by  incursions  of  Indians.  One  who 
subscribed  himself  S.  Fletcher,  wrote  to  Increase  Mather,  March 
£5,  1681,  from  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.  The  subject  of  this  notice 
preached  at  "Wells,  1656,  and  was  invited  by  his  friends  to  con- 
tinue there,  1661,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  son  to  William 
Fletcher,  of  Saco  or  Biddeford.  He  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
Major  Bryan  Pendleton,  and  left  an  only  son  Pendleton.  Where 
or  when  he  finished  his  career  of  vicissitudes,  it  is  all  well  with 
him  if  he  continued  steadfast  in  the  faith  and  service  of  Christ. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

1664.  The  comparatively  few  persons  of  New  Hampshire,  who 
wished  to  be  free  from  the  Jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  have  in- 
creasing confidence  after  the  arrival  of  the  King's  Commissioners, 
that  they  shall  be  gratified.  They  want  a  change  not  so  much 
from  principle  as  from  a  desire  for  novelty. 

July  23.  Two  of  these  Commissioners,  J  Cartwright  and  Nichols, 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  412-25.  f  See  this  vol.  p.  173,  249,  50.     Mather 

papers.     Biddeford  Rec.     Greenleaf  s  Sketches,  p.  53.         J  Hutch.  3  ed.  vol.  i. 
p.  211. 


COUNTERACTION   OP  COMMI88IONER8.  3(J3 

ltk  J'j.J 

being  arrived  at  Boston,  the  other  two,  Carr  and  Maverick,  arrived 
about  the  same  date  at   Piscataqua.     "\\ '  1 1  i  1 1 -  here,  the  speech  and 

action  of  the  last  individual,  were  Mich  as  to  produce  a  general  fear 

that  he  and  his  associates  had  come  to  do  their  own  will,  more  than 
to  conform  with  the  laws  of  the  land. 

1665.  June.  After  their  rupture  with  the  authorities  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  royal  Commissioners  went  Eastward.  On  their  way 
thither  they  stopped  at  the  sea-ports,  and  consulted  with  the  inhabi- 
tants who  sympathized  with  them.  In  this  Colony,*  they  took  the 
testimony  of  John  Wheelwright  and  Henry  Jocelyn  about  its  former 
boundaries. 

Maverick,  writing  from  Portsmouth  to  Col.  Nichols,  uses  the 
following  language  :f  "  We  summoned  the  inhabitants  of  Dover, 
Exeter  and  other  towns,  to  attend  us  at  this  place  to  hear  his 
Majesty's  letter  read,  and  although  they  were  commanded  by  the 
Massachusetts  not  to  give  any  obedience  to  our  summons,  and  also 
forbid  by  such  officers  as  they  sent  hither,  not  to  appear,  at  their 
peril,  yet  the  people  came  in  generally  from  all  parts  and  showed 
us  great  respect." 

Eliakim  Wardwell,  of  Hampton,*  for  adherence  to  his  practice, 
as  a  Quaker,  is  whipped  fifteen  stripes.  His  neighbors,  John 
Hussey  and  wife  Rebecca,  a  young  couple,  were  fined  for  refusal 
to  attend  public  worship. 

October  10.  Carr,  one  of  the  royal  Commissioners,  §  writes  from 
Kittery  to  John  Leverett,  and  desires  that  he,  as  one  of  the  Magis- 
trates appointed  to  hold  Courts  here,  would  tease  to  oppose  the 
persons  of  Portsmouth,  Dover  and  Exeter,  who  had  signed  petitions 
to  the  King,  desiring  a  release  from  Massachusetts. 

The  same  Commissioner,  having  had  the  inhabitants  of  Ports- 
mouth assembled,  declares,  in  the  name  of  himself  and  associates, 
that  their  subjection  to  the  Bay  ceases,  whose  jurisdiction,  as  they 
declare,  extends  no  further  than  the  bound-house. 

These  messengers  from  the  throne  then  appoint  justices  of  peace 
and  other  officers,  with  power  to  rule  according  to  their  own  and 
other  laws,  which  harmonize  with  those  of  England,  until  they 
hear  from  the  King. 

John  Leverett  and  others,  ||  who  attended  to  the  judicial  affairs 
of  Xew  Hampshire,  by  the  authority  of  Massachusetts,  report  the 
following  facts.  They  were  ordered  to  repair  to  this  quarter  on 
the  5th  of  October.  They  were  informed  that  a  petition  had  been 
shown  to  the  royal  Commissioners,  from  individuals  of  Portsmouth, 
Dover,  Hampton  and  Exeter,  complaining  against  the  rulers  of  the 
Bay.     They  collected  the  people  of  Dover  on  the  10th,  to  ascertain 


*  Farmer's  Ed.  of  Belknap's  N.  H.  p.  60.  f  Brown's  MS.  Papers. 

X  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  236.  §  Hutchinson's  Coll,  p.  399. 

||  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Farmer's  Ed.  of  Belknap,  p.  60,  1. 
50 


394  CORBET'S   SEDITION. 

[R.I. 

their  feelings  on  this  subject,  who  immediately  protested  against 
the  petition,  and  named  Abraham  Corbet  as  its  principal  circulator. 
When  Leverett  and  others,  at  Portsmouth,  sent  a  warrant  for  the 
apprehension  of  Corbet,  Carr  ordered  them  to  have  it  countermand- 
ed. On  the  9th,  Dover  and  Portsmouth  freemen  addressed  memo- 
rials to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  and  disclaimed  having 
part  or  lot  in  the  Corbet  document.  On  the  10th,  Samuel  Dudley, 
minister  at  Exeter,  deposed  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  any,  who 
belonged  to  this  town,  who  had  signed  such  a  paper. 

11.  The  Bay  Authorities  issue  warrants  for  the  marshals  of 
Dover  and  Portsmouth  to  arrest  Corbet,  charged  with  tumultuous 
and  seditious  practices,  and  bring  him  to  Boston  for  trial. 

Carr,  at  Kittery,  writes  Leverett  and  others,  at  Portsmouth,  from 
Boston,  and  desires  them  not  to  molest  those  of  the  second  town, 
here  named,  and  also  of  Dover  and  Exeter,  who  had  petitioned  the 
King  for  release  from  the  Bay  Jurisdiction. 

1666.  May  23.  The  rulers  of  the  Bay  sentence  Abraham  Cor- 
bet, for  sedition  and  keeping  a  public  house  of  ill  repute,  to  pay 
£25,  including  costs,  to  be  disfranchised  at  their  pleasure,  and 
give  bond  in  £100  for  his  peaceable  behavior.  They  appoint  a 
Committee  to  fortify  Portsmouth. 

November.  A  copy  of  the  narrative  by  the  King's  Commission- 
ers,* gives  the  following:  "Difference  of  opinion  made  a  division 
among  them,  and  a  few,  who  were  for  Congregational  Churches, 
did  petition  for  their  assistance."  This  representation,  though  it 
may  have  been  thought  true  by  its  authors,  did  not  accord  with  the 
real  disposition  of  the  people  described. 


RHODE    ISLAND. 

1664.  March  1.  "Whereas  the  Court f  have  taken  notice  of 
the  great  blessing  of  God  on  the  good  endeavors  of  Capt.  John 
Cranston,  of  Newport,  both  in  physic  and  chirurgery,  to  the  great 
comfort  of  such  as  have  had  occasion  to  improve  his  skill  and  prac- 
tice," they  style  him  Doctor  in  these  two  branches,  and  commission 
him  to  practice  therein  throughout  the  Colony. 

As  John  Smith,  of  Warwick,  had  died  by  March  1,  1664,  Kan- 
dal  Houldon,  of  the  same  town,  is  appointed  to  succeed  him  as  an 
assistant. 

The  General  Court  meet  under  their  new  Charter.  As  Chal- 
mers, in  his  Political  Annals,  J  informs  us,  they  passed  the  folio w- 

*  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  422.  f  R.  I.  Col.  Rec. 

%  A  work  of  the  first  credibility  as  to  its  facts,  so  far  as  based  on  the  MS. 
documents  of  the  Plantation  Office,  in  London,  whence  he  derived  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  above  legislative  transactions. 


!\\   CATHOLICS   EXCEPTED. 
1664.] 

big :  u  That  no  freeman  shall  be  imprisoned  or  deprived  of  Ins 
freehold,  or  condemned,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the 
law  of  the  Colony  ;  that  no  tax.  shall  he  imposed  or  required  of  the 
Colonists,  hut  by  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  ;  that  all  men  of 
competent  estates,  and  of  civil  conversations,  Roman  Catholics  only 
accepted,  shall  be  admitted  freemen,  or  may  choose  or  be  chosen 
colonial  officers.'1  Though  some  writers  have  zealously  endeavored 
to  show  that,  the  clause  excepting  Catholics,  could  not  have  been 
contained  in  the  acts  passed  by  the  Court  at  this  session,  yet  their 
arguments  are  far  from  being  conclusive.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  Chalmers  is  correct.  The  argument,  that  such  an  exception 
cannot  be  found  on  the  Colony  records  shows  conclusively  that  it 
never  could  have  been  there,  is  not  tenable  when  we  look  at  the 
following  facts,  relative  to  these  records.  1649,  March.  A  special 
General  Assembly  was  holden  at  Warwick ;  "  there  is  no  record 
however  of  their  proceeding."  1654,  August.  Ordered,  that  Mr. 
Holliman  and  Mr.  Green,  Jr.,  "  are  to  view  the  general  laws  of  the 
Colony,  and  present  to  the  next  Court  of  Commissioners  what  they 
may  either  find  defective,  or  any  way  jarring,  either  marking  the 
margin  or  writing  out  such,  and  are  to  be  satisfied  for  their  pains." 
1656,  March  17.  As  there  were  transactions  in  Mr.  Coddington 
against  him,  which  "  stood  in  our  book  of  record," — "  this  Court 
not  thinking  it  fit  to  meddle  with  it,  ordered  that  it  should  be  cut 
out  of  our  book,  which  was  (done),  and  then  delivered  to  Mr. 
Coddington."  1664.  The  General  Assembly  order,  that  several  of 
their  former  laws,  "  inconsistent  with  and  contradictory  to  the  form 
of  the  present  government,  be  declared  null  and.  void."  1666, 
October  31.  They  "  order,  that  Mr.  John  Clark  is  deputed  and 
authorized  to  compose  all  the  laws  of  the  Colony  into  a  good  method 
and  form,  leaving  out  what  may  be  superfluous,  and  adding  what 
may  appear  unto  him  necessary,  as  well  for  the  regulation  of  Courts 
as  otherwise."  Chalmers  and  other  English  authorities  charged 
the  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  with  irregularly  laying  aside  such  of 
their  laws  as  they  did  not  like.  The  former  made  this  as  one 
of  the  reasons  why  their  Charter  should  be  taken  from  them  in 
1686.  The  proof,  adduced  against  the  exception,  because  Roger 
Williams  was  opposed  to  it,  is  not  true.  In  his  letter  of  1664,  to 
Endicott,  about  the  trial  of  Clark  at  Boston,  in  1651,  he  says  :  "  I 
am  far  from  glancing  the  least  countenance  on  the  consciences  of 
Papists."  ' 

The  position  that  such  a  restriction  on  Catholics  would  have 
been  opposed  to  the  laws  of  England,  is  a  mistake.  These  laws, 
when  the  Charter  of  Rhode  Island  was  granted,  excluded  Popish 
recusants  from  civil  and  religious  privileges. 

The  printed  digest  of  this  Colony's  laws  in  1719,  1731,  1744 
and  1767,  successively  contained  the  exception,  which  was  formally 


396  JOHN  CLARK'S  RETURN. 

[R.I. 

repealed  at  the  session  of  February,  1783.  That  such  an  article 
could  never  have  passed  the  Legislature  of  Rhode  Island  and  still 
have  been  so  particularly  re-acknowledged  and  repeated  by  them, 
as  a  part  of  their  Commonwealth  jurisprudence,  from  the  year  of 
its  enactment  to  the  peace  of  their  national  Independence,  would  be 
one  of  the  strangest  contradictions  in  human  legislation,  and  so  very 
strange,  that  there  is  no  principle  of  sound  reason  in  denying  that 
the  Popish  exception  was  duly  enacted  and  entitled  to  its  periodical 
acknowledgments  by  the  authorities  and  people  of  the  State,  until 
constitutionally  laid  aside. 

May  4.  Block  Island  is  incorporated,*  and  its  inhabitants  al- 
lowed the  charter  privilege  of  not  being  called  in  question  for  any 
difference  in  religious  opinion,  so  long  as  they  do  not  disturb  the 
civil  peace.  James  Sands  and  Joseph  Kent,  of  this  place,  being 
freemen,  petition  that  others  of  their  townsmen  may  be  alike  con- 
stituted. They  were  asked  if  such  persons  "  were  men  of  peaceable 
and  good  behavior,  and  likely  to  prove  worthy  and  helpful  mem- 
bers in  the  Colony,"  and  they  replied  in  the  affirmative.  "  Where- 
upon they  were  admitted." 

June  7.  Mr.  Clark  returned,!  after  having  served  the  people  of 
the  Island  for  twelve  years  in  England.  Honesty,  faithfulness  and 
ability  characterized  all  the  trusts  which  he  engaged  to  sustain. 

September  7.  Benedict  Arnold  and  William  BrentonJ  invite  the 
King's  Commissioners  to  this  Colony.  They  remark  that  his 
Majesty  had  named  it  Rhode  Island. 

9.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union,  §  in  compliance  with  the 
royal  letter  of  June  20,  1663,  sent  to  the  different  Colonies,  again 
desire  Rhode  Island  to  restrain  their  men,  who  molest  the  inhab- 
itants of  Narraganset  territory,  claimed  by  the  latter  Colony  as  well 
as  the  former.  They  say  such  conduct  "  is  very  dishonorable  to 
God,  and  may  give  advantage  to  the  heathen  and  prove  dangerous 
to  the  peace  of  the  King's  subjects  here." 

October  26.  Each  town  is  ordered  ||  to  have  a  sufficient  pair  of 
stocks,  or  a  cage,  for  the  punishment  of  offenders. 

December  12.  Warwick,  while  writing  about  Mr.  Clark,  having 
recompense  for  obtaining  the  new  Charter,  say  that  he  publicly 
exercised  his  ministry  in  London,  which,  they  doubted  not, 
"brought  him  good  means  for  his  maintenance." 

1665.  February  3.  A  letter  is  directed  from  the  Government  to 
Col.  Nichols.  H  They  speak  gratefully  of  the  King's  favor  towards 
their  people,  and  of  his  enabling  them  to  stand  against  influences, 
in  their  "  civil  and  religious  concernments,"  which  have  troubled 
them  as  proceeding  from  "  neighbour  colonies,  and  particularly 
from  Massachusetts." 


*  Rec.  of  R.  I.        f  Backus'  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  394.        J  Brown's  MS.  Papers. 
§  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  499.  ||  Records  of  R.  I.  U  Ibid. 


SEVENTH  pay   BAPTISTS.  MH 

L665.] 

March  4.  Samuel  Gorton,  John  Wickes,  Randal]  rlolden,  and 
John  Greene,  lay  a  petition  before  the  King's  Commissioners/  in 
behalf  of  themselves  ami  others  of  Warwick.  The  document 
contains  a  relation  o(  grievances,  which  its  authors  believed  they 
had  received  from  Massachusetts.  It  repeats  the  story  which  had 
been  often  told  to  ears  easily  inclined  to  hear  the  Bay  authorities. 
charged  with  persecution  and  refusal  of  appeal  to  the  Crown.  It 
finds  the  Commissioners  by  no  means  averse  to  its  appearance,  and 
requests  them  to  deal  out  justice  and  equity.  The  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  at  their  session  the  next  May,  assign  reasons  to 
these  gentlemen  for  their  treatment  of  the  Gortonists. 

11.  Mrs.  Tacy  Hubbard,  of  Newport,  f  begins  to  profess  the 
principles  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptists,  in  conformity  with  the  views 
of  Mr.  Stephen  Mumford,  who  came  hither  from  London,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  year.  Her  example  was  followed  by  Samuel 
Hubbard,  her  husband,  Roger  Bastar,  Nicholas  Wild  and  wife,  the 
next  month ;  by  William  Hiscox  and  Rachel  Langworthy,  the 
succeeding  year ;  by  John  Solmon  and  wife,  in  1668.  Wild  and 
his  wife  held  their  new  persuasion  but  a  little  while,  and  so  it  was 
with  Solmon  and  his  wife.  The  remaining  five  continued  to 
cherish  it,  though  still  members  of  Mr.  Clark's  church,  but  not 
communicants,  because  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  change  of  the 
four  seceders  from  their  opinion.  Some  of  them  sent  a  letter  of 
Oct.  6,  1665,  to  Seventh-day  Baptists  of  England,  and  more  for- 
warded another  of  July  3,  1669,  to  Bell-Lane  church  of  London. 
They  carried  on  other  similar  correspondence. 

13.  Several  propositions  are  drawn  up  by  the  King's  Commis- 
sioners, intended  for  other  colonies  as  wTell  as  that  of  Rhode  Island. 
One  of  them,  as  to  taking  oaths,  was  of  difficult  practice  writh 
many  of  the  people,  because  it  had  been  common  among  them 
from  the  beginning,  to  make  engagements  only  as  to  official  faith- 
fulness. They  now  agree  that  this  shall  be  required  of  all  Col- 
onial officers,  on  "  the  penalty  of  perjury." 

20.  While  these  Commissioners  are  in  Rhode  Island,  Thomas 
Mumford,  Samuel  WTilbare,  John  Porter,  William  Brenton,  Ben- 
edict Arnold,  and  Samuel  Wilson,  are  professed  Episcopalians. 

April  8.  The  Royal  Commissioners  at  Warwick  grant  protection 
to  John  Porter,  Jr.,  who  had  fled  to  them  after  breaking  from  im- 
prisonment in  Boston,  where  he  was  confined  on  the  charge  of 
grossly  maltreating  his  parents.  By  such  developments  of  the 
manner  in  which  they  intended  to  carry  out  their  instructions,  the 
Commissioners  evidently  showed  that  they  felt  themselves  author- 
ized to  summon  and  try  any  of  the  Colonial  Courts  before  them. 
Thus  they  soon  came  in  serious  collision  with  Massachusetts,  who 
refused  to  allow  such  supremacy  over  them. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Danforth's  MS.  Narrative, 
f  MS.  of  First  Baptist  Church  of  Newport. 


398  EDUCATION  OF  INDIANS. 

[R.I. 

May  3.  The  Governor  and  Company  date  an  address*  to  his 
Majesty.  They  ask  his  protection,  the  continuance  of  their  Char- 
ter, and  that  the  Narragansett  country  may  be  added  to  their  juris- 
diction. They  speak  of  being  oppressed  by  the  adjacent  Colonies, 
and  the  need  of  having  their  boundaries  more  definitely  established. 
They  close  by  saying  that  if  they  can  so  have  his  favor,  they  shall 
be  able  to  serve  him  by  "  protecting  and  directing  the  Indians  here 
living,  instructing  their  children  in  learning  and  civil  education,  as 
also  in  putting  this  Colony  in  a  posture  of  defense,  promoting  of 
trade,  husbandry  and  fishing,  and  governing  ourselves  in  peace  and 
justice." 

They  also  date  an  address  to  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  Lord  High 
Chancellor.  Before  mentioning  their  specific  desires,  they  request 
him  to  accept  a  farm  of  their  territory,  about  one  thousand  acres, 
as  a  token  of  their  gratitude  for  his  past  kindness  in  their  behalf. 
They  then  state,  that  they  send  him  reasons  for  the  addition  of  the 
Narragansett  territory  to  their  soil,  and  having  the  line  fixed  be- 
tween them  and  Plymouth  Colony.  They  further  express  their 
wishes  for  help  to  erect  fortifications,  and  for  aid  from  an  estate  in 
England,  given  to  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among 
the  Indians  here,  to  found  a  school  for  the  education  of  such  na- 
tives in  their  jurisdiction. 

These  documents  were  forwarded  by  Col.  Cartwright,  one  of  the 
Royal  Commissioners,  but  were  taken  with  him  and  all  other  papers 
in  his  hands  by  the  Dutch,  and  were  entirely  lost.  In  September 
of  the  next  year  a  Committee  were  chosen  to  renew  and  forward 
them  to  England. 

Horod  Long  represents,  that  on  the  death  of  her  father,  she  was 
sent  to  London  by  her  mother;  here  she  was  privately  married  to 
John  Hicks,  under  St.  Paul's  church;  soon  after  came  to  New 
England,  when  between  thirteen  and  fourteen  years  old,  lived  two 
and  a  half  years  at  Weymouth,  then  came  to  Ehode  Island  and 
lived  about  twenty  years  at  Newport,  "  till  I  came  to  Pettecomscott." 
Soon  after  this,  her  husband  left  her.  The  authorities  ordered  the 
property  of  her  mother  to  remain  with  her,  but  he  carried  off  the 
most  of  it  to  the  Dutch.  Her  mother  and  brother  are  dead,  and 
she  has  no  friends,  and  is  poor.  She  and  George  Gardner  went 
before  Robert  Stanton  and  his  wife,  and  stated  to  them,  that  they 
took  each  other  as  man  and  wife,  but  were  never  married  in  the 
usual  manner.  The  Assembly  fine  Gardner  and  her  £20  each. 
To  prevent  such  loose  matches,  they  confirm  the  law  of  1647,  and 
other  similar  acts. 

On  complaint  of  Margaret  Porter,  that  her  husband,  John  Porter, 
had  left  her  destitute  and  dependent  on  her  children,  and  that  he 
had  property  enough  to  maintain  himself  and  her  comfortably,  the 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  2  s.  vol.  vii.  p.  98,  101-4. 


MMUNICATION   TO   QUAX] 

Assembly  forbid  any  persons  to  purchase  estate  from  him  until  be 

made  fit  provision  for  her  support.     He  wa&  d  on  the 

87th  of  June,  by  the  Assembly,  because  he  had  obeyed  their  order. 

13.  The  Commissioners' propositions  are  Laid  by  the  Governor 
before  the  General  Assembly,  who  act  in  relation  to  them,  as  fol- 
lows: They  express  their  thankfulness  to  the  King  for  such  com- 
munications of  his  pleasure.  They  state  that,  as  their  Charter 
allows  persons  of  i4  tender  consciences  "  to  "  engage,  under  penalty 
of  false  swearing,"  instead  of  taking  an  oath,  such  individuals  shall 
be  allowed  the  same  privilege  in  promising  allegiance  to  the  King. 
They  order,  that  if  any  refuse  to  make  an  engagement  of  this  kind, 
they  shall  not  "vote  for  publick  officers  or  deputies,  or  enjoy  any 
privileges  of  freemen."  They  say,  as  to  the  third  particular,  that 
it  had  been  and  was  a  principle  with  them  "  to  preserve  the  same 
liberty  to  all  persons  within  this  Colony,  forever,  as  to  the  worship 
of  God  therein."  They  state,  as  to  the  fourth,  that  whatever  laws 
had  been  passed,  offensive  to  the  King,  were  made  void.  They 
then  passed  an  act  for  putting  the  Colony  in  a  state  of  defense. 

15.  In  presence  of  the  Assembly,  an  answer  of  the  Koyal  Com- 
missioners, dated  March  13,  to  the  paper  of  William  Coddington, 
dated,  at  Newport  on  the  9th  of  the  same  month,  with  the  five  pro- 
posals of  the  said  Commissioners,  are  communicated  to  Coddington, 
Nicholas  Easton,  and  "  those  concerned,  called  Quakers,"  for 
"  their  consideration  to  mind  and  obey  accordingly." 

26.  A  letter  from  George  Cartwright  in  Boston,*  to  Gorton, 
shows  his  strong  prejudice  against  the  Massachusetts  rulers.  "  These 
gentlemen  of  Boston  would  make  us  believe  that  they  verily  think, 
that  the  King  hath  given  them  so  much  power  in  their  Charter  to 
do  unjustly,  that  he  reserved  none  for  himself  to  call  them  to  an 
account  for  doing  so.  In  short,  they  refuse  to  let  us  hear  com- 
plaints against  them;  so  that,  at  present,  we  can  do  nothing  in 
your  behalf.  But  I  hope  shortly  to  go  for  England,  where,  (if  God 
bless  me  thither,)  I  shall  truly  represent  your  sufferings  and  your 
loyalty." 

This  year,  as  Brinley  informs  us,  the  Government  enact  f  that, 
as  the  Quakers  will  not  bear  arms,  they  shall  be  outlawed  and  their 
estates  seized ;  but  the  people  at  large  would  not  allow  this  to  be 
done. 

Misquamicut  is  bought  of  Indians,  and  a  part  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  Newport  settle  there.  +  It  was  afterwards  called  West- 
erly. Callender  relates  that  among  these  emigrants  was  John 
Crandal,  a  preacher,  and  that  they  subsequently  became  Seventh- 
day  Baptists. 

December.  In  a  transcript  of  their  narrative,  §  the  King's  Com- 

*  Chalmers'  Pol.  Annals,  p.  198,  7.  f  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  v.  p.  219. 

X  Calender's  Discourse,  p.  93,  119.  §  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  413-6. 


400  ELIOT  ADDRESSES   CAHK. 

[R.I. 

missioners  make  the  subsequent  remarks  of  this  Colony.  "  They 
allow  liberty  of  conscience  and  worship  to  all  who  live  civilly." 
They  now  admit  "  all  religions,  even  Quakers  and  Generalists." 
There  is  a  dislike  between  them  and  the  other  Colonies.  "  In  this 
Colony  is  the  greatest  number  of  Indians  who  have  not  been  under 
missionary  instruction.  They  have  not  any  places  set  apart  for  the 
worship  of  God  ;  there  being  so  many  subdivided  sects,  they  can- 
not agree  to  meet  together  in  one  place,  but  according  to  their 
several  judgments,  they  sometimes  associate  in  one  house,  some- 
times in  another." 

One  of  the  Narraganset  princes,  named  Pessicus,  desired  them 
to  petition  King  Charles  that  "  no  strong  liquors  might  be  brought 
into  that  country,  for  he  had  thirty-two  men  who  died  by  drinking 
of  it." 

28.  Cheesechamut,  the  eldest  son  of  Pumham,  agrees*  for  his 
father  and  himself  to  quit  forever  Warwick  Neck  and  "  the  King's 
Province,"  immediately  on  the  receipt  of  £10  more  in  wampum, 
from  Warwick,  in  addition  to  £30  already  received  from  them  in 
like  currency.  This  contract  was  made  at  Smith's  Trading  house. 
But  Pumham  still  considers  himself  and  subjects  hardly  dealt  with, 
and  therefore  delays  to  sanction  his  son's  contract. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1666,  John  Eliot*  addresses  Carr  in 
behalf  of  Pumham.  "  It  is  his  Majesty's  pleasure  to  command  us 
to  deal  well  with  the  poor  Indians,  and  hath  sent  yourselves,  his 
honorable  Commissioners,  to  promote  the  same,  which  I  hope  your 
own  generous  mind  and  disposition  will  incline  you  exemplarily  to 
perform.  Pumham  and  his  people  have  suffered  much  hard  and 
ill  dealings  by  some  English  ;  and  there  hath  been  both  force  and 
fraud  used  towards  them,  to  drive  them  or  deceive  them  out  of 
their  lands.  They  are  in  no  wise  willing  to  part  with  that  little 
which  they  still  hold."  On  the  24th  of  February,  Carr  commands 
Pumham  and  his  people  to  move  within  a  week,  at  his  "  utmost 
peril."  On  the  28th,  Carr  replies  to  Eliot.  He  states  that  he 
and  the  rest  of  the  Commissioners  understand  what  is  due  to  the 
Indians.  ft  I  require  you  to  make  such  improvement  of  this  adver- 
tisement that  his  Majesty  and  his  Commissioners  may  be  no  more 
rendered  obnoxious  to  the  reproach  and  contempt  of  infidels  and 
others  by  your  and  others  interposing  wherein  you  and  they  are 

*  December,  1665.  The  Sachems  of  Narraganset  or  King's  Province  "  did 
thankfully  receive  two  coats  presented  to  them  in  his  Majesty's  name.  In 
acknowledgment  of  their  subjection,  they  are  to  pay  yearly,  upon  the  29th  of 
May,  two  wolf- skins  to  his  Majesty,  and  did  now  send  two  caps  of  peage,  and 
two  clubs  inlaid  with  peage  for  a  present  to  the  King,  and  a  feather  mantle  and 
a  porcupine  bag  for  a  present  to  the  Queen,  which  were  all  taken  by  the 
Dutch."— Brown's  MSS. 

The  Commissioners  say  that  "  this  Colony  has  two  scattered  towns  upon 
Rhode  Island,  two  upon  the  main  land,  and  four  small  villages." — Ibid. 

f  Record  of  R.  I. 


REDUCTION    OP   KASSACH1  BE1  I  3.  M)l 

not  concerned,  as  though  we  were  not  able  to  order  the  Kind's 
affairs  in  these  parts,  without  your  advice  and  direction."  On 
April  9,  Carr  noti  d   Arlington  of  the  transactions  about 

Pumham,  and  that  this  chief  and  his  subjects  had  removed  from 

his  territory.  9 

1666.  March  1.  Roger  Williams  writes  a  long  letter*  to  Carr, 
and  warns  him  that  a  large  number  of  Indians  had  formed  a  con- 
federacy to  assist  Pumham,  and  that  his  person  was  not  sate  among 
them,  lie  Btates  that  Massachusetts  had  consented  that  if  Pumham, 
their  ally,  and  Williams,  could  agree  upon  terms  for  relinquishing 
the  chiefs  territory,  they  would  ratify  them.  He  remarks: 
"  Although  1  know  another  claim  laid  to  this  land,  yet  Pumham, 
being  the  ancient  possessor  of  this  Lordship,  I  humbly  query 
whether  it  be  just  to  dispossess  him,  not  only  without  consent, 
which  fear  may  extort,  but  without  some  satisfying  consideration." 
He  then  says,  ••  Your  honour  will  never  effect  by  force,  a  safe  and 
lasting  conclusion,  until  you  first  have  reduced  the  Massachusetts 
to  the  obedience  of  his  Majesty,  and  then  these  appendants  (towed 
at  their  stern)  will  easily  (and  not  before)  wind  about  also."  "  The 
business  as  circumstanced  will  not  be  effected  without  bloodshed. 
There  be  old  grudges  betwixt  our  men  of  Warwick  and  them." 

'-27.  The  General  Assembly, f  in  view  of  the  "long  agitation 
about  the  engagement,  enacted  May  last,  that  is  thought  too  hard 
on  the  conscience  by  many,  order  and  declare,  that  such  as  are  free 
in  their  consciences  so  to  do,"  may  take  the  engagement  prescribed 
the  May  preceding,  or  if  they  prefer,  the  oath  of  allegiance,  as 
required  in  England.  "  But  if  any  profess  there  are  some  words 
in  either,  which  in  conscience  they  cannot  consent  to  say  or  use," 
and  will  promise,  in  open  Court  or  before  two  magistrates,  accord- 
ing to  a  former  law,  allegiance  and  submission  to  the  King,  and 
to  obey  the  laws  made  by  virtue  of  his  authority,  they  shall  be 
allowed  the  privileges  of  freemen. 

April  10.  The  King  highly  approves  of  the  manner  in  which 
Khode  Island  had  treated  his  Commissioners.  Renewing  his 
opportunity  to  rebuke  the  State,  who,  from  their  requisite  position 
as  the  constant  defenders  of  Charter  liberties,  he  observes  :  %  "  Your 
carriage  seems  to  be  set  off  with  the  more  lustre  by  the  contrary 
deportment  of  the  Colony  of  the  Massachusetts,  as  if  by  their 
refractoriness,  they  had  designed  to  recommend  and  heighten  the 
merits  of  your  compliance  with  our  directions  for  the  peaceable 
and  good  government  of  our  good  subjects  in  those  parts."  How- 
ever his  Majesty  may  have  thought  that  he  was  rendering  just 
applause  to  Khode  Island,  and  these  may  have  judged  that  it  was 
right  for  them  to  welcome  such  favor,  still,  had  not  Massachusetts 
refused  the  Commissioners  the  power  which  they  claimed,  the  civil 

*  Brown's  MSS.  f  R.  I.  State  Papers.  %  Brown's  MSS. 

51 


402  RUIN   OF   MILITARY   EXERCISE. 

[R.I. 

and  religious  privileges  of  all  New  England  would  sooner  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  general  governor  than  they  did,  always  a 
favorite  purpose  with  the  royal  Court. 

May  2.  The  General  Assembly  order,  that  if  William  Blackstone* 
is  further  molested  bv»  some  of  Plymouth  Colony  as  to  his  land, 
and  it  fail  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Rhode  Island,  they  will 
grant  him  legal  justice.  This  subject  was  brought  up  October  29, 
1668. 

August  4.  Mrs.  Ruth  Burdick,  of  Baptists  at  "Westerly,  writes f 
to  her  father,  Samuel  Hubbard,  an  eminent  member  of  the  same 
denomination  at  Newport :  "  My  longing  desire  is  to  hear  from 
you,  how  your  hearts  are  borne  up  above  these  troubles,  which  are 
come  upon  us  and  are  coming  as  we  fear,  for  we  have  the  rumors 
of  war,  and  that  almost  every  day.  Even  now  we  have  heard  from 
your  island  by  some  Indians,  who  declared  unto  us  that  the  French 
have  done  some  mischief  upon  the  coast,  and  we  have  heard  that 
twelve  hundred  Frenchmen  have  joined  with  the  Mohawks  to  clear 
the  land  both  of  English  and  of  Indians.  But  I  trust  in  the  Lord, 
that  he  will  not  suffer  such  a  thing  to  be.  Dear  father  and  mother, 
the  Lord  hath  been  pleased  to  give  us  here  many  sweet  and  com- 
fortable days  of  refreshing,  which  is  great  cause  of  thankfulness, 
and  my  desire  is  that  we  may  highly  prize  it,  and  you  with  us  give 
the  Lord  praise  for  his  benefit." 

September  4.  The  Assembly  order,  i  that  the  Colony  become 
responsible  for  £140  and  interest,  to  Capt.  Richard  Dean,  of  Eng- 
land, which  Rev.  John  Clark  hired  towards  his  expenses,  while  there 
obtaining  the  last  Charter,  and  for  which  his  house  and  land  at 
Newport  had  been  mortgaged,  and  was  liable  to  be  seized  and 
forfeited. 

As  one  indication  that  Quaker  principles  increase,  the  General 
Court  state  that  there  is  so  much  neglect  of  military  affairs,  it  "is 
like  to  be  an  occasion  of  ruin  of  the  military  exercise  throughout 
the  whole  Colony,  if  not  timely  prevented."  They  accordingly 
appoint  men  in  each  town  to  use  the  needed  and  pertinent  authority. 

Governor  William  Brenton  and  Deputy  Gov.  Nicholas  Eaton, 
John  Card  and  John  Clark,  are  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to 
draw  up  an  address  for  the  King.  This  was  done  by  John  Clark. 
It  prayed  that  his  Majesty  would  grant  to  them  his  Province  or 
the  Narragansett  Country,  as  essential  to  their  convenience  and 
prosperity.  It  says,  that  if  he  would  grant  their  request,  they 
should  be  encouraged  to  proceed  in  propagating  plantations  of  that 
w^hich  lieth  waste,  and  "  by  God's  help  and  your  Majesty's  gracious 
favour,  shall  be  able  to  serve  your  Majesty  in  protecting  and  direct- 
ing the  Indians  here  living,  and  instructing  their  children  in  learn- 
ing and  civil  education." 

*  Rec.  of  R.  I.         f  Potter's  Xarragansetts,  p.  117,  8.  +  Rec.  of  R.  I. 


ADDRESS  TO  THE    BAKL  OP  CLARENDON.  \OS 

1664.] 

AnotluT  address  is  prepared,  probably  by  Mr.  Clark,  for  the  Marl 
of  Clarendon.1  It  repeats  the  offer  of  a  farm  containing  one  thousand 
acres  tor  him,  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  to  him.  It  observes  : 
-•  Now  it  so  falls  that  a  present  Beeming  cloud  passing  over  our 
Colony  doth  eclipse  the  splendor  of  our  Charter,  and  render  ns  in 
sort  (incapable  of  disposing  aught,  in  the  far  greater  part  of  his  Royal 
M  st]  'a  grant — and  of  our  absolute  clear  purchase  from  the  In- 
dians. J  nit  believing  there  is  no  intent,  but  that  all  will  be  restored 
to  its  full  and  clear  extent  unto  us,  in  which  we  humbly  implore 
your  Lordship's  favour,  to  be  our  helper  and  protector."  It 
petitions  him  renewedly  to  advance  the  application  of  an  estate, 
bequeathed  in  England  to  evangelize  the  Indians  of  New  England, 
so  that  it  may  be  used  for  such  a  purpose  among  these  natives,  who 
live  within  the  bounds  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantation. 

November  14.  William  Harris  writes  to  Richard  Dean,  of  Eng- 
land, who  had  lent  money  to  Rev.  John  Clark,  while  there  in 
service  for  the  Colony.  He  speaks  very  severely  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams's conduct  towards  him,  and  seems  to  think  himself  right  in 
the  charge. 

This  year,  Thomas  Burnyeate,  a  Quaker  from  England,  visits 
Providence  f  and  holds  a  meeting  there. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1664.  January  7.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  assemble.  J 
They  consider  the  request  of  Connecticut  for  them  to  suspend 
prosecution  of  persons  who  refused  to  pay  taxes,  under  the  plea  of 
having  submitted  to  the  authority  of  the  Colony  who  propose  such 
suspension.  But  the  Court,  believing  that  Connecticut  had  ex- 
tended their  jurisdiction  over  their  limits  more  in  the  power  of  a 
new  charter  than  any  real  claim  of  equity,  decline  to  treat  with 
them.  They  draw  up  a  long  and  intelligent  remonstrance  against 
this  interference. 

March  10.  As  the  royal  instruction  §  for  the  admission  of  free- 
men had  been  thought  by  some  to  lessen  the  requirements  of  Con- 
necticut for  such  a  purpose,  and  thereby  "  trouble  is  like  to  ensue," 
their  Legislature  "  order  that  only  such  as  have  been  or  shall  be 
orderly  admitted,"  shall  exercise  the  privileges  of  freemen  in  the 
choice  of  deputies,  magistrates,  deputy  governors  and  governors. 
The  Court  approve  of  the  course  adopted  by  Windsor,  "  in  seeking 

*  Records  of  R.  I.  etc.  t  Staples'  Providence,  p.  -421. 

J  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  275.  §  Gen.  Ct.  Records. 


404  IMPRISONMENT  OF  JOHN  SCOTT. 

[CONN. 

out  for  a  supply  in  the  ministry,  Mr.  Warham  growing  ancient,  and 
do  order  all  persons  in  the  said  plantation  to  allow  their  proportion 
towards  the  competent  maintenance  of  such  a  supply  in  the  min- 
istry." 

They  issue  an  order  for  the  apprehension  of  John  Scott,  who  had 
claimed  authority  over  the  places  on  Long  Island  which  were 
under  their  government.  They  charge  him  with  sedition  and  gross 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath. 

April  2.  The  Governor  and  Council  at  Hartford,*  "  upon  the 
motion  of  the  townsmen  of  Wickford,"  appoint  men  to  be  com- 
missioners of  Court  for  them  and  their  neighbors,  and  empower 
them  to  elect  other  officers  for  their  own  government.  They  also 
desire  them,  that  they  "  would  be  careful  seasonably  to  provide  an 
able,  orthodox  minister,  to  dispense  the  Word  of  God  to  them,  and 
if  God  please  to  incline  Mr.  Brewster  to  come  amongst  them,  it  is 
desired  he  might  have  all  due  encouragement."  They  order  that 
"  the  officers  of  the  place  respectively  take  due  care  to  suppress  sin 
and  profaneness,  and  encourage  piety  according  to  their  best 
skill." 

23.  A  communication f  from  the  King  is  addressed  to  Connec- 
ticut. It  introduces  his  Commissioners  to  them.  It  says  :  "  We 
need  not  tell  you  how  careful  we  are  of  your  liberties  and  privi- 
leges, whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  which  we  will  not  suffer  to  be 
violated."  It  states  that  the  business  of  these  agents , was  to  settle 
difficulties  among  the  Colonies,  "  and  especially  that  the  natives, 
who  are  willing  to  live  peaceably  with  our  English  subjects,  may 
receive  justice  and  civil  treatment  from  them,  as  may  make  them 
more  in  love  with  their  religion  and  manners." 

28.  By  a  letter  J  from  the  Governor  of  Plymouth,  the  authorities 
of  New  Haven  wished  for  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union  to  inter- 
pose and  assist  them  to  recover  the  jurisdiction  of  the  east  end  of 
Long  Island,  which  had  been  seized  by  John  Scott.  This  person 
was  imprisoned  by  order  of  New  Haven,  but  the  controversy  be- 
tween him  and  them  was  soon  closed  by  the  Island's  being  included 
in  the  grant  to  the  Duke  of  York. 

Clarendon,  in  a  letter  §  to  Governor  Winthrop,  recommends  that 
the  royal  Commissioners  be  assisted  in  examining  the  various  ques- 
tions which  may  come  before  them  from  the  several  Colonies. 

May  6.  The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Hamilton  petition  ||  the  King 
for  the  restoration  of  territory  granted  to  his  father,  Marquis  Ham- 
ilton, eleventh  year  of  Charles  L,  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Con- 
necticut river,  and  called  the  County  of  New  Cambridge.  This 
document  is  referred  to  the  royal  Commissioners  for  New  England. 

12.    The  Legislature  of  Connecticut  claim  H  Long  Island  as 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.       f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  556,  7.       J  Hutch.  Papers,  p.  384,  5. 
£  Hinman's  Antiquities,  p.  51,  2.     ||  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  557.     If  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


M.W    ll.W  IN    ADVISED.  t()."> 

1684.] 

included  in  their  Charter.     They  appoint  ■  committee  to  pn 
thither  and  M  Bettle  matters  that  the  people  may  be  civilly,  peace- 
ably and    religiously  governed,  so  as   they  may  win   the   heathen  to 

knowledge  of  our   Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  by  their 

sober  and  religious   conversation." 

IS.  Joseph  Eliot,  o{  Guilford,  dates  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Ben- 
i  imiu  Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  as  an  answer  to  the  question,  "  1  Low  to  live 
in  this  world  so  as  to  live  in  heaven."  Among  his  remarks  is  this  : 
"  I  have  lived  to  see  a  need  of  everything  God  gives  me,  and  to 
need  nothing  that  he  denies  me.  As  to  the  state  of  the  times,  it 
i-  very  gloomy  and  tempestuous." 

The  writer  of  this  was  son  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians.  He 
was  born  December  £0,  16o8,  and  graduated  at  Harvard,  lOOcS. 
He  was  called  from  Northampton*  to  succeed  Mr.  Mather,  whose 
health  had  failed,  December  23,  1662,  at  Guilford.  The  Society 
here  agreed  to  grant  him  a  settlement  of  £80,  and  pay  him  a 
salary  of  £60,  and  build  him  a  house. 

The  Legislature  f  of  Massachusetts  earnestly  advise  New  Haven, 
as  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union  had,  to  settle  their  difficulties 
with  Connecticut,  and  be  united  with  them  under  one  government. 
This  advice  was  probably  given  as  a  means  of  strengthening  the 
Colonial  Confederation,  so.  that  it  could  better  stand  the  expected 
influences  and  movements  of  the  royal  Commissioners,  and  retard 
the  King's  appointment  of  a  general  governor  for  New  England, 
as  they  had  long  feared,  especially  at  particular  periods. 

25.  The  General  Court  of  New  Haven  assemble.  +  They  elect 
the  officers  of  their  government,  but  they  have  no  record  made  of 
the  usual  transactions  on  such  occasions.  An  omission  of  this  kind 
may  have  been  to  have  their  acts  secret,  if  they  passed  any,  as  a 
means  of  not  uselessly  increasing  their  troubles  from  the  deter- 
mined encroachments  of  Connecticut  on  their  soil  and  population, 
or  to  keep  them  unpublished  till  they  ascertain  whether,  as  advised 
by  Massachusetts,  it  would  be  better  for  them  to  unite  with  Con- 
necticut. 

September  13.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  §  of  the 
Union,  those  of  Connecticut  object  to  the  allowance  of  those  from 
New  Haven,  as  a  distinct  Colony,  but  those  of  Massachusetts  and 
Plymouth  see  no  sufficient  ground  for  such  an  objection.  The 
Commissioners  of  Connecticut  are  empowered  to  agree  with  John 
Maynor  "about  teaching  the  Indians  in  those  parts  to  read,  and 
especially  the  Pequots." 

25.  John  Winthrop  writes  to  Mr.  Boyle.  j|  He  states  that  he 
had  seen  Dr.  Sackville  at  "  Gravesant,"  on  the  west  end  of  Long 

*  D wight* s  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  345.  t  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

J  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  277.  §  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  500. 

||  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  145-7. 


406  CONNECTICUT'S  REQUISITION. 

[Conn. 

Island,  recommended  to  him,  for  a  short  time,  when  he  went  to 
witness  the  surrender  of  Manhatoes  and  the  fort  to  his  Majesty. 
On  his  return,  he  intended  to  meet  with  the  Commissioners  at 
Hartford,  but  was  taken  sick  with  a  fever  at  New  Haven,  and 
could  not  proceed.  He  was  informed  that  Mr.  Boyle  had  asked 
them  to  inform  him  "  how  a  great  stock  might  be  employed  for 
the  furthering  that  good  work  among  the  Indians."  He  requests 
"  that  your  honor  would  please  to  cause  that  paper  which  I  left 
with  the  corporation  in  England  to  be  reviewed.  I  suppose 
it  doth  give  an  hint  of  a  foundation  of  an  useful  employ  of  a 
large  stock,  even  to  those  good  ends,  the  corporation  principally 
aim  at." 

October  13.  At  their  session*  under  this  date,  the  Legislature  of 
Connecticut,  to  propitiate  the  royal  Commissioners,  grant  them  five 
hundred  bushels  of  corn. 

They  designate  a  committee  to  go  and  require  the  inhabitants  of 
New  Haven,  Milford,  Branford,  Guilford,  and  Stamford  to  come 
under  their  jurisdiction,  and  admit  all,  in  these  towns,  legally  qual- 
ified as  freemen,  who  desire  the  privilege.  Such  a  step  was  more 
congenial  with  the  feelings  of  leading  men  in  Connecticut  than 
with  those  of  such  in  New  Haven,  because  the  former  had  ad- 
mitted persons  to  be  freemen  without  being  church  members,  even 
before  the  royal  letter,  which  commanded  it,  while  the  latter  Col- 
ony, like  Massachusetts,  practiced  in  the  opposite  direction.  The 
Court  also  invest  the  Governor,  Deputy,  and  Council  of  New 
Haven  with  magistratical  power  to  govern  such  towns,  if  they 
will  accept  the  trust ;  and  if  any  of  them  decline,  others  are  to  be 
appointed  in  their  stead.  This  was  a  direct  advance  upon  New 
Haven  Colony  in  its  distinct  independence  of  Connecticut,  and  an 
increase  of  the  former's  dissatisfaction  with  the  disposition  and 
action  of  the  latter  in  so  very  important  a  concern. 

The  Court  informed,  f  that  some  of  the  Colonists  "  are  agrieved 
that  they  are  not  interteined  in  Church  fellowship,  haueing  duely 
considered  the  same,  desireing  that  the  rules  of  Christ  may  be 
attended,  doe  commend  it  to  the  ministers  and  churches  in  this 
Colony  to  consider  whether  it  be  not  their  duty  to  enterteine  all 
such  persons,  whoe  are  of  an  honest  and  godly  conuersation,  haueing 
a  competency  of  knowledg  in  the  principles  of  religion,  and  shall 
desire  to  joyne  with  them  in  Church  fellowship,  by  an  explicitt 
couenant,  and  that  they  haue  their  children  baptized,  and  that  all 
the  children  of  the  church  be  accepted  and  accounted  reall  members 
of  the  church,  and  that  the  church  exercise  a  due  Christian  care 
and  watch  ouer  them ;  and  that  when  they  are  growne  up,  being 
examined  by  the  officer  in  presence  of  the  church,  it  appeares,  in  the 
judgment  of  charity,  they  are  duely  qualifyed  to  perticipate  in  that 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  327. 


>\  NOD'S   DECISION.  101 

great  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  by  theire  being  able  to 
amine  themselues  and  diacerne  the  Lord's  body,  such  persona  be 
admitted  to  full  communion. 

"The   Court    desires  \l   the  seuerall   officers  of  v    respectiue 

churches,  would  be  pleased  to  consider  whether  it  be  not  the  duty 
of  the  Court  to  order  the  churches  to  practice;  according  to  the 
premises,  if  they  doe  not  practice  without  such  an  order.  If  any 
dissent  from  the  contents  ol"  this  writing,  they  are  desired  to  help 

the  Court  with  such  light,  as  is  with  them,  the  next  session  of  this 
Assembly.  The  Court  orders  the  Secretary  to  send  a  copy  of  this 
writing  to  the  seuerall  ministers  and  churches  in  this  Colony." 

Thus  the  Connecticut  authorities  show  their  full  consent  with 
the  decision  of  the  Synod,  as  to  the  half-way  Covenant,  while  those 
of  New  Haven  and  their  churches  are  opposed  to  it,  as  a  dangerous 
innovation. 

The  ministers  and  churches*  who  did  not  fall  in  with  the  Con- 
necticut Legislature  in  this  respect,  were  not  only  called  to  contend 
against  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  but,  also,  to  counteract  the  indi- 
viduals of  their  congregations,  who  favored  the  half-way  covenant. 
Thus  the  introduction  of  this  new  form  among  the  churches  was 
both  difficult  and  slow  in  progress.  Some  of  them  never  suffered  it 
among  their  ordinances.  They  feared  it  would  subvert,  so  far  as 
allowed,  the  very  design  for  which  the  Puritan  churches  were 
founded  in  New  England.  Though  the  churches  of  Connecticut 
so  differed  as  to  the  judgment  of  the  Synod,  still  they  agreed  for  a 
considerable  period,  in  the  carefulness  of  their  discipline.  They 
were  strict  in  the  conditions  of  admitting  members  to  full  com- 
munion. They  permitted  none  to  have  their  children  baptized, 
unless  they  professed  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ,  and  exhibited 
regular  deportment  of  life.  They  made  it  a  rule,  that  when  a  can- 
didate for  the  ministry  was  ordained,  he  should  be  closely  examined 
in  the  three  learned  languages  and  the  doctrines  of  grace ;  in 
their  acquaintance  with  cases  of  conscience  and  ability  to  defend  the 
Christian  religion  against  infidels  and  its  other  opponents,  but  also, 
in  their  heartfelt  experience  of  piety.  Every  preacher,  before  set 
apart  to  the  ministry  over  any  church,  satisfied  the  members  of  it, 
that  he  was  a  true  follower  of  Christ,  and  was  admitted  to  their 
communion  and  fellowship.  Neither  churches  could  be  formed, 
nor  have  ministers  set  over  them,  without  leave  from  the  General 
Court  and  neighboring  ministers  and  churches. 

17.  William  Pitkin,  Michael  Humphrey,  John  Stedman,  James 
Enno,  Robert  Reeve,  John  Moses  and  Jonas  Westover,  Episcopalians, 
petition  f  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  to  pass  a  law  toler- 
ating their  form  of  worship.  They  also  request  that  they  may  be 
free  from  paying  for  the  support  of  any  minister,  who  refuses  to 

*  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  327,  8.  t  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


408  SUBMISSION   OF  NEW  HAVEN. 

[Conn. 

baptize  their  children,  and  take  care  of  them  as  members  of  his 
church. 

November  30.  The  King's  Commissioners  decide*  that  the  towns 
of  Long  Island  which  had  been  under  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Ha- 
ven and  Connecticut,  shall  be  under  the  government  of  the  Duke 
of  York,  though  Connecticut  laid  reasons  before  them  why  it  should 
be  to  the  contrary ;  and  that  the  bounds  of  this  Colony  should  in- 
clude the  Colony  of  New  Haven.  Thus  the  latter  Plantation,  whose 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  polity  accorded  more  with  that  of  the  Bay, 
than  of  Connecticut,  and  was  less  acceptable  to  the  royal  Commis- 
sioners than  that  of  the  last  Colony,  have  the  warrant  issued  for  the 
cessation  of  their  independent  existence.  Such  a  change  was  more 
the  result  of  political  design  than  of  righteous  demand.  It  showed 
that  his  Majesty's  Commissioners  were  ready  to  blot  out  one  Colony 
of  the  Confederation,  though  against  the  earnest  desires  and  solemn 
declarations  of  its  chief  men,  expressed  to  the  authorities  of  Con- 
necticut. 

December  14.  New  Haven,  having  their  lot  so  assigned^  address  f 
a  letter  to  Connecticut.  It  states  that  "  the  generality  of  our  undi- 
vided people  "  met  the  day  before,  and  agreed,  "  if  it  shall  appear  to 
our  Committee,  that  we  are,  by  his  Majesty's  authority,  now  put 
under  Connecticut  Patent,  we  shall  submit,  by  a  necessity  brought 
upon  us,  by  the  means  of  Connecticut  aforesaid ;  but  with  a  salvo 
jure  of  our  former  rights  and  claims,  as  a  people,  who  have  not  yet 
been  heard  in  point  of  plea."  It  says,  that  they  expect  equitable 
treatment,  relative  to  all  their  interests,  under  such  a  new  modifi- 
cation of  their  civil  affairs.  It  adds  :  "  You  thus  performing  to 
satisfaction  and  according  to  profession,  by  a  studious  and  cordial 
endeavour  with  us  to  advance  the  interest  of  Christ  in  this  wilder- 
ness, and  by.  the  Lord's  blessing  thereupon,  love  and  union  be- 
tween us  may  be  greatly  confirmed." 

21.  Connecticut  reply  to  New  Haven,  and  express  their  readiness 
to  act  in  harmony  with  them  for  the  best  good  of  the  whole. 

Lambert,  speaking  of  the  College  at  New  Haven,  observes  :  % 
"  The  convulsions  of  the  times  in  1664,  and  the  want  of  adequate 
support  caused  this  College  to  terminate  in  a  public  grammar 
school,  which  is  yet  preserved,  and  is  now  kept  on  the  corner  of 
Temple  and  Crown  streets." 

Massachusetts  were  not  in  favor  of  establishing  the  Hopkins 
College,  because  they  supposed  that  Harvard  was  sufficient  for  all 
New  England,  and  that  to  encourage  the  former  was  to  break  down 
both.  Hence  the  subject  of  such  an  institution  rested  till  the  for- 
mation of  Yale. 

1665.     January  5.  James  Bishop,  on  a  Committee  of  the  New 

*  Hinman's  Antiquities,  p.  54,  5.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  558,  9. 

f  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  559-61.  +  Lambert's  Hist,  of  N.  Haven,  p.  63. 


NEW  BATON   YIELDS  TO  CONNECTICUT.  409 

Haven  Legislature,  writes*  to  Connecticut,  "having  seen  the  copy 
of   his   Majesty's   Commissioners'   determination,    (deciding   the 

bounds  betwixt  his  highness,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  Connecticut 
charter,)  we  do  declare  submission  thereunto,  according  to  the  true 
intent  of  our  vote."'  Thus  the  union  between  these  two  Colonies 
is  virtually  formed,  though  not  finally  consummated  till  the  General 
Election  in  May.  In  the  mean  while,  the  authorities  of  New 
Haven  continued  to  administer  its  laws.  It  appears  from  Mr. 
Bishop's  remarks,  that  the  Commonwealth  which  he  represented, 
however  thus  consenting,  remained  dissatisfied  with  Connecticut, 
because  they  would  not  make  a  particular  contract,  as  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  their  coming  together.  He  says :  "  We  scope  not  at 
reflections,  but  conviction  and  conscience  satisfaction,  that  so  breth- 
ren in  the  fellowship  of  the  Gospel  might  come  to  a  cordial  and 
regular  closure,  and  so  to  walk  together  in  love  and  peace,  to  advance 
Christ  his  interest  among  them,  which  is  all  our  design.  But  how 
those  high  and  holy  ends  are  like  so  to  be  promoted  between  us, 
without  a  treaty  for  accommodation,  we  have  cause  to  doubt." 

March  19.  The  half-way  covenant f  is  laid  aside  in  the  church 
of  Windsorf  till  21st  of  June,  1668,  when  it  was  revived  under 
Mr.  Chauncy. 

2-3.  As  the  royal  Commissioners  requested  Connecticut  to  show 
cause  why  the  petition  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Hamilton  for 
their  territory,  granted  to  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton  in  1631,  should 
not  be  allowed,  they  comply.  They  state  +  that  such  land,  conveyed 
by  regal  authority  to  Lord  Say  and  others,  of  whom  they  bought  it, 
had  been  lately  confirmed  to  them  by  the  King  ;  that  they  had 
conquered  it  from  savages  intent  on  the  destruction  of  his  subjects, 
and  that  they  have  had  peaceable  possession  of  it  for  thirty  years, 
which  gives  them  a  title.  They  desire  the  Commissioners  to  use 
their  influence  so  that  his  Majesty  will  silence  the  Hamilton  claim, 
and  will  make  New  London  a  free  port  for  seven,  ten,  or  twelve 
years.  They  ask  them  to  represent  to  his  Majesty,  that  they 
readily  acknowledge  "his  abundant  grace  in  re-ratifying  their 
privileges,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical ;  their  compliance  with  his 
pleasure  and  their  Christian  moderation  to  men  of  different  per- 
suasions." 

April  20.  The  General  Court  of  Connecticut  assemble.  The 
royal  Commissioners  lay  four  propositions  §  before  them,  as  they 
had  before  the  other  Legislatures  of  New  England,  which  the  latter 
answer  in  course. 

1.  "  That  all"  householders  inhabiting  this  Colony  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  and  that  the  administration  of  justice  be  in  his  Ma- 
jestie's  name." 

*  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  562,  3.  f  Puritan  Recorder,  April  4,  1850. 

X  Hinman's  Antiquities,  p.  58-62.  §  Ibid.  p.  643.     Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

52 


410      NEW  HAVEN  AND   CONNECTICUT  VOTE  TOGETHER. 

[Conn. 

£.  "  That  all  men  of  competent  estates  and  of  civil  conversation, 
though  of  different  judgments,  may  be  admitted  to  be  freemen,  and 
have  liberty  to  choose  or  to  be  chosen  officers,  both  military  and 
civil."  The  Court  answer,  that  they  conform  with  these  requisi- 
tions. 

o.  "  That  all  persons  of  civil  lives  may  freely  enjoy  the  liberty 
of  their  consciences,  and  the  worship  of  God  in  that  way  which 
they  think  best,  provided  that  this  liberty  tend  not  to  the  disturb- 
ance of  the  public,  nor  to  the  hindrance  of  the  maintenance  of 
ministers  regularly  chosen  in  each  respective  parish  or  township." 

The  Court  reply,*  "  We  know  not  of  any  one,  that  hath  been 
troubled  by  us  for  attending  his  conscience,  provided  he  hath  not 
disturbed  the  public." 

4.  If  any  laws  or  expressions  in  them  be  "  derogatory  to  his 
Majesty,"  let  them  be  repealed.     Answer,  none  such  are  known. 

The  Legislature  "  declare,  that  all  former  actings,  that  have  past 
by  the  former  power  at  New  Haven,  so  far  as  they  have  concerned 
this  Colony,  (while  they  stood  as  a  distinct  Colony,)  though  they  in 
their  own  nature  have  seemed  uncomfortable  to  us,  yet  they  are 
hereby  buried  in  perpetual  oblivion,  never  to  be  called  to  account." 

They  approve  of  the  exertion  made  by  the  people  of  Middletown 
to  form  a  church,  and  desire  them  to  proceed  according  to  the 
Gospel,  and  ask  advice  from  the  adjacent  elders  and  churches. 

May  11.  The  freemen  of  New  Haven  and  Connecticut  meet  in 
Hartford,  f  and  unite  in  giving  their  votes  for  one  governor,  deputy 
and  magistrates.  A  proportionate  number  of  the  last,  belonged  to 
the  late  Colony  of  New  Haven.  All  the  towns  of  the  two  territo- 
ries had  deputies  present. 

Trumbull,  though  considering  the  union  of  the  two  Colonies 
better  for  each,  on  the  whole,  observes,  "After  all,  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  reconcile  some  parts  of  it,  at  least,  with 
their  pre-engagements,  the  rules  of  justice,  and  brotherly  affection." 

A  Committee  are  appointed  to  settle  difficulties  at  the  villages  of 
Hastings  and  Rye,  which  the  Court  constitute  one  Plantation  by 
the  name  of  the  latter.  Messrs.  Sherman  and  John  Allyn  are  de- 
sired to  visit  New  Haven,  Branford,  Guilford  and  Milford,  and 
"administer  the  freeman's  oath  to  all  those  that  were  formerly 
freemen,  or  to  as  many  of  them  as  will  accept  of  it,  and  to  as  many 
others,  as  by  sufficient  evidence  they  judge  qualified  according  to 
law,  and  to  take  the  names  of  such  as  are  sworn  in  a  list  in  each 
town."  Greenwich  is  allowed  to  be  a  township,  "  provided  they 
procure  and  maintain  an  orthodox  minister,"  and  until  they  do  this, 
"  they  are  to  attend  the  ministry  at  Stamford,  and  contribute  pro- 
portionably  with  them  to  the  maintenance  of  the  ministry  there." 

June  24.  John  Davenport,  in  a  letter  to  John  Leverett,  justifies^: 

*  Hinman's  Antiquities,  p.  63,  4.     Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

%  Hutchinson  Coll.  p.  395.     Lambert's  New  Haven,  p.  172,  3. 


LETTER  PROM   CHARLE8   II.  Ill 

ltltHi.j 

the  coarse  pursued  by  Massachusetts  in  relation  to  the  King's  Com- 
missioners.    His  language  shows  that  he  is  still  opposed  to  the 

union,  recently  taken  place.  "  You  see  whither  my  zeal  lor  pre- 
serving Christ's  interest  in  your  parts,  (though  in  New  Haven  Col- 
ony it  i-  miserably  lost,)  hath  carried  me." 

October  L£.  The  Court  agree  to  encourage*  the  settlers  of  Pau- 
gasuck,  afterwards  Derby,  to  be  a  Plantation,  if  a  sufficient  number 
of  them  appear  before  next  October,  and  "engage  to  maintain  an 
orthodox  minister  among  them,  that  they  may  be  in  u  capable  way 
to  enjoy  the  ordinances  of  God,  and  civil  order  amongst  them- 
selves." M  Southertown  is  named  Mistiek  in  memory  of  that 
victory  God  was  pleased  to  give  this  people  of  Connecticut  over 
the  Pequod  Indians." 

Adam  Blackmail,  f  minister  of  Stratford,  died  16135,  at  tne  age  of 
sixty-seven  years.  There  were  persons  of  his  surname,  who  sur- 
vived him,  living  in  the  same  town,  and  seem  to  have  been  his 
descendants.  Cotton  .Mather  remarked  of  him  as  follows :  "  It 
was  his  opinion,  that  as  for  our  bodies,  thus  for  our  spirits  also, 
simple  food  is  the  best.  Accordingly  he  studied  plain  preaching, 
which  was  entertained  by  his  people  with  a  profitable  hearing. 
Our  Hooker,  for  the  sacred  and  solid  simplicity  in  the  discourses 
of  this  worthy  man,  would  say,  If  I  might  have  my  choice,  I  would 
choose  to  live  and  die  under  Mr.  Blackmail's  ministry." 

Israel  Chauncy,J  son  of  the  President,  Harvard  Coll.,  1661,  is 
a  preacher  of  Stratford.  Their  agreement  for  his  salary  was  dated 
December  18,  1666.  On  October  10,  of  the  next  year,  the  Legis- 
lature require  the  inhabitants  to  pay  this  to  him  proportionably  till 
there  be  another  minister  of  the  town.  On  October  7,  1669,  he  is 
named  among  their  Freemen.  On  the  14th,  the  General  Court 
allow  them  to  divide  the  lands  for  the  ministry  so  that  part  may  be 
for  Mr.  Chauncy  and  the  other  for  Mr.  Walker.  He  is  appointed 
minister  of  the  army,  October  14,  1675,  who  are  to  march  under 
Robert  Treat,  and  to  be  a  member  of  the  Council  of  War.  The 
Council  of  the  Colony  dispatch,  March  7,  1676,  a  message  for  him 
to  meet  them  at  Hartford,  and  impress  men,  horses  and  accommo- 
dations, so  that  he  may  quickly  comply  with  their  order.  On  the 
27th,  his  wife  and  child  are  so  dangerously  sick,  that  he  has  leave 
to  return  home.  He  died  March  14,  1703,  aged  59,  highly 
esteemed  as  a  patriot  and  a  Christian.  He  left  two  sons  to  follow 
his  example.  Cotton  Mather  pronounced  him  "  a  rich  blessing  to 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut." 

1666.  February  22.  King  Charles  orders  a  letter  §  to  Connec- 
ticut, with  his  declaration  of  war  against  France.    "  In  former  letters 


*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  3-58,  9.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  523. 

X  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  428.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  523. 
§  Hinman's  Antiquities,  p.  56,  7, 


412  SETTLEMENT   AT   NEWARK,    NEW   JERSEY. 

[Cora. 

we  have  directed  you  to  put  yourselves  in  the  best  way  of  defense 
you  could  against  the  assaults  of  the  French  and  Dutch  in  those 
parts,  and  for  the  securing  the  coming  of  all  ships  hither.  The 
time  offers  itself  more  favourably  now  than  ever  of  delivering  your- 
selves from  those  unquiet  neighbors.  We  have  thought  fit  to  write 
this  unto  you,  to  authorize  you  to  apply  yourselves  with  all  your 
force  and  skill  to  the  reducing  to  our  obedience  all  Islands  and 
Plantations  in  those  parts  belonging  to  the  French  or  Dutch  Nation, 
and  especially  that  of  Canada.  That  Sir  Thomas  Temple,  our 
Governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  may  the  better  correspond  with  you  and 
be  assistant  therein,  we  have  required  him  thereunto.  Herewith 
sending  you  our  declaration  of  the  war  with  France,  which  you  are 
to  publish  in  the  manner  you  shall  think  fit." 

May.  This  month,  a  Company  of  Milford,  Branford,  New  Haven 
and  Guilford,  purchase  from  Indians  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Passaic 
River,  in  New  Jersey,  for  a  settlement,  called  Newark.  A  part  of 
its  first  inhabitants  immediately  moved  thither.  Of  them  were  Mr. 
Pierson  and  most  of  his  church  and  congregation  from  Branford, 
which  remained  almost  spiritually  desolate  for  over  twenty  years. 
On  the  30th  day  of  October,  they  adopt  the  law  of  their  mother 
Colony,  which  prohibited  any  person  from  being  a  freeman,  unless 
a  member  of  a  Congregational  church.  As  this  implies,  they  car- 
ried with  them  their  dislike  to  the  half-way  covenant.  Such  dislike 
was  cherished  by  the  ministers  and  churches  of  New  Haven  Col- 
ony, continuing  behind,  and  was  a  prominent  objection  to  their 
union  with  Connecticut,  who  had  generally  adopted  this  inno- 
vation. 

June  1.  At  a  town  meeting  held  by  the  inhabitants  of  Weth- 
ersfield,  they  vote,*  that  a  letter  be  sent  to  Mr.  Gershom  Bulkley, 
at  New  London,  desiring  him  to  "  come  and  be  helpful  to  us  and 
settle  among  us  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  if  God  shall  incline 
his  heart  thereto."  Mr.  Bulkley  accepted  the  invitation  and  was 
installed,  as  Trumbull  informs  us,  in  the  year  they  desired  him  to 
assume  such  a  relation. 

7.  Nathaniel  Chauncy,  son  of  the  President,  H.  C.  1661,  a 
Fellow  here,  had  been  a  meaiber  of  the  Ipswich  Church  several 
years.  Rev.  Messrs.  Wilson,  Richard  Mather  and  Jonathan  Mitch- 
ell write  to  Mr.  Warham,  respecting  him.  This  appears  to  have 
been  connected  with  Mr.  Chauncy's  introduction  to  the  ministry 
at  Windsor.  On  the  14th  October,  next  year,  a  majority  of  votes 
are  cast  there  for  his  settlement.  On  October  8,  1668,  he  was 
nominated  among  candidates  there  for  freeman.  Under  the  like 
date  of  month  and  day,  two  years  afterwards,  he  was  preaching  in 
the  same  place,  amid  the  adverse  influences  of  zealous  contention 
among  his  people.     He  succeeded  Hope  Atherton,  who  died  min- 

*  Historical  Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  250.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  519. 


BYNOD    K)   CONSIDER   DIFPICUL1  I  4 1^ 

1666.] 

later  of  Hatfield,  Jane,  1679.  He  paid  the  lame  indispensable 
debt  of  oatoie  himself,  November  b\  1688.  He  left  children,  who 
honored  their  parentage. 

John,  son  of  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,*  who  preached  at  Andover, 
in  England,  and  at  Newbury;  Harvard  College,  16(34  j  is  similarly 

employed  at  Killingworth.  On  May  18,  1668,  the  Legislature 
consent  to  a  petition  as  follows  ;  he  may  stay  as  "  a  lecturer  there, 
and  if  the  church  and  Mr.  Warham  shall  so  far  condescend  for 
peace  as  to  give  liberty  for  Mr.  Woodbridge  to  preach  once  a  fort- 
night on  the  Sabbath,  as  well  as  on  the  week  day,  until  some 
further  time  be  obtained  to  improve  some  other  way  as  an  expe- 
dient for  the  peace  of  Windsor,  it  shall  be  acceptable  to  this  Court." 
The  next  year,  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  made  freeman  at  Killing- 
worth.  Here  he  was  amid  such  elements  of  contention,  in  which 
two  parties  of  the  people  partook,  as  his  father  was  experiencing  at 
Newbury.  On  a  visit  to  Massachusetts  with  his  wife  and  family, 
while  tribulations  covered  New  England  by  the  insurrection  of 
Philip  and  his  allies,  Mr.  Woodbridge  has  leave  from  the  Council, 
in  1675,  to  carry  a  quantity  of  grain  thither.  He  was  installed  at 
Wethersfield  in  1679,  and  died  in  1690.  His  son  John  became 
minister  of  West  Springfield.  The  father  in  eternity  could  rejoice 
in  no  brighter  crown  of  the  son  than  that  refulgent  with  seals  of 
the  souls  he  had  won  for  Christ. 

October  11.  The  Assembly  order  a  Synod  to  meet  in  Hartford  f 
the  third  Wednesday  of  next  May,  for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring 
to  settle  difficulties  in  several  churches  of  their  jurisdiction.  They 
invite  all  the  "  preaching  elders  and  ministers  "  of  the  Colony  to 
attend,  and  Messrs.  "  Mitchell,  Brown,  Sherman  and  Glover  to  assist 
as  members."  They  authorize  a  committee  to  "  write  the  elders  of 
the  Bay  to  request  them  to  attend  what  is  here  desired."  They 
solemnly  recommend  that  the  churches  and  people  suspend  dis- 
cussion of  the  existing  troubles  till  the  Synod  shall  have  decided 
on  them.  The  questions  to  be  considered  by  such  a  body  are  the 
same  as  proposed  ten  years  previously. 

The  royal  Commissioners,  in  their  narrative  near  this  date,  about 
New  England,  make  the  following  statements  as  to  Connecticut. 
They  "will  not  hinder  any  from  enjoying  the  sacraments  and  using 
the  common  prayer  book,  provided  that  they  hinder  not  the  main- 
tenance of  the  public  minister."  They  have  a  scholar  "  to  their 
minister  in  every  town  or  village,  and,  for  the  most  part,  they  are 
rigid  Presbyterians,"  who  called  themselves  Congregationalists. 

*  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  520.     Conn.  Col.  Rec.     Farmer's  Gen.  Reg. 
f  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Massachusetts.  Leverett.  —  Edward  Fletcher.  —  Burning  of  London.  —  Bap- 
tist Millennium.  —  Mitchell's  Sermon.  —  Cape  Fear.  —  John  Wilson.  — Peti- 
tion of  Ipswich.  —  Quakers.  —  Psalm  Book.  —  Governor  "Willoughby.  — 
Contribution  for  Barbadoes.  —  Death  of  Wilson.  —  Union  weakened.  — 
Synod.  —  Mission  Books.  —  John  Hale.  —  Call  to  Davenport.  —  Thanksgiv- 
ing. —  Fast.  —  Ipswich  Meeting  House.  —  Xipmugs.  —  John  Holyoke.  — 
Public  Discussion.  —  Baptists.  —  Samuel  Shepard.  —  Henry  Flint.  —  Stough- 
ton's  Sermon. — Convention  of  Elders.  —  Death   of  Mitchell.  —  Protestants. 

—  William  Walton.  —  John  Eliot,  Jr.  —  Signification  of  Church.  —  Baptists. 

—  Quakers.  —  Millennium.  —  Ministers.  —  Catechism.  —  Dissenters  of  First 
Boston  Church.  —  Xewbury  Troubles.  —  Mrs.  Bulkley.  —  Richard  Mather. 

—  Thomas  Maule.  —  Thomas  a  Kempis.  —  Eleazer  Mather.  —  Maquas  defeat 
Assailants.  —  Benjamin  Bunker.  —  John  Davenport.  —  Discipline.  —  Dan- 
forth's  Sermon.  —  Excitement.  —  Confederation  renewed.  —  Letter  to  Boyle. 

—  Matthew  Craddock.  —  Drinker's  Letter.  —  Xatick  Church.  —  Churches 
and  Communicants.  —  Christian  Indians.  Plymouth.  Regulations  of  Swan- 
sea. —  Doctrines.  —  Disturbances  of  Worship.  —  Baptists.  —  Philip.  —  Memo- 
rial. —  Confederation.  — John  Cotton.  — Xoah  Xewman.  —  Prosecutions.  — 
Divorce.  —  Walley's  Sermon.  —  School  Salaries.  Maine.  Catholics.  — 
Letter  of  Xichols.  —  Government  re-established.  —  Jocelyn.  —  Freemen. 
Xew  Hampshire.     Mason's  Claim.  —  Courts.  —  Reyner's  Death.  —  College. 

—  Pirate.  Rhode  Island.  Indians  suspected.  —  Trouble  at  Providence. — 
Letter  of  Xichols.  —  Raised  Lazarus.  —  Baptists.  —  Debate.  —  Land  for 
Minister.  — William  Harris.  —  Westerly.  —  Gorton's  Defense.  —  French.  — 
John  Clark. — Freemen.  —  Letter  of  Mason.  Connecticut.  Covenant. — 
Synod.  —  Call  of  Davenport.  — Massachusetts  invited  to  Convention.  —  Qua- 
kers. —  Sabbath.  —  Fast.  —  Parties  at  Windsor.  —  Edward  Collins.  —  Zach- 
ariah  Walker.  —  Divisions.  —  Toleration.  —  Errorists.  —  Confederacy.  — 
Afflictions.  —  Death  of  Warham.  — Election.  —  Slave.  —  Ordinations. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

1667.  January  22.  John  Leverett,  as  a  magistrate,  writes*  to 
Sir  Robert  Carr,  one  of  the  royal  Commissioners,  in  Boston.  The 
occasion  of  it  was  the  resistance  of  Carr  and  his  servant,  John  Dearie, 
to  Richard  Ben  net,  a  constable,  who  came  to  order  them  away  from 
the  house  of  John  Vyal,  vintner,  on  the  previous  Saturday  evening, 
as  the  law  required.  Leverett  notified  Carr,  in  a  civil  manner,  to 
appear  before  him  with  Deane,  and  answer  the  accusation. 

February  13.  Edward  Fletcher's  will  is  proved,  f     It  mentions 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  411. 

t  Cakmy,  vol.  i.  p.  533.     Farmer  and  Savage,  Gen.  Registers. 


PUBLICATION   ON  THE  MILLENNIUM.  41(1 

1667.] 

his  wife,  Mary,  at  executrix.     As  a  cutler  by  occupation,  he 
admitted  an  inhabitant  of  Boston,  24th  of  February,  1640;  the 
nexl  July,  a  member  of  the  church;  in  October,  a  freeman.     He 
was  of  tin.'  Artillery  company.     1  te  had  become  a  preacher  by  1656, 

when  he  set  veil  as  such  at  Dover.  The  next  year,  he  went  to 
England.  Calamy  states,  from  Jessy's  Tract,  that  Fletcher  was 
minister  of  Dunsborn,  and  that  the  Cavaliers  treated  him  "  very 
inhumanly,"  and  threatened  his  life.  The  will  of  Fletcher,  dated 
24th  February,  1660,  says  that  he  was  clerk  of  Badgerden,  in  the 
County  of  (iloucester.  Then  he  had  an  estate  in  this  town,  which 
he  bequeathed  to  his  wife  and  other  relatives.  He  was  ejected  in 
1662,  as  a  Puritan,  and  came  back  to  Boston.  His  widow,  Mary, 
married  in  1676,  Hugh  Drury.  A  Mr.  Fletcher  was  of  Souther- 
town,  or  Stoniugton,  in  1664.  His  suffering  denotes  that  he  was 
a  prominent  supporter  of  the  Reformation. 

£8.  The  church  of  Salem  keep  a  Fast*  in  reference  to  a  motion 
for  their  brethren  on  Bass  river,  to  be  a  church  by  themselves,  and 
settle  John  Hale  as  their  minister. 

April  £.  The  same  church  have  similar  religious  services  on 
account  of  small  pox  in  Boston  and  vicinity,  and  also,  of  the  burn- 
ing of  London.  Contributions  were  taken  f  in  New  England  for 
the  sufferers  by  this  catastrophe.  In  Charlestown  £105  were  given 
for  this  object. 

28.  John  Gould,  a  Baptist,  having  been  admonished,  confesses 
his  offense  to  Reading  and  Charlestown  churches,  and,  as  the  re- 
cords of  the  latter  body  say,  is,  "  by  the  sentence  of  the  Eldership, 
declared  to  be  restored." 

This  year  a  book  is  printed  in  London  by  Samuel  Hutchinson, 
of  Boston.  It  is  on  the  Millennium.  Its  title  is  :  "  Declaration  of 
the  Future  Glorious  Estate  of  a  Church  to  be  here  upon  Earth,  at 
Christ's  Personal  Appearance  for  the  Restitution  of  all  Things,  a 
Thousand  Years  before  the  Ultimate  Day  of  the  General  Judgment." 
The  author  observes :  "  I  do  not  hold  that  Christ  will  come  and 
reign  upon  the  Earth  till  the  day  of  Judgment,  but  this  not  the 
ultimate  day  of  Judgment."  He  sent  the  work  to  a  friend  in  Eng- 
land, who  wrote  to  him  in  1659,  concerning  the  fifth-monarchy 
men.  He  refers  to  John  Davenport,  of  New  Haven,  as  holding 
that  Christ  would  come  to  spiritual  judgment,  and  then  to  the  last 
judgment. 

May  3.  A  petition  from  people  of  Hatfield,  +  on  the  west  side  of 
Connecticut  river,  worshiping  on  the  other  side,  gives  a  graphic 
description  of 'their  frequent  trials  in  the  performance  of  such  duty. 
They  have  so  much  to  do  in  their  difficulties  and  perils,  they  think 
it  a  breach  of  the  Sabbath.     "  Sometimes  we  come  in  considerable 

*  Salem  MS.  Ch.  Rec.  f  Hutchinson,  3  cd.  vol.  i.  p.  236. 

I  Holland's  Western  Massachusetts. 


416  NEHEMIAH  ON  THE  WALL. 

[Mass. 

numbers  in  rainy  weather,  and  are  forced  to  stay  till  we  can  empty 
our  canoes,  that  are  half  full  of  water,  and  before  we  can  get  to  the 
meeting-house  are  wet  to  the  skin.  At  other  times,  in  winter 
season,  we  are  forced  to  cut  and  work  them  out  of  the  ice,  till  our 
shirts  be  wet  upon  our  backs.  At  other  times,  the  winds  are  high 
and  waters  rough,  the  current  strong  and  the  waves  ready  to  swal- 
low us — our  vessels  tossed  up  and  down,  so  that  our  women  and 
children  do  screech,  and  are  so  affrighted  that  they  are  made  unfit 
for  ordinances,  and  cannot  hear  so  as  to  profit  by  them,  by  reason 
of  their  anguish  of  spirit ;  and  when  they  return,  some  of  them  are 
more  fit  for  their  beds  than  for  family  duties  and  God's  services, 
which  they  ought  to  attend."  "  Oftentimes  some  of  us  have  fallen 
into  the  river  through  the  ice,  and  had  they  not  had  better  help 
than  themselves,  they  had  been  drowned.  Sometimes  we  have 
been  obliged  to  carry  others,  when  they  have  broken  in  to  the 
knees  as  they  have  carried  them  out ;  and  that  none  hitherto  hath 
been  lost,  their  lives  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  care  and  mercy  of 
God." 

15.  The  General  Court  assemble.  The  Election  Sermon  is 
preached  by  Jonathan  Mitchell,  of  Cambridge.  The  title  of  his 
discourse  is,  "  Nehemiah  on  the  Wall  in  Troublous  Times."  The 
doctrine  is,  "  It  is  the  duty  and  the  spirit  of  faithful  rulers,  even  in 
difficult  times,  to  seek  the  good  of  the  people,  especially  when 
they  are  the  people  of  God."  Discussing  this  subject,  the  preacher 
shows  the  several  duties  of  the  rulers.  "  They  are  to  seek  the 
maintenance  and  furtherance  of  true  religion  among  the  people. 
Religion  is  the  chief  and  last  end  of  civil  policy.  In  subordination 
to  religion,  they  are  to  seek  also  the  external,  temporal  welfare  of 
the  people,"  as  their  "  safety,  honesty,  prosperity  and  tranquillity." 
Mr.  Mitchell  ably  compares  the  situation  of  the  people  here  with 
the  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  when  Nehemiah  encouraged  them  to  build 
its  walls  against  the  threats  of  outward  and  inward  opposers.  After 
exhorting  the  rulers  and  people  separately,  he  does  the  same  to 
them  as  a  whole.  "  Do  not  wrong  and  mar  an  excellent  work 
and  profession  by  mixing  and  weaving  in  spurious  principles  or 
practices  ;  as  those  of  Separation,  Anabaptism,  Morellian  (An- 
archical) confusion,  and  licentious  toleration.  It  is  our  errand  into 
the  wilderness  to  study  and  practice  true  Scripture-Reformation. 
To  leave  the  children  of  non-scandalous  orthodox  Christians  unbap- 
tized,  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  one  day  found  a  thing  displeasing  unto 
Jesus  Christ.  But  on  the  other  hand,  to  baptize  in  such  a  lax  and 
licentious  way,  as  serves  to  dress  men  in  the  livery,  without  bear- 
ing the  yoke  of  Christ,  to  have  his  name  upon  them  with  rejection 
of  his  government,  will  not  suit  either  the  principles  of  reforma- 
tion or  the  rules  of  Scripture.  So  though  rigid  severity  in  admis- 
sions to  the  Lord's  Table  is  to  be  avoided,  yet  to  be  lax  and  slight 
therein,  to  admit  all  sorts  to  full  communion,  or  upon  very  slight 


CONTRIBUTIONS    POB   BETTLERS   AT  CAPE   PEAR,       411 
1667.] 

qualifications,  is  against  the  principles  and  interest  of  reformation. 
Again,  to  put  flection  oi'  church  officers  into  the  hands  of  all,  is 
Bach  .1  piece  of  mining  confusion,  as  none  of  the  ways  or  models 
of  church  government,  that  have  been  of  any  repute  in  the  world, 
would  ever  admit  ot".  That  is  an  Anabaptistical  tenet.  Take  heed 
6f  extremes,  and  of  passing  from  one  extreme  to  another,  which 
man's  weakness  is  very  apt  to  do."  lie  urges  union  on  all  the 
inhabitants.  "  Let  not  them  that  unite  in  the  main,  be  disunited 
by  loss  differences.  Never  did  God  take  person  or  people  into 
covenant  and  near  fellowship  with  himself,  but  he  put  them  upon 
this  sooner  or  later  to  venture  all  upon  God,  and  to  rely  upon  his 
mercy,  power  and  faithfulness,  having  no  other  string  to  their  bow 
than  faith  in  him." 

A  letter  is  read  before  the  Court  from  John  Vassal  and  others 
who  had  gone  from  New  England  and  settled  at  Cape  Fear.  It 
represents  them  as  in  great  distress,  and  asks  relief.  Already  had 
collections  been  made  for  them  in  many  of  our  towns,  by  recom- 
mendation of  the  Governor  and  other  Magistrates.  A  vessel  had 
sailed  with  supplies  for  them.  The  Court  approve  of  what  has 
been  done,  and  order  further  contributions  for  the  same  good  pur- 
pose. 

Among  requisitions  of  settlers*  at  Quaboag,  are  the  following  : 
"  They  are  to  take  care  for  the  getting  and  maintaining  of  a  godly 
minister  among  them,  and  that  no  evil  persons,  enemies  to  the  law 
of  this  Commonweal  in  judgment  or  practice,  be  received  as  inhab- 
itants." 

As  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Boston,  f  is  confined  at  home  by  a  "  lan- 
guishing sickness,"  the  Elders,  assembled  as  usual  on  the  occasion 
of  the  election,  met  at  his  house.  They  are  desirous  to  see  and 
hear  him,  lest  it  should  be  their  last  opportunity.  They  ask  him 
what  are  the  sins  which  he  thinks  bring  divine  displeasure  on  the 
country.  He  replies  that  he  had  long  feared  that  the  following 
were  such  :  "  Separation,  Anabaptism,  and  Corahism."  He  explains 
the  last  as  referring  to  people  who  "rise  up  like  Corah,  against  their 
ministers  or  elders,  as  if  they  took  too  much  upon  them,  when 
indeed  they  do  but  rule  for  Christ.  It  is  nothing  for  a  brother  to 
stand  up  and  oppose,  without  Scripture  or  reason,  the  doctrine  or 
word  of  the  elder,  saying,  I  am  not  satisfied.  And  hence,  if  he 
do  not  like  the  administration,  be  it  baptism  or  the  like,  he  will 
turn  his  back  upon  God  and  his  ordinances,  and  go  away."  He 
fears  that  there  is  something  wrong  about  the  baptism  of  those 
called  grand-children ;  that  the  authority  of  Synods  is  not  duly 
regarded  ;  that  the  Magistrates  are  too  slack  in  the  use  of  their 
power  "  for  the   maintenance  of  the   truth  and  gospel  and  ordi- 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Norton's  Mem.,  Ed.  1721,  p.  228,  9. 

53 


418  SABBATH  WALKING  FORBIDDEN. 

[Mass. 

nances  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  At  night  he  makes 
a  farewell  prayer  and  some  remarks,  and  they  part  in  tears. 

28.  The  freemen  of  Ipswich  request*  that  John  Appleton,  a 
signer  of  the  petition  from  this  town,  may  be  allowed  to  retain  his 
seat  with  the  Deputies.  They  recommend  him  "  as  a  gentleman 
fully  orthodox  in  his  judgment  as  to  matters  of  faith  and  points  of 
religion  professed  among  us  ;  right,  good,  honest,  pious  and  pru- 
dent in  his  conversation  ;  true  and  friendly,  faithful  as  to  the 
interests  of  the  Colony  and  Government." 

It  seems,  as  before  stated,  from  proceedings  connected  with  this, 
that  Deputies  of  Boston,  Salem,  Ipswich  and  Newbury,  who  peti- 
tioned that  the  General  Court  would  comply  with  the  King's  order 
for  men  to  appear  in  London  and  answer  charges  against  the 
Colony,  had  been  expelled  from  the  Legislature. 

June  25.  A  few  of  the  Quakers f  at  Salem  are  fined  for  absence 
from  allowed  public  worship. 

July  4.  The  Salem  church  vote  to  use  J  the  Bay  Psalm  Book 
with  Ainsworth. 

William  AVilloughby,  Governor  of  Barbadoes,  addresses§  the 
Governor  and  Assistants  of  Massachusetts.  He  sends  them  back 
two  Indians,  who  belonged  here,  had  been  taken  to  England, 
brought  to  his  jurisdiction  and  sold  as  slaves.  He  promises  to  rectify 
all  such  abuses. 

13.  An  order  ||  is  issued  by  Bellingham  and  Leverett,  as  magis- 
trates, which  forbids  masters  of  families,  their  servants  and  children, 
to  walk  in  the  streets  of  Boston,  on  the  Sabbath.  It  is  communi- 
cated to  Messrs.  Mayo  and  Mather,  to  be  read  from  their  pulpit. 

August  7.  John  AVilson,  pastor  of  the  first  church  in  Boston, 
dies  in  the  79th  year  of  his  age.  His  wife,  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Mansfield,  had  died  in  1658,^1  soon  after  his  eldest  son,  Edmund, 
named  for  his  great  uncle,  Edmund  Grindall,  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, deceased  in  England  the  same  year,  who  was  a  physician, 
highly  respected  for  his  talents,  acquirements  and  piety.  He  had 
lost  a  daughter,  wife  to  Be  v.  Ezekiel  Rogers,  of  Rowley.  He  left 
another,  the  wife  to  Rev.  Samuel  Danforth,  of  Roxbury,  and  a  son 
John,  minister  of  Dorchester,  and  then  of  Medfield.  While  in 
England,  Mr.  Wilson  published  some  helps  to  faith.  A  lecture  of 
his  on  dreams  has  been  mentioned.  Morton  remarks  :  ls  In  all  the 
changes  of  times,  that  passed  over  him,  he  was  full  of  faith  and 
prayer,  and  eminent  for  sincerity  and  humility,  and  for  the  grace  of 

*  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Papers.         f  Essex  Qt.  Ct.  Rec.  J  Salem  1st  Ch.  Rec. 

§  He  says  that  the  English  forces  were  repulsed,  June  8,  in  their  attack  on 
the  enemy  at  St.  Christopher's,  and  that  they  need  supplies  of  men  and  provi- 
sions, which  he  hopes  the  people  of  Massachusetts  will  be  able  to  furnish. 

||  Mather  MS.  Papers. 

II  Two  of  his  children,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  were  admitted  to  his  church, 
Nov.  19,  1648. 


RE  ESTABLISHMENT  01  CONFEDERATION.  H!> 

lore,  he  bad  largeneet  of  heart  at  the  $and  of  tht  tea,  to  do  good 

to  all."    Cotton  Mather's  Life  of  him  relates,  that  "Dr.  Anus 

would  say,  that  it'  he  might   have  his  option  of  the  best  conditions 

that  he  could  propound  unto  himself  OD  this  side  Heaven,  it  would 
be,  that  he  might  he  the  teacher  of  a  Congregational  church, 
whereof  Mr.  Wilson  should  be  pastor."  The  last  sermon  .Mr. 
Wilson  preached  was  for  his  son-in-law,  Danibrth,  at  Koxbury  lec- 
ture. "  After  he  had  read  his  text,  in  the  beginnings  and  conclu- 
sions of  sundry  of  the  last  Psalms,  with  seraphical  voice,  he  added, 
If  I  were  sure  this  were  the  last  sermon  that  ever  I  should  preach, 
and  these  the  last  words  that  ever  I  should  speak,  yet  I  would  still 
1  lallelujah,  Hallelujah,  Praise  ye  the  Lord !  Thus  he  ended 
his  ministry  on  earth,  thus  he  began  his  possession  of  heaven  with 
hallelujahs."* 

21.  The  Governor  and  Assistants  write  to  Governor  Willoughby, 
of  Barbadoes.  f  They  state  that  a  few  days  before  the  reception  of 
his  letter,  they  had  another  from  his  father,  Lord  Willoughby, 
desiring  them  to  supply  his  Majesty's  fleet  at  that  Island.  They 
add,  that  exertions  had  been  made  accordingly,  and  a  vessel  was 
being  loaded  with  provisions  for  such  an  object.  They  express 
their  thanks  for  his  Lordship's  promises  to  assist  their  Colony. 
They  remark  that  they  will  do  what  they  can  in  compliance  with 
the  Governor's  request  for  provisions,  but  they  are  unable  to  send 
him  any  men. 

September  5.  The  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  meet 
at  Hartford.  They  remark  that  the  Confederation  is  so  weakened 
as  to  require  that  it  be  re-established  by  the  Colonies,  "  who  are 
here  willing  exiles  from  the  place  of  our  fathers'  sepulchres,  for  the 
enjoyment  of  the  same  spiritual  mercies  of  the  same  nation,  and  all 
of  us  subjects  of  the  same  Prince,  knowing  well,  that  the  violation 
thereof  will  be  highly  provoking  to  the  most  high  God,  who  is  the 
witness  and  will  be  the  judge  of  and  between  the  parties  concerned  ; 
and  is  also  of  no  less  tendency  than  the  breaking  down  that  wall, 
which  under  God  hath  hitherto  been  and  still  is  the  means  of  our 
own  safety  and  preservation  of  his  Majesty's  dominions  here  against 
foreign  and  domestic  enemies."  They  propose  that  as  one  main 
design  of  the  Confederation  is  "  the  preserving  and  propagating  of 
the  truth  and  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  for  our  outward  safety, 
where  any  question  doth  arise  in  the  churches  or  jurisdiction  of 
common  concernment,  whether  in  the  matters  of  faith  or  order,  and 
any  of  the  Colonies  shall  apprehend  it  needful  to  call  in  the  help  of 
a  Council  or.  Synod  for  the  orderly  decision  thereof, — that  the 
members  of  such  Council  or  Synod  may  consist  of  the  messengers 
of  the  churches  called  indifferently  out  of  all  the  United  Colonies 

*  Cotton's  Mather's  Live*.     Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  302.     Brook,  vol.  iii.  p.  431-5. 
+  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  425,  6. 


420  BOOKS  USED  BY  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

by  an  orderly  agreement  of  the  several  General  Courts,  and  the 
place  of  meeting  be  at  or  near  Boston."  They  recommend  to 
the  several  jurisdictions,  "  that  some  special  provision  be  made 
for  the  more  comfortable  and  settled  maintenance  of  an  able  min- 
istry in  every  plantation,  and  where  any  shall  presume  to  slight  or 
oppose  the  same  by  turbulent  or  schismatical  practices,  that  a  con- 
dign testimony  be  borne  against  them."* 

John  Cotton,  who  had  assisted  Mr.  Mayhew  in  labors  among  the 
Indians,  is  advised  by  the  Commissioners  to  leave  the  Vineyard 
and  settle  among  the  English,  who  have  given  him  several  invita- 
tions to  preach  for  them.  A  reason  for  such  conclusion  was,  that 
there  was  not  the  harmony  between  him  and  Mr.  Mayhew,  which 
was  needful  for  their  success. 

13.  The  Commissioners  draw  a  bill  on  the  Corporation  in  Eng- 
land for  £500,  to  meet  the  annual  charges  of  the  Indian  missions. 

Books  for  distribution  among  the  natives,  in  their  language, 
were  as  follow :  200  Bibles  with  clasps,  at  2/.  6d.  each,  200  Prac- 
tice of  Piety,  at  6d.  apiece,  450  Grammars,  at  3/.  a  hundred,  400 
Baxter's  Call,  at  3/.  for  the  like  number,  and  Bible  Primers  for 
the  scholars. 

Persons  employed  at  the  station  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  Messrs. 
Mayhew  and  Cotton,  and  nine  native  teachers.  Here  widow 
Mayhew  and  her  son  Matthew  received  aid ;  Mr.  Alcock,  as  pre- 
viously, and  Mrs.  Cotton,  were  paid  for  medical  attendance.  At 
other  stations,  there  were  John  Eliot,  Sen.  and  Jr.,  of  Roxbury, 
who  had  under  them  eight  native  teachers,  and  also  Waban  at 
Natick ;  Mr.  Bourne,  of  Sandwich,  and  two  native  teachers ;  Mr. 
Pierson  preached  to  Indians  in  the  Connecticut  jurisdiction. 

Three  Indian  youths  were  at  the  Cambridge  Institution,  and  two 
others  had  died  there.     Two  were  at  Roxbury. 

20.  The  brethren  of  Salem  church,  who  lived  on  Bass  river 
side,  afterwards  Beverly,  having  had  permission  from  the  other 
brethren  to  become  a  separate  church,  proceed  to  the  settlement  of 
John  Hale  as  their  pastor.  Before  this  was  done,  those  who  had 
called  him  were  organized  as  follows  :  He  "  propounded  and  read  a 
confession  of  faith  and  covenant,  which  they  had  often  considered 
amongst  themselves,  and  did  then  express  their  consent  unto  that 
confession  and  covenant,  and  so  were  owned  as  a  particular  and 
distinct  church  by  themselves,  by  the  messengers  of  the  churches 
present."  He  was  inducted  into  office  "  by  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands  of  the  Rev.  John  Higginson,  of  Salem,  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Cobbett,  pastor  at  Ipswich,  and  of  Mr.  Antipas  Newman,  of  Wen- 
ham." 

Mr.  Hale  had  preached  three  years  for  his  people  prior  to  his 

*  Com'rs  MS.  Rec.     Hazard,  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  503,  4,  6. 


CALL   OF   n.v\  BNPORT  TO    B08TON.  1-1 

1687.] 

ordination.  He  was  son  of  Robert  and  Rebekah  Halo,  of  Charlet- 
town.  His  parish  agreed  to  pay  bun  £70  annually,  and  thirty 
cords  of  fire-wood.     They  also  contracted  to  give  him  the  use  of 

a  house  with  two  acres  of  land  and  meadow,  yielding  "  about  four 
loads  of  hay,"  ami  the  M  benefit  of  pasturing."     They  further 

bound  themselves  to  grant  the  house  and  two  aeres  of  land,  or  an 
equivalent,  to  his  family,  if  he  die  as  their  minister.* 

84.  The  first  church  of  Boston  vote  by  a  majority  to  call  John 
Davenport  and  James  Allen  for  their  ministers.  The  former  of 
these  two  Mas  invited  to  settle  over  the  second  church  of  the  same 
town,  in  1651,  but  he  declined.  Cotton  Mather  remarks  of  them  : 
they,  "  for  the  supply  of  the  vacancy  upon  the  death  of  their  former 
more  synodical  ministers,  applying  themselves  unto  Mr.  John  Daven- 
port, the  greatest  of  the  anti-synodists,  the  interests  of  the  Synod 
came  to  be  laid  aside  therein  on  that  occasion."  They  who  opposed 
this  call  of  Davenport,  asserted  that  to  settle  him  over  the  first 
church  of  Boston  would  be  not  only  to  reverse  its  consequent 
proceedings,  but  also  to  nullify  the  results  of  the  Synod.  The 
church  agree  to  send  a  letter  by  messengers  to  Davenport  and  his 
church  in  New  Haven  on  this  subject.  Such  a  movement,  as  to 
the  parties,  has  been  considered  remarkable  by  various  authors. 
They  looked  on  Davenport's  open  opposition  to  the  half-way  cov- 
enant, which  the  Boston  church,  under  Wilson  and  Norton,  had 
approved,  and  the  great  unwillingness  of  the  New  Haven  church 
to  part  with  him,  now  far  advanced  in  life,  as  omens  of  disquietude 
in  both  of  these  places.  But  there  was  one  point  on  his  part 
which  made  it  desirable  for  him  to  change  the  location  of  his  min- 
istry. This  was  his  strong  disapprobation  of  the  policy  adopted 
by  Connecticut  to  compel  the  union  of  the  New  Haven  Colony 
with  them,  and  his  aversion  to  live  under  the  Government  which 
had  so  acted.  There  was  another  particular  which  brought  the 
leading  men,  such  as  Leverett,  to  like  him  more  than  they  had  dis- 
liked him  for  what  he  wrote  against  the  half-way  covenant.  This 
was  the  decided  and  strong  encouragement  which  he  gave  the 
authorities  of  Massachusetts  to  deny  the  offensive  claims  of  the 
royal  Commissioners,  and  to  hold  out  in  their  independent  attitude. 
In  addition,  he  and  his  Boston  friends  seem  to  have  so  far  tolerated 
each  other  in  their  different  views  of  such  a  covenant,  as  not  to 
disturb  their  friendly  co-operation  in  other  respects,  f 

October  9.  The  Legislature  convene.  They  appoint  November 
5,  as  Thanksgiving  day,  for  continuance  of  liberty,  preservation 
from  the  common  enemy,  and  a  good  harvest.  They  designate  the 
first  Wednesday  of  December  for  Fast  day,  on  account  of  troubles 
in  churches  of  all  parts,  particularly  England  ;  wars  and  devasta- 

*  Annals  of  Salem,  p.  230,  1.  f  First  Ch.  Rec.  of  Boston.     Trumbull, 

Conn.  vol.  i.  p.  484,  5.      Davenport  Family,  p.  163.      Bacon's  Discourses,  p. 
142,  3. 


422  CONTRIBUTIONS  FOR  THE  ROYAL  FLEET. 

[Mass. 

tions  by  means  of  terrible  tempests  at  the   Carribee  Islands,  and 
capture  of  Massachusetts  vessels. 

Various  towns  had  liberally  subscribed  for  supplies  to  his  Maj- 
esty's fleet  at  the  Carribee  Islands.  The  Court  request  what  is 
behind  to  be  brought  forward. 

11.  The  General  Court  "informed  that  the  people  of  Ipswich 
when  they  assemble  to  worship  God  are  in  great  danger  by  reason 
of  the  decay  of  part  of  the  meeting-house,  and  the  selectmen 
having  taken  much  care  to  make  the  house  safe  for  people's  lives, 
they  cannot  prevaile  with  workmen  to  attend  the  worke,  where- 
upon they  desired  a  presse  from  authority.  But  the  Magistrate 
doubting  of  his  power  therein,  the  Court  declareth  and  ordereth 
that  either  of  the  magistrates  of  Ipswich  jnay  presse  so  many  car- 
penters for  the  speedy  effecting  of  that  work  as  they  or  either  of 
them  shall  think  meet,  the  selectmen  serving  of  the  workmen  well 
and  presently  paid."     The  Deputies  non-concur. 

31.  The  Court  answer  a  letter  from  Connecticut,  relative  to  the 
proposal  of  the  latter  for  a  Synod,  and  also  to  the  re-establishment 
of  the  Confederation.  They  say  "  that  we  may  be  no  obstruction 
to  your  pious  motion  for  a  mutual  accord  in  searching  out  the 
mind  of  God  in  any  matters  of  public  concernment  to  the  Church 
of  Christ,  we  shall  and  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  to  be  always 
ready  to  yield  such  help  as  the  Lord  shall  afford  us."  They  then 
observe  that  they  cannot  send  back  a  particular  reply,  because  they 
have  not  received  the  individual  questions  to  be  considered.  They 
remark,  if  these  should  be  sent  to  them,  "  We  shall  endeavor  to  do  * 
what  we  shall  understand  to  be  the  mind  of  the  Lord  for  help  and 
assistance  and  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  truth."* 

The  Nipmug  Indians,f  of  "  Quatisicker,"  had  expressed  a  wil- 
lingness to  receive  gospel  instruction,  pray  to  God,  and  come  under 
the  protection  of  Massachusetts. 

November  £tf.  The  following  relates  to  Quakers  J  of  Salem. 
Josiah  Southwick  is  sentenced  to  pay  10/.  "  for  contempt  of  author- 
ity by  keeping  on  his  hat  after  he  was  required  to  put  it  off." 
Others  of  his  denomination  are  fined.  If  refusing  to  pay  or  give 
security,  they  are  to  be  confined  a  week  in  the  house  of  correction 
at  Ipswich,  on  their  own  cost,  and  the  Marshal  is  to  impress  carts 
and  horses  for  their  conveyance  thither. 

Though  Marblehead  had  been  set  off  from  Salem,  §  yet  the 
church  of  the  former  remained  a  branch  of  the  church  in  the 
latter  town.  These  two  are  appointed  to  consult  with  the  mem- 
bers at  Marblehead  about  their  wish  to  call  and  settle  a  minister  to 
assist  Mr.  Walton. 

This  year,  John  Holyoke,  ||  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1662, 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.        f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.         J  Essex  Qt.  Ct.  Rec. 
§  First  Ch.  Rec.  of  Salem.  ||  Holland's  Western  Mass.     Farmer's  N.  E. 

Gen.  Reg. 


PUBLIC    DISCUSSION    DP  ANABAFTI8M.  \  !■> 

preached  sa  months,  at  WeatfiekL     Residing  at  Springfield,  L684, 
be  was  entitled  clerk;  wai  atative  from  that  town,  L691, 

and  died  IT  L& 

December  26.  .Jonathan  Mitchell,  of  Cambridge,  dates  a  Letter* 

in  which  he  advocates  the  halt-way  covenant  and  consociation. 

1668.  January  14.  As  an  indication f  of  what  more  than  usu- 
ally affected  the  public  mind,  the  Salem  church,  of  which  William 
Hat  borne,  who  had  been  ordered  to  England,  was  a  member,  keep 
a  Thanksgiving  day,  for  the  preservation  of  liberty,  as  well  as  for 
news  of  peace  between  England  and  France  and  Holland,  several 
months  before. 

March  S.  The  case  of  Thomas  Gould, *  Baptist,  comes  before 
the  Court  of  Assistants  in  Boston,  on  an  appeal  from  tiie  County 
Court  of  Middlesex,  who  had  sentenced  him  to  imprisonment  be- 
cause he  refused  to  pay  a  fine  for  worshiping,  contrary  to  law,  with 
his  own  denomination.  Such  judgment  is  confirmed,  though  the 
jury  are  disposed  to  favor  him,  and  he  is  recommitted  to  prison. 

7.  "  The  Governor  and  Council,  accounting  themselves  bound 
by  the  law  of  God,  and  of  this  Commonwealth,  to  protect  the 
churches  of  Christ  here  planted,  from  the  intrusion  thereby  made 
upon  their  peace  in  the  ways  of  godliness,  yet  being  willing  by  all 
Christian  candor  to  endeavor  the  reducing  of  the  said  persons  from 
the  error  of  their  way,  and  their  return  to  the  Lord  and  the  com- 
munion of  his  people  from  whence  they  are  fallen,  do  judge  meet 
to  grant  unto  Thomas  Gould,  John  Farnham,  Thomas  Osborn  and 
company,  S  yet  further  an  opportunity  of  a  full  and  free  debate,  of 
the  grounds  for  their  practice."  For  this  purpose,  such  magis- 
trates nominate  and  invite  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Allen,  Thomas  Cob- 
bett,  John  Higginson,  Samuel  Danforth,  Jonathan  Mitchell  and 
Thomas  Shepard,  to  meet  with  them  on  the  14th  of  next  month, 
"in  the  meeting-house  at  Boston,  at  nine  in  the  morning."  They 
provide,  that  before  them  and  these  invited  elders  with  others,  the 
Baptist  brethren  may  appear  and  publicly  debate  the  following 
question  :  "  Whether  it  be  justifiable  by  the  Word  of  God,  for  these 
persons  and  their  company  to  depart  from  the  communion  of  these 
churches,  and  to  set  up  an  assembly  here  in  the  way  of  Anabap- 
tism,  and  whether  such  a  practice  is  to  be  allowed  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  this  jurisdiction  ? "  Thomas  Gould  is  notified  by  the 
Council  to  inform  his  brethren  of  the  Baptist  church,  that  he  and 
they  are  to  appear  as  "  above-mentioned." 

8.  The  Governor  and  Council  j|  request  the  ministers  of  all  the 
towns  to  go,  in  imitation  of  their  Congregational  brethren  in  Eng- 
land, and  converse  from  house  to  house  with  young  and  old,  within 


*  Boston  Athenaeum  Tracts,  p.  33.  f  First  Ch.  Rec.  of  Salem. 

{  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  374,  5.  §  Ibid.  p.  375,  6. 

||  Mass.  Council  Rec.     Annals  of  Salem. 


424  NEW  ENGLAND'S  TRUE  INTEREST. 

[Mass. 

the  bounds  of  their  parishes.  Compliance  with  this  advice  was 
attended  with  good  effects. 

April  7.  Samuel  Shepard,  minister  of  Rowley,  dies.*  He  was 
son  of  Rev.  Thomas  Shepard,  of  Cambridge  ;  born  October,  164 1, 
and  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1658.  He  joined  his  father's 
church,  July  19,  1663,  and  was  ordained  at  Rowley,  November  15, 
1665.  He  preached  for  several  years  before  he  saw  his  way  clear 
to  join  the  church.  He  married  Dorothy,  daughter  to  Rev.  Hem  v 
Flint,  of  Braintree,  April  30,  1666.  He  left  a  son,  Samuel,  grad- 
uate at  Harvard  College,  1685.  After  a  short  period  in  the  min- 
istry of  reconciliation,  he  is  called  to  abound  in  the  wonderful 
survey  of  so  great  a  work,  which  eternity  affords. 

14.  Now  and  the  next  day,  according  to  appointment,  the  public 
discussion  f  with  the  Baptists,  takes  place.  The  six  ministers 
named,  opposed  the  arguments  of  Gould  and  others.  These  are 
assisted  by  William  Hiscox,  Joseph  Torrey  and  Samuel  Hubbard, 
members  of  Mr.  Clark's  church,  of  Newport,  who  reached  Boston 
three  days  before  the  discussion.  The  Life  of  Mitchell  remarks 
concerning  it :  "  Whereof  the  effect  was,  that  although  the  erring 
brethren,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  made  this  their  last  answer  to 
the  arguments  which  had  cast  them  into  much  confusion,  say  what 
you  icill,  we  will  hold  our  minds :  yet  others  were  happily  estab- 
lished in  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord." 

27.  Henry  Flint,  £  minister  of  Braintree,  dies,  aged  61.  He  mar- 
ried Margery,  sister  to  President  Hoar.  She  deceased,  March, 
1686-7,  and  was  buried  on  the  right  of  her  husband.  He  was 
remarkable  for  his  "piety,  learning,  wisdom,  and  fidelity  in  his 
office."  She  was  a  superior  helpmeet,  "  peculiarly  accomplished  for 
instructing  young  gentlewomen  ;  many  being  sent  to  her  from  other 
towns,  especially  from  Boston."  They  left  several  children.  Cot- 
ton Mather  said  of  him :  "  He  that  was  a  solid  stone  in  the  foun- 
dation of  New  England,  is  gone  to  be  a  glorious  one  in  the  walls 
of  the  New  Jerusalem." 

29.  The  Election  Sermon  is  preached  by  William  Stoughton,  of 
Dorchester.  His  subject  is  "  New  England's  True  Interest,  not  to 
lie ;  or  the  terms  on  which  we  stand,  and  the  tenure  by  which  we 
hold  our  hitherto -continued  precious  and  pleasant  things."  Sev- 
eral remarks  of  the  discourse  follow.  :  "  This  we  must  know,  that 
the  Lord's  promises  and  expectations  of  great  things,  have  singled 
out  New  England,  and  all  sorts  and  ranks  of  men  amongst  us, 
above  any  nation  or  people  in  the  world ;  and  this  hath  been  and 
is  a  time  and  season  of  eminent  trial  to  us.  If  I  should  say,  that 
the  very  world,  or  common  ordinary  professors  expect  great  things 
from  us  at  this  day,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  weight  in  it.     If  I  say, 


*  Among  assistants  to  Mr.  Phillips,  after  Mr.  Shepard' s  death,  was  Samuel 
Brackenburv,  who  thus  served  two  rears. 

t  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  376,  7.     Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Ree.  :  Magnalia,  b.  iii.  p.  122. 


ill i:   DANGER  OF  nkw   ENGLAND.  I') 

L66&] 

that,  the  faithful  precious  suffering  saints  of  God  in  other  places, 
that  have  heard  of  the  Lord's  providences  towards  us,  do  expect 
and  promise  great  things  from  us,  this  is  far  more/'     In  reference 

to  the  origin  of  the  primitive  settlers,  4<God  sifted  a  whole  nation, 
that  he  might  send  choice  grain  over  into  this  wilderness.  Alas ! 
how  is  New  England  in  danger  this  day  to  be  lost  even  in  New 
England!  To  be  buried  in  its  own  ruins  !  J  low  is  the  good  grain 
diminished  and  the  chaff  increased !  New  England  hath  yet  its 
advantages  as  well  as  engagements  in  this  great  matter  of  owning 
the  cause  of  God,  and  standing  their  ground  for  God  and  Christ 
and  the  Gospel.  We  must  decide  for  whom  we  are,  there  will  be 
no  other  remedy.  We  indeed  of  these  ends  of  the  earth  have  long 
since  made  our  choice.  We  have  given  up  ourselves  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  our  spiritual  King  and  Law-giver,  to  be  his  portion  and 
inheritance.  Now  that  which  the  Lord  expects  is,  that  we  stick  to 
this  our  choice,  that  we  give  not  back  a  whit  so  as  to  become  liars 
unto  that  God,  who  unto  us  hath  not  been  as  waters  that  fail." 
Relative  to  the  questions  then  agitated,  between  the  advocates  for 
the  Quakers,  Baptists,  Episcopalians  and  Congregationalists,  etc., 
we  have  the  subsequent  passage  :  "  That  no  persuasion  nor  practice 
can  ever,  in  the  conscience  of  the  contrary-minded,  have  a  right  to 
public  liberty  and  countenance,  which,  being  thoroughly  attended 
to,  doth  indeed  tend  to  the  undermining,  and  so  in  the  issue  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  state  of  these  churches,  in  that  wherein  it  is  of 
God,  and  hath  been  largely  and  plentifully  owned  by  him.  And 
of  this  case  and  the  application  thereof,  those  who  are  in  authority 
may  and  ought  to  judge."  Among  the  closing  remarks  are:  "  If 
the  Lord  preserve  unto  us  a  faithful  people,  a  faithful  ministry,  a 
faithful  magistracy,  He  will  then  appoint  salvation  for  walls  and 
bulwarks  to  us."  The  author  of  this  discourse  was  thanked  by  the 
General  Court  for  it,  and  desired  to  have  it  printed. 

30.  The  elders  in  convention  present  an  address*  to  the  General 
Court,  "  touching  the  case  of  those  that  set  up  an  assembly  here 
among  us  in  the  way  of  Anabaptism."  Several  extracts  from  this 
document  are  as  follows  :  "  That  it  belongs  to  the  civil  authority 
to  exercise  their  care  and  power  about  matters  of  this  nature,  and 
to  restrain  and  suppress  open  enormities  in  religion,  that  are  of 
momentous  and  perilous  consequence,  is  abundantly  clear  from  the 
Scriptures."  Texts  are  adduced.  Then  reasons  are  offered  against 
the  sect  in  question.  "  The  way  of  Anabaptism  is  a  known  and 
irreconcilable  enemy  to  the  orthodox  and  orderly  churches  of 
Christ,  and  so-  to  these  here  established;  1,  by  making  infant 
baptism  a  nullity,  and  so  making  us  all  to  be  unbaptized  persons, 
and,  therefore,  to  have  no  regular  churches,  ministry  or  ordinances, 
yea,  to  be  incapable  of  obtaining  them  in  any  ordinary  way  ;  2,  by 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 
54 


426  OBJECTIONS  TO  ANABAPTISM. 

[Mass. 

renouncing  all  our  churches,  either  as  no  churches,  or  as  so  bad  and 
corrupt  that  they  are  not  fit  to  be  held  communion  with ;  3,  by- 
rejecting  the  tru,e  covenant  of  God  (Gen.  17  c.  7—14  vs.)  whereby 
the  church  is  constituted  and  continued,  and  cutting  off  from  the 
churches  half  the  members  that  belong  to  them  ;  4,  by  its  known 
and  constant  opposition  to  an  orderly,  settled,  able  ministry,  and  to 
the  power  of  the  magistracy  in  matters  of  religion ;  5,  by  teaching 
men  to  disacknowledge  or  slight  a  political,  ministerial  judge, 
(either  ecclesiastical  or  civil,)  and  to  set  up  themselves  as  their  own 
sole  judges  in  their  own  case,  and  so  introducing  a  spirit  of  anarchy 
and  confusion  ;  6,  by  entertaining  those  that  are  weary  of  Christ's 
truth  and  government  in  the  churches,  or  fall  under  censure  there- 
in, so  multiplying  schisms  and  confusion,  and  making  our  discipline 
to  be  of  none  effect.  Hence  an  assembly  in  the  way  of  Anabap- 
tism  would  be  among  us  an  anti-temple,  an  enemy  in  this  habita- 
tion of  the  Lord  ;  an  anti-New  England  in  New  England,  mani- 
festly tending  to  the  disturbance  and  destruction  of  these  churches, 
which  their  nursing  fathers  ought  not  to  allow.  Second.  To  set 
up  an  assembly  in  the  way  of  Anabaptism  is  to  set  up  a  free  school 
of  seduction,  wherein  false  teachers  may  have  open  liberty  to  seduce 
the  people  into  ways  of  error,  which  may  not  be  suffered.  Third. 
At  the  same  door  may  all  sorts  of  abominations  come  in  among  us, 
should  this  be  allowed,  for  a  few  persons  may,  without  the  consent 
of  our  ecclesiastical  and  civil  order,  set  up  a  society  in  the  name 
of  a  church,  themselves  being  their  sole  judges  therein  ;  then  the 
vilest  of  men  and  deceivers  may  do  the  like,  and  we  have  no  fence 
nor  bar  to  keep  them  out.  Moreover,  if  this  assembly  be  tolerated, 
where  shall  we  stop?  Why  may  we  not,  by  the  same  reason, 
tolerate  an  assembly  of  Familists,  Socinians,  Quakers,  Papists ; 
yea,  'tis  known  that  all  these  have  elsewhere  crept  in  under  the 
mask  of  Anabaptism.  Fourth.  To  allow  the  setting  of  an  assem- 
bly in  this  way,  as  hath  been  lately  preached  by  some  among  us,  is 
to  allow  the  open  profanation  of  all  the  ordinances  of  God.  1,  Of 
church  gathering  by  coming  together  in  a  way  of  schism,  disorder 
and  confusion  ;  2,  of  the  ministry,  by  setting  up  a  ministry  that  is 
not  of  God,  being  without  ministerial  qualifications,  without  due 
sequestration  to  the  work,  without  orderly  public  approbation,  and 
therefore  a  bold  usurpation  of  that  holy  function,  without  all 
warrant  from  the  Lord ;  3,  of  baptism  by  re-baptization  ;  4,  of 
that  and  the  other  sacrament  by  private,  uncalled,  yea,  excom- 
municated persons  taking  upon  them  to  administer  the  same,  and 
that  unto  persons  under  censure.  Fifth.  We  may  argue  by  com- 
paring the  matter  in  question  with  things  mentioned  in  Scripture 
as  unallowable,  which  yet  were  not  worse  than  an  assembly  with 
us  in  the  way  of  Anabaptism.  This  is  as  bad  as  the  high  places 
in  Judah,  viz.,  those  high  places  that  were  dedicated  to  the  worship 
of  the  true  God,   being  only   contrary   to  the  order  God   then 


NF.W   ENGLAND'S   RIGHT  TO   ITS   RELIGION,  1  M 

Mwa] 

appointed,   II.  Kings,    IS  c   1-22  78.,  and   23  C.  8,  9  vs.  ;  aa  bad 

as  that  altar  in  Joshua,  l-':i  C.  18,  19  vs.,  though  it  had  been  for 
sacrifices j    as   bad   as   tin-    buyers    and   sellers    in    the    temple    and 

other  pollutions  thereof,  which  Christ  would  not  suffer,  lie.  Mark, 
15,  16  vs.  ;  as  bad  as  many  of  those  hindcrers  of  the  building  of 
the  temple,  whom  David  and  Artaxerxes  made  decrees  against, 
and  are  commended  for  it,  Ezra,  6  c.  11,  12  vs.  ;  7  e.  26,  27  va. 
Anabaptism  hath  been  always  known  to  be  a  notorious  hinderance 
and  troubler  of  the  temple  building.  Sixth.  We  in  this  country 
are  but  a  weak  and  small  people,  and  therefore  necessarily  dis- 
quieted and  endangered  by  faction  and  opposition.  If  this  one 
assembly  be  allowed,  by  the  same  reason  may  a  second,  third,  etc.  ; 
schools  of  them  will  soon  be  swarming  hither.  But  if  once  that 
party  become  numerous  and  prevailing,  this  country  is  undone, 
the  work  of  reformation  been  ruined,  and  the  good  ends  and 
enjoyments  which  this  people  have  adventured  and  expended  so 
much  for,  utterly  lost.  Seventh.  The  people  of  this  place  have 
a  clear  right  to  the  way  of  religion  and  order  that  is  here  estab- 
lished, and  to  a  freedom  from  all  that  may  be  disturbing  and 
destructive  thereunto.  Having  with  great  cost,  hazard  and  labor 
obtained,  ventured  over  the  ocean,  planted  themselves  in  a  remote 
corner  of  the  world  on  purpose  that  they  might  enjoy  the  ordi- 
nances of  God  according  to  his  Word,  for  themselves  and  theirs, 
here  alone  in  peace  :  and  accordingly  they  have  erected  churches 
and  settled  religion  in  the  way  of  Pedobaptism,  and  secured  the 
same  by  laws  established ;  other  contrary  ways,  therefore,  cannot 
be  here  set  up  without  real  injury  to  the  body  of  this  people,  who 
still  cleave  to  the  principles  and  ends  of  their  first  coming ;  neither 
should  they  be  constrained  to  receive  or  retain  among  them  such  a 
troublesome  and  dangerous  inmate  as  an  Anabaptistical  society  is ; 
nor  to  leave  their  posterity  to  be  a  prey  unto  such  temptations, 
seduction  and  confusion  as  this  will  expose  them  to.  Eighth. 
God  having  given  us  so  many  warnings  by  other  places  where 
Anabaptism  getting  head  hath  proved  an  incendiary  and  vexation  to 
church  and  state,  it  would  be  too  great  an  imprudence  not  to  take 
warning  thereby,  Prov.  22  c.  3  v.  The  question  now  before  us 
not  being  wrhat  forbearance  the  churches  here  have  used  or  may 
use  towards  particular  persons  among  them,  who  only  scruple 
infant  baptism,  and  do  not  spread  their  scruples,  and  are  otherwise 
orderly  and  peaceable  ;  but  what  is  to  be  done  as  to  such  who  set  up 
an  assembly  here  in  the  way  of  Anabaptism  ?  We  speak  not  to  the 
former  but  to  the  latter  question."  * 

*  Rowley  Ch.  Records. 

May  2,  1668.  In  the  afternoon,  John  Davenport  and  wife,  with  his  son  and 
family,  reach  Boston,  and  are  welcomed  by  many  of  the  inhabitants.  They  are 
sheltered  from  a  heavy  shower  by  the  coach  of  Mr.  Searle,  sent  out  to  meet 
them. 


428  BAPTISTS   ORDERED  TO   DEPART. 

[Mass. 

May  2.  The  Legislature  while  in  session  this  month  attend  to 
various  calls*  They  take  up  the  important  case  of  the  Baptists. 
"  Whereas,  Thomas  Gould  and  company  have  been  complained  of, 
and  stand  convicted  in  this  Court  of  setting  up  an  unlawful  assem- 
bly, which  they  call  a  church  of  Christ,  whereof  they  have  been 
admonished,  warned  and  required  to  desist  from  their  offensive  and 
presumptuous  practices,  yet  have  declared  their  resolution  to  con- 
tinue therein  :  And  whereas  the  Council  assembled  in  March  last, 
did,  for  their  further  conviction,  appoint  a  meeting  of  divers  elders, 
and  require  the  said  persons  to  attend  the  said  meeting,  which  was 
holden  in  Boston  with  a  great  concourse  of  people,  the  effect 
whereof  hath  not  been  prevalent  with  them  as  we  could  have 
desired  :  This  Court  being  sensible  of  their  duty  to  God  and  the 
country,  and  being  desirous  that  their  proceedings  in  this  great 
cause  might  be  clear  and  regular,  do  order  that  the  said  Gould  and 
company  be  required  to  appear  before  this  Court  on  the  7th  inst., 
at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  that  the  Court  may  understand  from 
themselves,  whether  upon  the  means  used  or  other  considerations, 
they  have  altered  their  former  declared  resolution,  and  are  willing 
to  desist  from  their  former  offensive  practice,  that  accordingly  a 
meet  effectual  remedy  may  be  applied  to  so  dangerous  a  malady, 
and  the  Secretary  to  issue  out  warrants  accordingly." 

7.  Thomas  Gould,  William  Turner  and  John  Farnham,  Sen., 
appear,f  but  still  justify  their  past  course.  Hull  informs  us,  that 
when  asked  whether  they  would  lay  down  their  assemblings,  they 
answered,  that  they  felt  themselves  "  bound  to  continue  in  their 
way,  and  were  ready  to  seal  it  with  their  blood."  The  Court  re- 
count the  various  means  ineffectually  employed  to  turn  them  from 
their  opinions.  They  observe  that  the  toleration  of  their  secession 
from  gospel  order,  would  open  a  "door  for  all  sorts  of  abomina- 
tions, to  the  disturbance  not  only  of  our  ecclesiastical  enjoyments, 
but  also  contempt  of  our  civil  order  and  the  authorities  here  estab- 
lished." Considering  such  consequences,  the  Legislature  "judge 
it  necessary  that  they  be  removed  to  some  other  part  of  this  country 
or  elsewhere,  and  accordingly  doth  order,  that  the  said  Gould, 
Turner  and  Farnham  do,  before  the  20th  of  July  next,  remove 
themselves  out  of  this  Jurisdiction,"  and  that  if  after  this  time, 
either  of  them  be  found  here  without  a  license  from  the  Court  or 
Council,  he  shall  be  imprisoned,  and  so  remain  until  he  shall  give 
sufficient  security  to  depart  immediately  and  not  return  without 
such  permission.  The  authorities  forbid  these  Baptists  to  hold  any 
meetings  on  the  Sabbath  with  those  of  their  denomination  before 
the  specified  20th  of  July  ;  and  order  that,  if  they  do,  they  shall  be 
confined  in  jail  until  the  10th  of  July,  when  they  may  be  released 
so  as  to  have  ten  days  for  preparation  to  leave  the  Colony. 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Records.  t  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  377. 


DEATH   OF  MITCHELL.  I  £9 

1668.] 

A-  Gould  is  still  imprisoned  in  Middlesex  for  refusing  to  pay  his 

fine,  the  Court  conclude  that  alter  the  lecture  to  them  and  the 
declaration  of  the1  sentence  against  hitn  and  his  two  brethren,  he 
mav  he  set  at  liberty,  so  that  he  may  get  ready  lor  his  withdrawal 
from  their  Government.* 

87,  The  inhabitants  of  Rowley,  settled  over  against  Haverhill, 
are  allowed  their  petition  to  be  a  township  when  they  shall  have 
settled  M  an  able  and  orthodox  minister." 

Philip  Wharton,  supposed  to  be  a  Quaker,  being  absent,  and  his 
wife,  Alary,  destitute,  the  Selectmen  of  Boston  are  empowered f  to 
use  his  property,  left  in  the  hands  of  another  man,  for  her  sup- 
port. 

On  professions  of  friendship}  to  them  by  the  Nipmugs  and  Nar- 
ragansetts,  the  Legislature  declare  themselves  to  be  in  amity  with 
them,  and  grant  a  trial  to  the  former  Indians  "  in  their  profession 
to  pray  to  God  and  to  be  in  subjection  to  the  Government  of  Mas- 
sachusetts." 

June  13.  Robert  Page,  of  Boston,  is  prosecuted  §  for  "setting 
sail  from  Xahant,  in  his  boat,  being  loaden  with  wood,  thereby 
profaning  the  Lord's  day." 

30.  Some  of  the  Salem  Quakers  ||  are  fined  for  non-attendance 
on  the  authorized  worship.  Edward  Wharton,  one  of  them,  though 
uncalled  for,  repeatedly  entered  the  Court  "  in  an  unreverent  man- 
ner with  his  hat  on,"  and  declared  that  the  Government  had  shed 
innocent  blood.  He  was  asked  if  he  did  not  wickedly,  by  thus 
expressing  himself.  He  replied  :  "  God  forbid  I  should  own  that 
to  be  wicked,  which  God  requires  of  me."  He  was  amerced  £50, 
and  ordered  to  be  imprisoned  till  the  sum  should  be  paid. 

July  9.  Jonathan  Mitchell,  of  Cambridge,  dies  in  his  43d  year. 
He  was  son  of  Jonathan,  born  at  Halifax,  Yorkshire,  1624  ;  was 
brought  to  New  England  by  his  father,  1635  ;  and,  as  a  member 
of  his  family,  in  different  places,  was  called  to  endure  severe 
afflictions.  He  graduated,  as  an  eminent  scholar,  from  Harvard, 
1647.  Even  before  his  first  public  sermon,  the  fame  of  his  "  learn- 
ing, wisdom,  gravity  and  piety  "  had  so  spread,  that  several  promi- 
nent churches  endeavored  to  secure  his  services.  The  church  at 
Hartford  sent  a  man  and  horse  for  him,  and  he  was  prevailed  on  to 
visit  them.  He  preached  his  first  sermon  there,  June  24,  1649,  but 
he  preferred  the  people  of  Shepard,  and  was  ordained  over  them, 
August  21,  1650.  He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  his  prede- 
cessor in  office,  and  left  several  children.  He  preached  a  monthly 
lecture,  fully  attended  by  persons  from  adjacent  towns,  as  well  as 

*  Hull's  MS.  Diary.     Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  377-80. 

f  Francis  Willoughby,  Deputy  Governor,  and  others,  did  not  coincide  in 
these  measures  against  the  Baptists.— Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  382. 

t  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Drake's  Boston.  ||  Essex  Qt.  Ct.  Rec.     Annals  of 

Salem. 


430  OPPRESSION  OF  PROTESTANTS. 

[Mass. 

by  others  of  Cambridge.  He  wrote  a  letter,  containing  religious 
observations,  1649,  to  his  brother ;  was  author  of  a  Preface  to 
"  The  Perfection  of  Glorification  Hereafter  in  Heaven ; "  of  an 
Election  Sermon,  as  already  mentioned ;  drew  up  Considerations 
on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  printed  1675  ;  and  preached  ten  dis- 
courses on  the  glory  to  which  God  hath  called  believers  by  Jesus 
Christ ;  published  in  London,  1677,  and  afterwards  in  Boston, 
1721.  Bradstreet's  Journal  remarks  of  him  :  "  He  was  a  man 
of  eminent  parts  and  great  learning." 

"He  seemed  express  on  Heaven's  high  errand  sent, 
As  Moses  meek,  as  Aaron  eloquent." 

August  9.  To  this  date  from  January  26,  thirty-two  persons 
were  admitted  to  the  church  of  Charlestown,  and  all  but  three  by 
profession. 

20.  The  Diary  of  Hull  has  the  record  of  news,  suited  to  excite 
the  sympathy  of  our  churches,  that  "Protestants  are  much  oppress- 
ed in  France  :  many  of  their  public  meeting  places  are  taken  from 
them.  Non- conformists  in  England  have  no  liberty  to  preach. 
Many  fears  of  a  massacre  from  the  Popish  party  there,  heightened 
from  the  coming  over  of  Frenchmen  in  small  companies." 

September.  About  this  time,  William  Walton,  of  Marblehead, 
dies.  The  inventory  of  his  estate  was  taken  the  next  23d  of  No- 
vember. His  wife,  Elizabeth,  survived  him,  and  died  1682,  leav- 
ing several  children.  Though  Marblehead  was  incorporated  during 
his  ministry,  still  the  church  there,  of  which  he  was  pastor,  was 
continued  as  a  branch  of  the  Salem  church  for  that  period  and 
some  time  longer.  His  emigration  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  reform, 
and  his  long  and  steady  labors  among  his  flock,  are  indications 
that,  though  not  enrolled  on  the  pages  of  history,  he  deserves  the 
estimation  of  no  ordinary  worth. 

October  11.  John,  son  of  John  Eliot,  missionary  among  the 
Indians,  dies,f  as  the  first  minister  of  Newton.  He  was  born  at 
Roxbury,  August  31,  1636,  graduated  at  H.  Coll.,  1656,  admitted 
freeman,  1660,  and  ordained  July  20,  1664.  His  first  wife  was 
Sarah,  who  died  and  left  a  daughter  Sarah.  His  second  was  Eliz- 
abeth, daughter  of  Daniel  Gookin,  whom  he  married  May  23, 1666. 
She  left  a  son  John.  Hull  informs  us,  that  Mr.  Eliot  preached  at 
a  Fast  in  Cambridge,  and  was  taken  after  it  with  an  eruption  of 
blood,  which  caused  his  death  in  a  few  weeks.  For  years  he  was 
an  efficient  assistant  to  his  father  in  his  mission  among  the  natives. 
Gookin  informs  us,  that  besides  his  labors  at  Cambridge  Village, 
"  he  for  several  years  preached  the  gospel  to  the  Indians,  once  a 
fortnight  constantly  at  Pakemit,  and  sometimes  at  Natick  and  other 

*  Magnalia,  b.  iv.  p.  166-85. 

f  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  242,  makes  it  11th,  but  Hull's  Diary  has  it  13th. 


RECOMMENDATION   OP  THE   DAVENPORT  FAMILY.      481 
1068.] 

places.  The  most  judicious  Christian  Indians  esteemed  him  ;is  ■ 
most  excellent  preacher  in  their  language.'9  Morton  sayi  of  him, 
"lie  was  a  person  excellently  endowed  and  accomplished  with 
gilts  of  nature,  Learning  and  grace.  All  the  wise  and  godly,  who 
knew  him,  loved  and  honored  him  in  the  Lord,  and  hewailed  his 
death/'  Apprehensive,  like  others,  that,  from  appearances,  calam- 
ities would  come  upon  the  country,  he  said  to  those  around  his 
dying  bed,  M  My  dear  friends,  there  is  a  dark  day  coming  upon 
New  England.  In  so  dark  a  day,  how  will  you  provide  for  your 
own  security  ?  My  council  to  you  is,  secure  an  interest  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  will  carry  you  safely  to  the  world's 
end." 

12.  Nicholas  Street,  in  behalf  of  the  New  Haven*  church, 
writes  to  the  Boston  church.  They  mentioned  that  while  their 
first  letter  about  Mr.  Davenport  had  been  interpreted  as  granting 
him  permission  to  leave  them,  their  second  had  been  explained  as 
withholding  such  liberty  from  him.  They  added,  "  Yet  if  this 
will  satisfy,  (but  not  otherwise,)  we  are  content  to  waive  and  bury 
in  silence,  and  leave  both  yourselves  and  him  to  make  what  im- 
provement you  see  cause,  (without  any  clog  or  impediment  from  us 
upon  that  account,)  of  the  liberty  before  mentioned.  As  he  hath 
been  a  faithful  laborer  in  God's  vineyard  at  New  Haven  for  many 
years,  to  the  bringing  home  of  many  souls  to  God,  and  building  up 
of  many  others ;  so  it  is  and  shall  be  our  prayer  to  God  to  lengthen 
his  life  and  tranquillity  in  Boston,  to  double  his 'Spirit  upon  him, 
assist  him  in  his  work,  and  make  him  a  blessed  instrument  of  much 
good  to  yourselves  and  many  others."  They  then  remarked,  that 
as  Mr.  Davenport,  his  son  and  their  two  wives  had  requested  to  be 
dismissed  from  their  church,  we  desire  "  you  to  receive  them  in  the 
Lord  as  becometh  saints,"  and  implore  "Almighty  God  for  his 
blessing  upon  them  from  his  holy  ordinances  in  their  communion 
with  you." 

14.  The  General  Court  assemble.  They  pass  the  following :  f 
"  Whoever  travels  a  horseback,  on  foot  or  in  boat,  on  the  Sabbath, 
to  any  unlawful  assembly  or  meeting,  are  profaners  of  this  holy  day 
and  shall  be  prosecuted  accordingly." 

"Whereas  the  Christian  magistrate  is  bound  by  the  Word  of 
God  to  preserve  the  peace,  order  or  liberty  of  the  churches  of 
Christ,  and  by  all  due  means  to  promote  religion  in  doctrine  and 
discipline,  according  to  the  Word  of  God  ;  and  whereas  by  our 
Law,  titled,  Ecclesiastical,  Sec.  4 ;  It  is  ordered  and  declared,  that 
every  church,  hath  free  liberty  of  calling,  election  and  ordination 
of  all  her  officers,  from  time  to  time,  provided  they  be  able, 
pious  and  orthodox.     For  the  better  explanation  of  the  said  law, 

*  Bacon's  Historical  Discourse,  p.  H4,  o.  "SVisner's  Hist,  of  the  Old  South 
Church,  p.  75.  t  Mass.  Archives.     Eccl.  i.  p.  65. 


432  SIGNIFICATION   OF  THE  WORD   CHURCH. 

[Mass. 

and  as  an  addition  thereunto,  this  Court  doth  order  and  declare, 
and  be  it  hereby  ordered  and  enacted,  that  by  the  church,  is  to  be 
meant  such  as  are  in  full  communion  only;  and  that  the  teaching 
officer  or  officers  of  such  church  or  churches,  we  do  intend  shall 
be  the  minister  or  ministers  to  all  the  people  in  that  Town  where 
such  church  or  churches  are  planted ;  and  that  no  inhabitant  in 
any  Town  shall  challenge  a  right  unto,  or  act  in  the  calling  or 
election  of  such  officer  or  minister,  until  he  be  in  full  communion, 
upon  the  penalty  of  being  accounted  a  disturber  of  peace  and  order, 
to  be  punished  by  the  Court  of  that  Shire,  either  by  admonition, 
security  for  good  behaviour,  fine  or  imprisonment,  according  to  the 
quality  and  degree  of  the  offense." 

The  sentence  passed  against  the  Baptists  in  May,  is  ordered  to 
be  printed.  An  answer  to  this  was  written*  apparently  by  Gould's 
wife,  who  took  steps  for  its  transmission  to  the  Baptists  of  England. 

November  7.  The  Court  take  up  a  petition  f  from  inhabitants  of 
Boston  and  Charlestown,  in  favor  of  Gould,  Turner  and  Farnham. 
They  observe  that  there  are  expressions  in  it  reproachful  to  them, 
and  not  true;  that  they  have  charity  towards  many  of  the  sub- 
scribers, who  have  been  unduly  influenced.  They  command  Ed- 
ward Hutchinson,  James  Oliver,  Richard  Way,  Thomas  Grubb, 
William  Howard,  Randal  Nichols,  Solomon  Phips  and  James  Cary, 
who  were  of  them,  to  appear  and  answer.  These  persons  accord- 
ingly obey,  2  2d,  and  apologize  for  unintentionally  offending  the 
Court.  It  appears  that  Benjamin  Sweetser  and  Joshua  Atwater 
had  been  the  chief  promoters  of  the  petition,  and  gone  from  house 
to  house  for  the  purpose.  The  Court  admonish  both  of  them,  fine 
Sweetser,  £10,  and  Atwater,  £5. 

In  reply  to  Farnham's  request,  the  Legislature  release  him  from 
prison,  if  he  will  attend  worship  twice  on  the  Sabbath  when  able, 
in  assemblies  allowed  by  law.  Provided  he  do  not  so  comply,  his 
sentence  of  banishment  and  imprisonment  is  to  remain. 

24.  Some  of  the  Salem  Quakers  {  are  prosecuted.  Samuel  Shat- 
tuck,  John  Blevin,  Josiah  Southwick  and  Joshua  Buffum  are  to  be 
imprisoned  one  month  for  not  paying  their  fines.  Nathaniel  Had- 
lock  is  admonished  for  worshiping  with  them ;  fined  40/.  for  re- 
fusing to  assist  a  constable;  and  is  to  be  whipped  severely  for 
declaring  that  he  could  receive  no  profit  from  Higginson's  ministry, 
and  that  the  Government  were  guilty  of  innocent  blood.  He  is 
required  to  give  bond  in  £20,  that  he  will  keep  the  peace. 

December  9.  Messrs.  Davenport  as  pastor,  and  Allen  as  teacher, 
are  settled  over  the  First  church  in  Boston.  Hull  states  that  the 
brethren  who  dissented  from  this  union,  desired  their  dismission 
before  it  took  place,  but  without  avail,  and  that  their  communion 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  3S2.  f  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  J  Essex  Qt.  Ct.  Papers. 

November  1.  John  Davenport,  Sen.  and  Jun.,  and  their  wives,  are  admitted 
members  to  the  First  church  in  Boston. 


THE   MINISTERS  OF   NEW    ENGLAND.  483 

1009.] 

at  the  table  was  not  without   trouble.      Mr.  Allen,*   who  had    been 
a  Fellow  of  Now  Colli  rd,  and  ejected  by  the  Bartholomew 

act,  came  to  this  country,  1662,  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  First 
Boston  church,  August  £5,  1()(>4,  and  a  freeman,  1005. 

This  year,  as  a  means  of  confirming  what  many  supposed  were 
real  charges  against  the  Anabaptists,  a  book  known  as  the  "  Rise, 
Springing  and  Foundation"  of  this  denomination,  written  in  French 
by  Guy  de  Brez,  1565,  was  printed  in  Cambridge  and  sold  by 
Marmaduke  .Johnson. 

In  connection  with  his  story  of  the  Jews'  return  to  the  Messiah, 
Increase  Mather  writes  upon  the  Millennium,!  under  the  words, 
"  Diatriba  de  Signo  Filii  Hominis,  et  de  Secundo  Messiae  Adventu." 
It  was  printed  in  Holland,  1082.  Its  preface  was  composed  by 
John  Davenport. 

1669.  January.  The  following  wTas  written  from  New  to  Old 
England  "  by  a  Reverend  minister*  who  had  lived  there  forty  years." 
"  There  came  over  from  England  at  several  times,  chiefly  before 
1640,  ninety-four  ministers,  of  which  twenty-seven  returned  to  Eng- 
land again,  and  there  are  now  dead  in  the  country,  thirty-six ;  and 
as  yet  living  in  the  country,  thirty-one.  The  ministers  bred  up  in 
New  England,  are  one  hundred  and  thirty-two,  of  which  two  are 
dead  in  the  country,  forty-one  have  removed  to  England,  most  of 
them  from  our  College,  besides  other  scholars,  that  have  in  Eng- 
land turned  to  other  professions,  and  eighty-one,  that  are  now  liv- 
ing in  the  country,  employed  in  the  ministry  in  several  places." 

"  It  hath  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  such  a  blessing  to  the  Gospel 
among  the  Indians,  that  in  divers  places  there  are  not  only  many 
civilized,  but  divers  that  are  truly  godly,  and  shame  the  English, 
and  are  much  hated  by  others  of  their  own  countrymen.  Though 
that  work  has  met  with  many  obstructions  and  remorses,  chiefly  by 
the  death  of  some  of  the  choicest  instruments,  and  many  of  the 
best  of  the  Indians ;  yet  it  may  well  be  believed,  that  there  is  such 
a  seed  of  the  Gospel  scattered  among  them,  which  will  grow  unto 
a  further  harvest  in  God's  time." 

February  12.  Edward  Rainsford,  brother  of  Lord  Chief  Justice 
Rainsford,  and  Jacob  Eliot,  are  displaced  by  the  First  church  of 
Boston  §  from  being  their  Deacons.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that 
these  two  officers,  with  other  brethren,  had  desired  to  be  dismissed 
from  the  church,  because  they  had  chosen  Mr.  Davenport  for  their 
pastor. 

March  2.  The  Court  of  Assistants  grant  permission  ||  to  Thomas 
Gould  and  William  Turner,  imprisoned  for  adherence  to  their  pur- 

*  Calamy,  vol.  ii.  p.  75. 

f  Remarkables  of  I.  Mather,  p.  64,  235.     Magnalia,  b.  iii.  ch.  4,  p.  301. 
X  John  Higginson  had  been  in  New  England  this  period.     Account  of  Four 
Chief  Plantations,  N.  England,  etc. 

$  First  Ch.  Rec.  ||  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  396,  7. 


434  CATECHISM  OF  THE   PEOPLE  IN  RELIGION. 

[Mass. 

pose  of  continuing  worship  with  others,  as  a  Baptist  Society,  that 
they  may  be  liberated  for  three  days,  so  as  to  visit  their  families 
and  "  apply  themselves  to  any  that  are  able  and  orthodox,  for  their 
further  convincement  of  their  many  irregularities  in  these  practices, 
for  which  they  were  sentenced,"  and  that  they  give  security  to  the 
prison  keepers  for  their  return  to  confinement. 

10.  The  Governor  and  Council  advise  the  ministers  of  all  towns 
"to  catechize  and  instruct  all  people  (especially  youth)  in  the 
sound  principles  of  the  Christian  Religion,  and  that  not  only  in 
public,  but  privately  from  house  to  house,  or  at  least  three,  four  or 
more  families  meeting  together,  as  time  and  strength  may  permit ; 
taking  to  your  assistance  such  godly  and  grave  persons,  as  to  you 
may  seem  expedient."*  Such  advice  was  sent  in  a  printed  letter  to 
every  minister  of  the  Colony.     Conformity  with  it  was  salutary. 

25.  We  have  a  letter  of  this  date  from  Robert  Mascall,f  of  Fins- 
bury,  near  Morefield,  in  England.  He  expresses  his  great  regard 
for  New  England  and  her  churches,  and  gratitude  for  divine  aid  in 
visiting  her  shores.  He  is  anxious,  however,  because  they  "  perse- 
cute "  the  Baptists,  who  are  freely  admitted  to  the  churches  of  like 
form  in  England.  He  mentions  that  the  Congregationalists  of 
Massachusetts  are  reported  to  have  "swerved  aside  towards"  Pres- 
byterianism,  which  he  considers  an  evil,  and  one  that  did  great 
injury  to  Scotland.  As  to  those  of  this  order,  he  observes,  "  The 
generality  of  them  here,  even  to  this  day,  will  not  freely  consent  to 
our  enjoyment  of  our  liberty ;  though  through  mercy  the  best  and 
most  reformed  of  them  do  otherwise."  He  argues  eloquently,  that 
even  though  the  Baptists  are  opposed  to  the  baptism  of  children  on 
behalf  of  their  parents,  and  to  the  institution  of  Ruling  Elders,  yet 
they  should  be  borne  with,  and  those  of  them  imprisoned,  should 
be  immediately  released. 

On  the  same  subject,  a  communication  J  from  the  Rev.  Drs. 
Goodwin  and  Owen,  Messrs.  Nye  and  Caryl,  and  nine  other  dis- 
tinguished ministers  of  the  dissenting  interest  in  London,  is 
addressed  to  the  Governor  of  this  Colony.  These  correspondents 
revert  to  what  the  authorities  had  done  to  suppress  the  Baptist 
denomination.  They  regret  such  procedure  as  calculated  to  hurt 
the  Congregational  cause  in  England.  They  state  that  it  had  been 
cast  in  their  teeth,  that  persons  of  their  persuasion  could  not  "  bear 
with  dissenters  from  them."  They  advise  :  "  We  only  make  it 
our  hearty  request  to  you  that  you  would  trust  God  with  his  truths 
and  ways  so  far  as  to  suspend  all  rigorous  proceedings  in  corporal 
restraints  and  punishments,  on  persons  that  dissent  from  you,  and 
practice  the  principles  of  their  dissent  without  danger  or  disturb- 
ance to  the  civil  peace  of  the  place." 

*  Annals  of  Salem,  p.  236.    Neal's  New  England,  vol.  i.  p.  370. 
t  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  390-5.  J  Magnalia,  b.  vii.  p.  27,  8. 


SOUTH   CHUBCH    i\    BOSTON   FORMED.  435 

L669.] 

£6.  Messrs.  Higginson,  of  Salem,  and  Thatcher,  of  Boston, 
recommend  to  the  public  Morton's  Memorial,  as  indicated  in  the 
beginning  of  the  book. 

~i).  A  question  comes  before  the  First  church  of  Boston,* 
whether  they  "  see  light  from  the  word  of  God  to  dismiss  our 
dissenting  brethren  that  desire  it,"  and  is  decided  in  the  negative. 
On  the  olst  of  March,  the  brethren  so  denied,  being  twenty-eight 
of  Boston  and  one  of  Charlestown,  send  letters  to  various  churches 
to  meet  in  council,  on  the  13th  of  next  month,  and  advise  them 
on  taking  ;i  dismission  and  forming  a  new  church.  Among  their 
reasons  for  this  course  are,  that  Mr.  Davenport  opposed  the  half- 
way covenant,  and  wras  not  regularly  dismissed  from  New  Haven 
church.  On  the  6th  of  April,  some  of  the  elders  meet  at  Charles- 
town  f  to  consult  whether  they  should  inform  the  First  Boston 
church  that  they  were  grieved  and  offended,  because  they  had 
refused  to  dismiss  their  dissenting  members,  and  more  so  because 
they  endeavored  to  censure  them.  On  the  13th  of  April,  a 
council,  composed  of  elders  and  delegates  from  fifteen  churches, 
assemble  at  Charlestown  on  similar  business.  They  apply  to  Mr. 
Davenport  and  his  colleague,  and  then  to  these  with  their  church, 
in  order  to  compromise  the  difficulties,  but  without  success.  After 
these  steps,  they  approve  of  the  advice  given  by  a  similar  body  to 
the  dissenting  brethren,  and  counsel  them  to  become  a  separate 
church  by  themselves.  On  the  16th  of  April  the  council  hand 
their  decision  to  the  dissenters,  who  delivered  it  to  their  elder, 
Penn,  on  the  19th,  when  he  gives  it  to  the  First  church,  who  de- 
cline to  receive  any  papers  from  such  council  as  being  irregular. 

March  30.  A  committee  of  Newbury  X  complain  to  the  County 
Court  sitting  at  Ipswich,  of  Edward  Woodman,  because  he  had 
spoken  of  their  ministers,  Messrs.  John  Woodbridge  and  Thomas 
Parker,  in  very  hard  terms.  The  cause  of  such  a  charge  was 
connected  with  a  division  in  the  church  of  two  parties,  nearly 
equal,  the  one  called  Mr.  Parker's  and  the  other  Mr.  Woodman's. 
The  latter  was  strongly  opposed  to  the  Presbyterian  order  exercised 
by  the  former.  The  Court  decide  that  Mr.  Woodman  "  shall 
be  seriously   and  solemnly  admonished  and  enjoined  to  make  a 

*  First  Ch.  Record. 

f  Ministers  named  on  this  council  at  Charlestown,  were  as  follows  :  Mather 
and  Stoughton,  of  Dorchester,  Shepard,  of  Charlestown,  Torrey,  of  Wey- 
mouth, Bulkley,  of  Concord,  Whiting,  of  Lynn,  Philips,  of  Rowley,  Cobbet, 
of  Ipswich  ;  Palmer  and  White  are  named  for  Haverhill,  though  there  is  no 
proof  that  either  of  them  was  a  preacher  ;  Dane,  of  Andover,  Brown,  of 
Sudbury,  Rowlandson,  of  Lancaster,  Sherman,  of  Watertown,  Hale,  of  Bass 
River,  Higginson,  of  Salem,  and  Newman  and  Fisk,  of  Wrentham,  supposed 
that  one  or  both  were  ministers,  but,  as  their  Christian  names  are  not  given, 
cannot  determine.  J  Coffin's  History. 

April  21,  1669.  "Mrs.  Grace  Bulkley,  the  widow  of  Mr.  Peter  Bulkley, 
some  time  pastor  of  the  church  of  Concord,  deceased.  She  was  a  woman  of 
great  piety  and  wisdom." 


436  DIVISIONS  IN  THE  NEWBURY  CHURCH. 

[Mass. 

public  confession  at  the  next  public  town  and  church  meeeting  at 
Newbury,"  or  pay  £5  and  costs.  Samuel  Symonds  and  William 
Hathorne,  of  the  justices,  dissent  from  the  decision.  These  two 
give  their  opinion  that  in  the  striving  of  each  party  for  the  control, 
the  Congregational  part  being  equal  to  the  other  in  numbers,  if  not 
greater,  not  only  Mr.  Woodman,  but  other  brethren,  had  uttered 
hard  language,  and  that  they  all  should  seek  for  peace  and  confess 
their  miscarriages  at  a  church  meeting,  and  particularly  Mr.  Wood- 
man. On  the  28th  of  April,  Mr.  Parker's  friends  being  dissatis- 
fied with  this  opinion  of  Symonds  and  Hathorne,  complained  to 
the  same  Court  that  said  opinion  had  not  been  commmunicated  to 
them,  nor  did  they  consider  it  legal,  because  they  had  no  trial  in 
reference  to  it ;  and  then  they  proceed  to  traverse  its  several 
positions.  They  particularly  notice  the  manner  of  voting  in  the 
church,  as  one  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  complaint.  "  Near 
thirty  years  since,  at  a  Synod  at  Cambridge,  it  was  proposed,  and 
it  was  consented  unto  by  them,  that  if  the  ministers  thought  it 
most  convenient  to  vote  by  speech  and  silence,  rather  than  by 
lifting  up  the  hand,  tjiey  had  nothing  against  it;  seeing  the  one 
was  a  testimony  of  consent  as  well  as  the  other ;  so  this  kind  of 
voting  began  and  continued  in  practice,  without  difference  or  in- 
terruption, for  a  good  season."  No  beneficial  result  appears  to 
have  followed  from  the  Court's  decision.  As  usual,  each  party 
fortified  itself  in  the  belief  of  its  own  rectitude.  On  the  5th  of 
November,  an  exparte  council,  consisting  of  messengers  from  nine 
churches,  invited  to  consider  the  troubles,  give  in  the  result  of 
their  deliberations  through  Thomas  Cobbett.  They  speak  of  meet- 
ings and  votes  of  the  Woodman  party,  claiming  to  be  the  church, 
distinct  from  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Parker,  as  contrary  to  gospel 
order,  and  no  more  to  be  held  and  passed.  They  advise  the  latter 
party  to  be  kind  towards  the  dissenters,  so  that  the  gospel  cause  be 
not  reproached.  This  endeavor  to  settle  the  contention  was  in- 
effectual. Not  only  did  dissension  prevail  in  religious  matters  of 
the  town,  but  in  all  its  other  public  concerns. 

April  22.  Richard  Mather,  minister  of  Dorchester,  departs  this 
life.  His  first  wife  was  Catharine,  daughter  of  Edmund  Hoult, 
whom  he  married  in  England.  She  died  in  1655.  He  was  married 
to  Sarah,  widow  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  August  26,  1656.  His  chil- 
dren were  Samuel,  Timothy,  Nathaniel  and  Joseph,  born  in  England, 
and  Eleazer  and  Increase,  born  at  Dorchester.  A  few  days  prior 
to  his  decease,  he  took  an  active  part  in  favor  of  the  dissenting 
brethren  of  Boston,  whose  case  has  been  just  mentioned.  He  com- 
posed a  discourse  about  the  Church  Covenant,  and  a  reply  to  thirty- 
two  questions,  by  request  of  the  Elders  of  New  England,  printed 
1639.  In  1640,  he  assisted  Messrs.  Eliot  and  Welde  in  making  a 
version  of  the  Psalms.  He  wrote,  as  before  stated,  an  answer  to 
Charles  Herle's  publication  against  the  Independency  of  Churches, 


PROTEST  acainst  CHURCH    PROGEEDINi  4S1 

idea] 

1644,  and  another  to  Rutherford  in  defense  of  the  answer,  1646. 
His  Model  of  Church  Discipline,  presented  to  the  Synod  of  1648, 

was  principally  adopted  by  them  in  preference  to  others,  offered  by 
Cotton  and  Partridge.  He  wrote  a  letter  of  exhortation  to  Ins 
countrymen  of  Lancashire,  1(>00  ;  a  catechism;  a  treatise  on  Justi- 
iication,  1652  ;  a  communication  to  Mr.  Hooker  in  favor  of  a  min- 
ister's administering  the  sacrament  to  a  congregation  not  under  his 
own  immediate  care;  an  election  sermon,  l(j()0 ;  reply  to  Mr. 
Davenport's  objections  to  propositions  of  the  Synod,  1002.  In 
addition,  he  prepared  for  the  press  discourses  on  the  Second  Epistle 
of  Peter,  and  a  defense  of  the  New  England  churches.  A  small 
likeness  of  Mather  affords  the  following  sketch :  A  striking  coun- 
tenance,  with  eyes  and  nose  of  more  than  common  size,  and  a  full 
and  long  beard.  His  clothing  was  a  black  cap,  white  bands  and 
black  gown,  with  small  white  cuffs.  His  right  hand  holds  a  pair  of 
bow  spectacles,  and  his  left,  an  open  Bible.  His  intellectual  powers 
were  above  the  common  order,  well  disciplined  by  the  studies  of 
literature  and  science.  His  extensive  acquaintance  w7ith  church 
history  and  theology,  and  above  all  his  eminent  piety,  fitted  him  for 
the  sphere  in  which  he  moved,  to  the  benefit  of  many  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  to  the  honor  of  his  Saviour.  To  him,*  among  the 
worthies  of  our  country,  New  England  is  much  indebted  for  the 
salutary  influences  which  have  largely  contributed  to  whatever  of 
excellence  and  prosperity  she  has  experienced  and  still  hopes  to 
enjoy. 

May  3.  Thomas  Maule,  of  Salem,  a  Quaker,f  is  sentenced  to  be 
whipped  ten  stripes  for  asserting  that  Mr.  Higginson  preached  lies, 
and  that  his  instruction  was  "  the  doctrine  of  devils." 

12  and  16.  At  these  two  dates,  the  Third  Congregational  church 
of  Boston  is  formed  at  Charlestown,  consisting  of  brethren  from  Mr. 
Davenport's  church.  +  Part  of  them  signed  the  Covenant  on  the 
former  date,  and  others  on  the  latter.  Six  of  the  magistrates  were 
of  opinion,  that  such  formation  should  not  be  allowed,  and  eight  of 
them  entertained  a  different  judgment.  Three  of  the  elders  op- 
posed it,  and  the  rest  of  them  were  in  its  favor. 

About  the  last  date,  seventeen  ministers,^  probably  the  Council 
who  sanctioned  the  embodiment  of  the  new  church,  protest  against 
the  proceedings  of  Messrs.  Davenport  and  Allen,  and  their  ruling 
elder,  James  Penn.  They  censure  Mr.  Davenport's  leaving  his 
pastoral'  charge  in  New  Haven.     They  interpret  the  reading  of 

*  Magnalia,  b;  iii.  ch.  20,  p.  122-30.  Hull's  MS.  Diary  says  Mather  died 
20th  of  April. 

f  Essex  Qt.  Ct.  Rec.     Annals  of  Salem,  p.  235. 

t  Hull's  MS.  Diary.     Wisner's  Hist.  Old  South  Ch.  p.  8. 

§  John  Allin,  John  Higginson,  John  "Ward,  John  "Wilson,  Edmund  Browne, 
Samuel  Whiting,  sen.,  Thomas  Cobbett,  John  Sherman,  Samuel  Phillips,  Thomas 
Shepard,  Increase  Mather,  Samuel  Torrey,  Zachary  Symmes,  John  Brocke, 
Edward  Bulkley,  Samuel  "Whiting,  Jr.,  and  John  Hale. 


438     CONTROVERSY  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  CHURCHES. 

[Mass. 
only  parts  of  the  letters  from  his  church  there  to  the  Boston  church, 
as  an  attempt  to  deceive.  A  reply  follows  from  the  three  persons 
thus  implicated  by  the  authority  of  their  church.  They  deny  that 
the  letters  and  passages  suppressed,  give  evidence  that  the  church 
of  New  Haven  refused  to  grant  Mr.  Davenport  a  dismission,  but 
that  they  were  unwilling  to  make  such  dismission  their  immediate 
act.  On  account  of  this  controversy,  Hutchinson  says :  "  Two 
parties  were  produced,  not  in  the  other  churches  only,  but  in  the 
State  also."  The  Magnalia  observes  :  "The  whole  people  of  God 
throughout  the  Colony  were  too  much  distinguished  into  such  as 
favored  the  old  church,  and  such  as  favored  the  new  church ; 
whereof  the  former  were  against  the  Synod,  and  the  latter  were  for 
it."  Randolph  subsequently  wrote  to  London:*  "There  was  a 
great  difference  between  the  old  church  and  members  of  the  new 
church  about  baptism,  and  their  members  joining  in  full  com- 
munion with  either  church.  This  was  so  high,  that  there  was 
imprisoning  of  parties  and  great  disturbances."  Such  imprisonment 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  for  illegal  worship,  because  the  far 
larger  portion  of  the  Colonists  considered  that  the  seceding 
church  were  right,  but  for  some  other  ground  of  difference.  There 
is  no  question  but  the  great  excitement  against  the  First  church 
arose  chiefly  from  Mr.  Davenport's  opposition  to  the  Synod's 
recommendation  of  the  half-way  Covenant. 

16.  A  letter  from  Mr.  Davenport  and  his  colleague  f  is  read  to 
the  Salem  church.  It  desires  that  they  would  not  think  uncharita- 
bly of  them.  Mr.  Higginson  observes  that,  as  the  dissenting 
members  had  become  a  church,  by  a  Council  composed  of  represen- 
tatives from  five  churches,  according  to  the  advice  of  two  other 
Councils,  he  perceived  no  need  of  doing  any  thing  about  the  com- 
munication. 

19.  The  General  Court  +  being  informed  that  De  Imitatione 
Christi,  "  written  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  a  Popish  minister,  wherein 
is  conteyned  some  things  that  are  less  safe  to  be  infused  among  the 
people  of  this  place,  doe  commend  it  to  the  licensers  of  the  press, 
the  more  full  revisall  thereof,  and  that  in  the  meane  time  there  be 
no  further  progresse  in  that  worke." 

They  release  Edward  Dunker  from  prison,  where  he  had  been 
put,  for  assembling  on  the  Sabbath,  March  7,  to  worship  with 
Baptists  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Gould.  They  state  to  him,  that 
if  he  repeat  the  offense,  he  shall  be  confined  for  trial. 

25.  Magistrates  object  to  the  deputies'  presenting  their  thanks  § 
to  Mr.  Davenport  for  his  late  Election  Sermon,  because  it  had 
many  passages  "ill  resented  by  the  Reverend  Elders  of  other 
churches  and  many  serious  persons." 

*  Randolph's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London.  f  First  Ch.  Rec.     Annals 

of  Salem,  p.  237.        J  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Mass.  Archives.     Eccl.  vol.  i.  p.  7. 


BISTERS   OF  CHURCH    DISCIPLINED.  439 

1069.] 

Jane  80.  Samuel/  bod  of  William  Brackenbury,  of  Maiden, 
grad.  at  Harvard  College,  1664,  afterwards  physician  in  Boston, 
where  he  died  of  small  pox,  1677,  receives  a  call  to  preach  one 
year  at  Rowley,  which  he  accepts. 

26.  William  Woodward, f  whom  Hull  calls  "a  young  but 
powerful  preacher,"  dies  at  Dedham.     He  assisted  Mr.  Allen  la 

pulpit  labors,  for  which  his  brother   Peter  claimed  £40   after   his 
decease. 

89.  Some  of  the  Quakers  belonging  to  Salem  are  fined  for  non- 
attendance  on  the  public  worship,  required  by  law.  John  Blevin 
and  Robert  Gray,  of  their  number,  are  imprisoned  for  not  giving 
security.  Tamson,  the  widow  of  Robert  Buffum,*  of  the  same 
town,  had  been  appointed  administratrix  of  his  estate ;  but,  as  Ger- 
trude Tope  and  Elizabeth  Kitchen,  of  the  Friends,  and  witnesses  to 
his  will,  would  only  testify  and  not  swear  to  its  correctness,  it  was 
not  allowed  to  remain  on  file." 

July  4.  On  the  ~9th  ult.,  while  the  First  church  of  Boston  were 
in  session,  to  satisfy  some  who  remained  dissatisfied  as  to  the  two 
letters  'concerning  Mr.  Davenport  and  the  New  Haven  church, 
"  they  put  forth  all  the  sisters,"  which  is  now  brought  up  at  the 
Lord's  Supper.  To  show  that  he  intended  no  ill,  Mr.  Allen  de- 
clared that  what  he  did  on  the  occasion  was  in  the  integrity  of  his 
heart.     Elder  Penn  assented  to  the  same  position. 

15.  The  Rowley  church  records  contain  a  statement,  which  sig- 
nifies that  many  charged  the  Elders  of  the  First  Boston  church 
with  deception;  because  they  construed  the  letter  from  Hartford 
church  as  granting  a  dismission  of  Mr.  Davenport  from  the  pas- 
toral oversight  of  them.  It  is  evident  that  his  opinion,  expressed 
against  the  half-way  covenant,  had  rendered  him  unpopular  with 
most  professors  of  religion,  who  were  thereby  more  easily  inclined 
to  indulge  suspicions  unfavorable  to  his  reputation. 

24.  Eleazar,  son  of  Richard  Mather,  and  minister  of  North- 
ampton, dies.§  He  was  born  May  13,  163T,  grad.  H.  Coll.  1656, 
and  ordained  June  23,  1661.  His  age,  of  course,  was  over  thirty- 
two  years.  He  married  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Warham, 
who  became  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard.  He  left  an 
only  daughter,  who  married  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  and  a  son, 
Warham,  grad.  H.  C.  1685,  who,  in  1688,  preached  at  Northfield. 
After  his  decease,  an  exhortation  to  the  future  and  present  genera- 
tion, collected  from  his  last  sermons,  was  published  1671.  He  was 
eminent  for  talents,  learning  and  piety ;  a  zealous  and  successful 
preacher  of  the  gospel. 

August  16.  The  First  church  of  Boston  vote,  that  "our  honoured 
magistrates  do  draw  up  instructions  for  Capt.  Clarke  to  New  Haven, 

*  Rowley  Ch.  Rec.  f  Lamson's  Centennial,  p.  26.  X  Essex  Qt. 

Ct.  Rec.     Annals  of  Salem,  p.  237.  §  Magnalia,  b.  iii.  ch.  20,  p.  130. 


440  DEFEAT  OF  NEW  ENGLAND   INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

that  they  might  declare  their  owning  of  the  Letter  sent  from  them 
to  their  church  to  be  a  true  dismission  for  Mr.  Davenport." 

20.  They  vote,  that  a  Committee  answer  a  communication  from 
Dedham  church  "  inquiring  after  the  proceeding  of  the  church 
about  a  letter  or  letters  from  the  church  of  New  Haven." 

25.  They  meet  to  hear  such  a  reply,*  and  "  unanimously  concur 
with  it  as  their  own  mind." 

This  summer,  as  a  serious  interruption  to  missionary  labors,  six 
or  seven  hundred  of  the  New  England  Indians,  who  had  been  at 
war  with  the  Maquas,  or  Mohawks,  about  seven  years,  march  into 
the  country  of  the  latter.  Eliot  and  Gookin  advised  them  against 
the  expedition.  Not  more  than  five  of  the  praying  Indians  went 
with  them,  and  only  one  of  these  lived  to  return. 

After  much  delay,  the  assailants  reached  the  fort  of  their 
enemies,  who  had  strengthened  and  stored  it  with  provisions  for  a 
siege.  The  Maquas  made  a  sally,  in  which  several  were  killed  on 
both  sides.  Some  days  after  this,  the  besiegers,  perceiving  that 
their  supplies  of  food  and  ammunition  were  nearly  exhausted,  and 
some  of  their  forces  sick,  retreated  towards  home.  When  they 
had  come  about  thirty  miles,  they  were  ambushed  by  the  Mohawks, 
and  had  fifty  or  more  of  their  chiefs,  besides  others,  slain  in  the 
conflict.  The  survivors  at  last  got  to  their  several  places  of  abode, 
much  disheartened  at  their  defeat  and  losses.  They  were  enabled, 
by  influence  of  the  English  and  Dutch,  two  years  or  more  after,  to 
make  a  peace  with  the  dreaded  Mohawks.f 

26.  The  new  church  of  Boston  apply  to  the  selectmen  J  for 
leave  to  build  a  house  of  worship.  Such  authorities  vote  that 
"  there  is  need  of  another  meeting  house  to  be  erected  in  this 
town,"  which  is  taken  as  a  permission.  The  application  for  this 
liberty  was  occasioned  by  opposition  which  the  seceders  met  with 
from  Governor  Bellingham,  a  member  of  the  First  church,  when 
he  understood  that  they  had  taken  measures  to  build.  He  called 
together  his  Council  for  advice,  as  he  observed,  "  fearing  a  sudden 
tumult,"  if  such  a  purpose  was  carried  into  effect.  They,  how- 
ever, decided  that  it  was  not  best  for  them  to  interfere,  but  let  the 
law,  with  regard  to  such  matters,  take  its  course. 

October  9.  The  First  church  of  Boston  §  attend  to  the  following 
business  :  "  Upon  hearing  the  letters  read  from  New  Haven  in 
answer  to  a  letter  of  two  of  the  elders  to  them,  it  was  voted 
unanimously  that  the  church  doth  stand  to  the  former  vote  and 
judgment  in  the  case  of  the  elders,  about  the  extracting  the  sense 
of  the  letters  dismissive."  They  agree  to  call  Mr.  Oxenbridge, 
who  had  been  so  addressed  by  Charlestown  church,  to  assist  "  the 

*  First  Boston  Ch.  Rec.     f  Gookin.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  vol.  i.  p.  166,  7. 
%  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  248,  9.     Wisner's  Hist,  of  Old  South  Church. 
Hull  states  that  the  meeting-house  was  erected  in  November  of  this  year. 
§  MS.  Rec. 


CHURCH    PARTIES  IN    NEWBURY.  Ill 

]<;70.] 

present  teaching  officers  in  preaching  the  word  <>i*  God."  They 
grant  dismission  to  Mr,  Thacher  and  his  wife  to  the  Charlestown 
church. 

12,  The  Genera]  Court,  in  their  appointment  of  Thanksgiving 
for  the  17th  of  the  next  month,  Bpeak  as  though  ;i  famine  threat- 
ened the  Colony  the  preceding  summer  by  excessive  rains. 

:»'.).  The  new  church  of  Boston  desire*  John  Hull,  hound  to 
England,  to  obtain  a  minister  there,  as  colleague  with  Mr.  Thacher. 
On  the  4th  of  November,  nineteen  ministers  address  a  letter  by 
Mr.  Hull  to  ministers  and  brethren  of  the  Congregational  order  in 
that  kingdom,  for  a  similar  purpose.  On  the  8th,  Mr.  Thacher 
and  twenty-seven  brethren  of  his  new  church  sign  a  letter  with  a 
like  direction  and  object. 

December  13.  The  First  church  of  Boston  f  vote  "  that  the 
elders  should  go  from  house  to  house  to  visit  the  families,  and  see 
how  they  are  instructed  in  the  grounds  of  religion." 

This  year  Michael  Wigglesworth,  of  Maiden,  published  a  poem 
on  the  sanctification  of  afflictions. 

1670.  January  12.  The  Third  church  of  Boston  keep  a  day 
of  fasting  and  humiliation  when  they  elected  Thomas  Thacher  for 
their  minister,  Edward  Rainsford  for  ruling  elder,  Jacob  Eliot  and 
Peter  Brackett  for  deacons,  and  designate  the  16th  of  February 
for  their  induction  into  office.  This  appointment  was  complied 
with  by  ministers  of  the  Bay,  but  Mr.  Phillips,  of  Rowley ,{  noted 
that  he  was  unable  to  attend,  because  there  was  so  much  snow. 
The  First  church  of  Boston,  whence  the  Third  church  had  seceded, 
were  invited  to  take  part  in  these  solemnities,  but  they  declined. 

February  2.  Benjamin  Bunker,  minister  of  Maiden,  dies.  He 
was  son  of  George  and  Judith  Bunker,  of  Charlestown,  born  1635, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1658,  and  ordained  December  9, 
1663. 

Michael  Wigglesworth  wrote  of  the  deceased  : 

"  He  was  another  Timothy, 

That,  from  his  very  youth, 
With  holy  writ  acquainted  was, 

And  verst  in  th'  word  of  truth  ; 
"Who,  as  he  grew  to  riper  years, 

He  also  grew  in  grace  ; 
And  as  he  drew  near  his  end, 

He  mended  still  his  pace." 

13.  A  paper  of  the  Woodman  party,  as  a  reply  to  charges 
made  against  them  lately  by  Mr.  Parker,  in  a  congregation  of  the 
town  and  church  of  Newbury,  is  read  on  the  Sabbath  in  the 
meeting  house,  by  John  Webster,  for  which  he  was  prosecuted. 
But  all  that  the  verdict  of  the  jury  affirmed  was,  that  he  did  so  act. 

*  Arch.  Americana,  vol.  iii.  p.  308-12.        t  MS.  Rec.        J  Rowley  Ch.  Rec. 
56 


442  SISTERS  REQUIRED   TO   GIVE   SATISFACTION. 

[Mass. 

March  15.  John  Davenport,  pastor  of  the  First  church  in 
Boston,  dies  of  an  apoplexy,  in  his  seventy-third  year.  The  rest 
which  he  had  here  from  his  trials  in  the  union  of  New  Haven 
with  Connecticut,  was  short  and  much  disturbed  by  the  division 
among  his  last  people,  because  he  left  his  previous  charge.  Hub- 
bard remarks  of  him,  that  he  was  "  a  person  beyond  exception  and 
compare  for  all  ministerial  abilities  ;  and  upon  that  account  highly 
esteemed  and  accepted  in  both  Englands."  His  position,  that  the 
Regicide  Judges,  so  called,  should  be  protected  by  the  people  of 
New  Haven,  when  pursued,  1661,  by  royal  agents,  was  a  prin- 
cipal means  of  preserving  the  former  from  apprehension  and  exe- 
cution. His  portrait  is  in  the  museum  of  Yale  College.  He 
published  many  able  productions*  on  subjects  of  his  profession. 
Mr.  Davenport  cherished  elevated  purposes,  made  large  sacrifices, 
and  acted  nobly  for  the  benefit  of  New  England,  who  should  ever 
cherish  his  memory  with  sentiments  of  strong  gratitude  and  high 
esteem.  The  Magnalia  assigns  to  him  the  following  epitaph : 
"  Safely  in  port.  In  life,  the  ornament  of  New  England  and  the 
church ;  dead,  the  object  of  their  common  regret." 

16.  The  opponents  of  Mr.  Parker,  calling  themselves  the 
church,  send  him  a  paper,  declaring  that  they  have  deposed  him 
from  the  ministry.  In  the  evening,  they  notified  him  that  they 
had  chosen  two  ruling  elders,  and  that  they  intended  to  invite  the 
neighboring  churches  to  come  and  help  ordain  in  one  week.  Mr. 
Parker  sent  them  an  exhortation  to  cease  from  such  proceedings, 
as  very  irregular.  Several  communications  of  like  tenor  passed 
between  him  and  his  opponents. 

April.  The  subsequent  transactions  f  are  of  rare  occurrence  in 
church  discipline.  The  wives  J  of  brethren  who  belonged  to  Mr. 
Thacher's  church,  having  partaken  of  the  Lord's  Supper  with  them, 
request  the  First  church  to  release  them  from  their  covenant  engage- 
ments. On  the  24th,  a  reply  is  voted  for  these  sisters,  which  says  : 
"  We  cannot  have  communion  with  such  of  ours  at  the  Lord's  table, 
who  have  and  do  communicate  with  them  "  of  the  new  church, 
"  until  they  give  us  satisfaction."  On  the  1st  of  August,  the  last 
church  propose  an  amicable  adjustment  of  difficulties  with  the  other 
church.  They  say  in  this  connection,  we  entreat  you  "  to  dismiss 
unto  us  those  who,  being  of  our  mind,  have  still  held  communion 
with  us."     On  the  15th  of  May,  1671,  the  First  church  had  not 

*  See  a  list  of  his  publications,  etc.,  in  Bacon's  Hist.  Discourses,  p.  389,  90. 

f  Wisner's  Hist.  p.  11,  82-4.     Old  South  Ch.  MSS. 

X  Their  names  follow :  Mrs.  Margaret  Thacher,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gibbs,  now 
Cowin,  (Corwin,)  Mrs.  Mary  Norton,  Hannah  Frarye,  Mary  Salter,  Mrs.  Judith 
Hull,  Mrs.  Mary  Savage,  now  Stoddard,  Ranis  Belcher,  Elizabeth  Rainsford, 
Sara  Pemberton,  Elizabeth  Thurston,  Sara  Walker,  Mary  Tappan,  Elizabeth 
Alden,  Elizabeth  Rocke,  (Ruck  ?)  Sara  Oliver,  Mary  Eliot,  Mary  Bracket, 
Susanna  Dawes,  Joanna  Mason,  Alice  Harper,  Mrs.  Rachel  Rawson,  Sara 
Bodman,  (Bordman.  ?) 


council  at  newbury.  443 

k;:o.] 

complied  ;  but  they  then  suspended  Sarah  IVmberton,  one  of  the 
women  for  whom  the  request  was  made.     On  the  ^8th  of  May, 

1(174,  a  Council*  assemble  to  consider  the  question  proposed  by  the 
new  church,  "  What  is  our  duty  towards  those  members  of  the  old 
church,  who  were  and  Still  are  secluded  from  communion  with  that 
church  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  only  because  of 
their  participation  with  us  therein,  and  who  also  desire  to  join  in 
church  fellowship  with  us."  The  Council,  after  stating  the  reasons, 
decide  that  "  such  members  may  join,  and  such  a  church  unto 
whom  they  desire  to  join  may  receive  them  into  their  fellowship." 

10.  John  Oxenbridgef  is  chosen  pastor,  and  John  Wiswell 
ruling  elder,  of  the  First  church  in  Boston.  The  latter  was  ad- 
mitted a  member  of  the  church  on  the  same  day. 

19.  The  Council  who  met  November  5,  at  Newbury^  about  the 
troubles  there,  assemble  again.  A  document  from  the  Woodman 
side  states  that  they  have  spent  more  than  twenty-five  years  in 
contention,  whereby  religion  has  been  injured,  and  the  church 
'*  defamed  throughout  the  country  as  an  unquiet  people."  They 
desire  the  Council  to  cancel  any  decision  they  may  have  signed 
against  them,  and  act  impartially  as  a  mutual  Council.  They 
assert  that  the  great  cause  of  difficulty  with  them  is  that  they  will 
not  turn  Presbyterians  ;  that  they  are  called  "  decliners  to  Levelism 
and  Morellianism,"  though  true  Congregationalists.  Having  heard 
both  parties,  the  Council  came  to  the  result,  22d,  that  they  should 
comply  with  the  platform  of  discipline  practiced  by  the  churches 
of  New  England  and  some  other  relative  considerations.  Such 
advice  was  accepted  and  complied  with  for  a  season,  but  the  truce 
was  broken  in  the  course  of  the  year. 

May  11.  Samuel  Danforth,  of  Roxbury,  preaches  the  election 
sermon.  His  subject  was,  "  A  Brief  Recognition  of  New  England's 
Errand  into  the  Wilderness."  It  has  a  preface  by  Thomas  Shepard, 
of  Charlestown.  The  doctrine,  "  Such  as  have  sometime  left  their 
pleasant  cities  and  habitations  to  enjoy  the  pure  worship  of  God  in 
a  wilderness,  are  apt  in  time  to  abate  and  cool  in  their  affections 
thereunto ;  but  then  the  Lord  calls  upon  them  seriously  and 
throughly  to  examine  themselves."  The  preacher  expresses  his 
regret  at  the  variety  and  diversity  of  prevalent  opinions.  He  ap- 
plies this  to  his  audience,  as  representatives  of  the  country.  He 
calls  on  them  to  reform,  commit  themselves  to  the  protection  of 
Christ,  and  followr  him,  as  the  best  suppression  of  their  own  evil 
propensities,  and  the  most  efficient  conquest  of  their  "  many  adver- 


*  Their  names  are — Samuel  Whiting,  sen.,  John  Eliot,  Peter  Hobart,  Thomas 
Cobbett,  John  Sherman,  William  Hubbard,  John  Higginson,  John  Wilson,  Jere- 
miah Hubbard,  Samuel  Phillips,  Joseph  Rowlandson,  Seaborn  Cotton,  John 
Hale. 

f  Rec.  First  Ch.  of  Boston.  J  Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  86,  7, 


444  REPORT  ON  PREVAILING  .EVILS. 

[Mass. 

During  the  session,  several  orders  are  passed.  Any  person,  who 
brings  cards  and  dice  into  the  Jurisdiction,  or  knowingly  receives 
or  retains  them,  shall  be  fined  five  pounds.  In  view  of  prevailing 
evils,  as  selfishness,  jealousy,  backbiting,  pride,  luxury,  oppression, 
intemperance  and  other  vices,  neglect  to  instruct  the  young,  and 
support  the  ministers  of  some  places,  disregard  for  the  privileges  of 
Commonwealth  and  Church,  and  decay  of  love  to  God,  a  Fast  is 
appointed  the  16th  of  June.* 

The  Committee  who  reported  on  prevailing  evils,f  mention  the 
invasion  of  church  privileges,  usurpation  of  power  over  God's 
heritage  and  disregard  for  gospel  order,  as  among  them.  They 
were  distinctly  understood  as  aiming,  in  such  language,  at  the  Third 
church  of  Boston,  and  the  ministers  who  had  a  hand  in  their  organ- 
ization. To  make  their  meaning  positive,  they  close  with  a  "  notice 
of  the  late  transaction  of  churches  and  elders  in  constituting  the 
Third  church  of  Boston,  as  irregular,  illegal  and  disorderly."  The 
House  adopt  the  report.  This  increased  the  public  excitement. 
The  next  election  of  the  Legislature  turned  chiefly  on  the  question, 
Who  are  for  the  old  church,  and  who  for  the  new  ?  Most  of  the 
members,  who  had  favored  the  report  against  the  latter  church, 
were  not  chosen. 

With  reference  to  such  a  report,  Rev.  Mr.  Flint,  of  Dorchester, 
wrote  as  follows  in  his  diary  :  "  A  spirit  of  division,  persecuting 
and  oppressing  God's  ministers  and  precious  saints,  is  the  sin 
which  is  unseen  and  none  bears  witness  against.  It  is  a  great  sin 
and  threatens  a  sword  of  divine  wrath.  God's  seers  fear  it,  and 
their  bowels  and  compassions  are  moved  at  it."  The  Legislature, 
next  year,  recalled  the  expressions,  which  censured  the  respectable 
ministers  who  stood  for  the  new  church. 

The  question,  whether  a  man  may  marry  the  sister  of  his  de- 
ceased wife,  is  decided  by  the  Court  in  the  negative.  Messrs. 
Bradstreet,  Danforth  and  Leverett,  are  chosen  a  Committee,  invest- 
ed with  full  power  to  treat  with  the  Commissioners  of  Connecticut 
and  Plymouth,  about  the  renewal  of  articles  for  the  government  of 
the  Union.  Captain  Thomas  Marshall,  of  Lynn,  is  to  lose  his 
commission  for  marrying  people,  because  he  had  been  too  credulous 
and  had  married  Mr.  Deacon  to  Hope  Allen's  daughter. 

June.  The  First  church  of  Salem  concludes  that  the  time  for 
admitting  members  should  be  at  the  close  of  the  sermon  in  the 
afternoon.  It  was  customary  with  them  for  candidates  to  stand 
propounded  one  month  before  they  were  received. 

£.  Commissioners  of  the  united  Colonies,*  Connecticut,  Massa- 
chusetts and  Plymouth,  agree  on  fifteen  articles,  as  the  basis  of  their 
subsequent  administration,  and  to  be  laid  before  each  of  their  Gen- 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  248,  9. 

}  Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  511-16. 


ARTICLES   OP   UNITED   COLONIE&  H") 

1670.] 

end  Courts  for  consideration  and  approval.     The  commencement 

runs  thus : — "  Whereas  we  all  came  into  these  parts  of  America 
with  one  and  the  same  end  and  aim,  viz.  :  to  advance  the  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  enjoy  the  liberties  of  the  Gospel 
in  purity  and  peace  ;  M  and  as  we  have  settlements  of  other  nations 
nigh  us,  and  Indians  have  several  times  conspired  against  us,  and 
our  native  country  is  so  far  off  as  not  to  give  help,  which  may  be 
needed,  we  count  it  our  duty  and  safety  "  to  enter  into  Confedera- 
tion for  mutual  help  and  succor  in  all  our  future  concernments, 
that  in  Nation  and  Religion,  so  in  other  respects,  we  be  and  con- 
tinue one."  They  do  this  in  accordance  with  fifteen  articles.  They 
agree  to  be  called  "  The  United  Colonies  of  New  England,"  as  was 
done  in  1G4;3.  They  "enter  into  a  firm  and  perpetual,  league  of 
frindship  and  amity,  mutual  advice  and  succor  upon  all  just  occa- 
sions, both  for  preserving  and  propagating  the  truth  and  liberties  of 
the  Gospel,  and  for  their  own  mutual  safety  and  welfare."  Two 
commissioners  from  each  Colony,  "  being  all  in  church  fellowship," 
shall  be  appointed  for  the  government  of  the  Union.  One  of  their 
duties  was  to  ascertain  "  how  all  the  Jurisdictions  may  carry  it 
towards  the  Indians,  that  they  neither  grow  insolent  nor  be  injured 
without  due  satisfaction,"  and  another  to  have  run-away  servants 
and  fugitive  criminals  restored.  Three  or  more  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, at  a  duly  notified  meeting  of  the  year,  may  dispose  of  "  the 
Indian  stock,"  or  transact  business  of  the  missions,  keep  a  record 
of  these  and  report  at  the  annual  session  of  the  wrhole  Board. 

28.  The  Essex  County  Court  *  lay  fines  on  some  of  the  Quakers, 
and  order  attachments  of  property,  belonging  to  others,  so  that  they 
may  be  compelled  to  appear  and  answer  accusations. 

September  30.  Under  this  date,  John  Eliot  writes  f  to  Robert 
Boyle,  President  of  the  Missionary  Corporation,  in  London  :  "  You 
have  added  no  small  encouragement  unto  me,  in  that  worthy  gift, 
wrhich  your  honour  is  pleased  to  bestow  on  me,  viz.,  Pool's  Synopsis, 
or  Critica  Sacra  upon  the  whole  Bible,  which,  though  it  be  not  yet 
come,  is  under  the  care  and  faithful  hand  of  my  worthy  friend,  Mr. 
Ashurst."  With  regard  to  the  Indians,  probably  at  Natick,  Mr. 
Eliot  observes :  "  I  have  undertaken  a  kind  of  academical  reading 
unto  them,  in  their  own  language,  thereby  to  teach  the  teachers  and 
rulers  and  all  that  are  desirous  of  learning."  "  I  have  some  thoughts, 
if  God  give  life  and  means,  to  read  medicine,  and  call  for  such  roots 
(for  they  altogether  use  the  root,  and  not  the  herb)  as  they  have 
experience  of;  especially  had  I  wherewith  to  recompense  any,  that 
being  a  desirable  experiment."  He  speaks  as  though  many  of  the 
principal  Indians  came  "a  great  way"  to  attend  on  such  occasions. 
He  mentions  a  remarkable  event,  as  to  multitudes  of  fish,  which 
died  this  summer,  in  a  pond  at  Watertown ;  that  as  many  as  could 

*  MS.  Rec.  f  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  430-2. 


446  DISCUSSIONS  AS  TO   BAPTISTS  CONTINUE. 

[Mass. 

get  to  the  shore  did,  and  there  died  ;  that  cattle  around  refused,  for 
three  days,  to  drink  the  water.  He  states  that  he  had  written  to 
the  Commissioners  about  his  missionary  labors,  who  would  send 
him  a  similar  account. 

October  10.  For  the  peace  and  liberty  *  which  the  Colony  yet 
enjoy,  and  for  a  favorable  harvest,  the  24th  of  November  is  set 
apart  for  a  Thanksgiving. 

Rebecca,  the  former  wife  of  Matthew  Craddock,  and  now  the 
wife  of  Benjamin  Whitchcot,  D.  D.,  petitions,  with  the  latter,  for 
claims  which  her  first  husband  had  against  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
pany. Though  the  Court  do  not  feel  that,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, such  demands  should  be  liquidated  by  the  Colony,  still,  in 
view  of  Craddock's  great  disbursements  for  the  promotion  of  its 
welfare,  they  grant  the  petitioners  one  thousand  acres  of  land. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation,!  as  agreed  on  by  Commissioners 
June  2,  are  presented  and  accepted,  with  a  few  amendments,  by  the 
General  Court. 

November  30.  Edward  Drinker,  belonging  to  the  Baptist  church 
of  Boston,  writes  J  to  John  Clarke  and  his  church  in  Newport,  Rhode 
Island.  He  relates  that  William  Turner,  of  their  persuasion,  is 
imprisoned  in  Boston,  and  that  two  warrants  are  issued  for  the 
apprehension  of  Gould,  when  he  comes  to  town  from  his  residence 
on  Noddle's  Island.  He  assigns  as  the  cause  of  such  severity,  that 
these  two  brethren  did  not  move  away  according  to  the  order  of 
1668,  passed  by  the  General  Court.  He  remarks  that  all  the 
Deputies,  "except  one  or  two,"  voted  that  Turner  and  Gould  should 
be  cleared  from  responsibility  in  the  premises,  but  the  magistrates 
non-concurred.  He  says :  "  The  town  and  country  is  very  much 
troubled  at  our  troubles  ;  and  especially  the  old  church  in  Boston, 
and  their  Elders,  both  Mr.  Oxenbridge  and  Mr.  Allen  have  labored 
abundantly,  I  think  as  if  it  had  been  for  their  best  friends  in  the 
world.  Many  more  gentlemen  and  solid  Christians  are  for  our 
brother's  deliverance ;  but  it  cannot  be  had ;  a  very  great  trouble 
to  the  town ;  and  they  had  gotten  six  magistrates'  hands  for  his 
deliverance,  but  could  not  get  the  Governor's  hand  to  it.  Some 
say  one  end  is,  that  they  may  prevent  others  coming  out  of  England ; 
therefore,  they  would  discourage  them  by  dealing  with  us."  The 
writer  proceeds  to  inform  his  friends,  that  their  society  worship  on 
Noddle's  Island,  and  some  persons  have  been  added  to  their 
church ;  that  John  Russell,  senior,  is  another  of  their  Elders ; 
that  he  lives  at  Woburn,  where  there  are  five  brethren  who  can 
meet  with  him,  when  they  are  unable  to  assemble  at  the  Island, 
and  more  of  that  town  are  reported  as  agreeing  with  them  in 
opinion. 

John  Eliot  writes  to  Mr.  Ashurst,  treasurer  of  the  Missionary 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Ibid.  $  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  398-400. 


PRAYING    INDIANS.  1  17 

1670.] 

Corporation,  woolen  draper,  in  Alderagate  street:  "Our  church  at 
Natick  have  sent  forth  divers  to  sundry  places  to  invite  their 
countrymen  to  pray  unto  God,  Though  it  be  a  stormy  and  tem- 
pestuous seed-time,  yet  it  is  better  to  bring  forth  the  greater  harvest 
of  saints  and  believers.  Though  their  adversaries  think  of  no  such 
matter,  but  only  how  they  may  extirpate  them — a  poor  afflicted 
people,  coming  out  of  great  tribulation,  will  be  tit  matter  for  the 
kingdom  of  Christ." 

This  year  there  were  about  fifty-five  churches*  and  eight  thousand 
communicants  in  the  Colonies  of  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth. 

The  Indians f  at  Pawtucket,  on  the  Merrimack  River,  begin  to 
have  the  gospel  preached  among  them.  In  reference  to  this, 
Wannalancet,  the  chief,  said  to  Eliot -and  Gookin,  May  5,  1674  : 
"  Sirs,  you  have  been  pleased  for  four  years  last  past,  in  your 
abundant  love,  to  apply  yourselves  particularly  unto  me  and  my 
people,  to  exhort,  press  and  persuade  us  to  pray  to  God." 

Tawanquatyck  or  Tawauq uatick  J  was  the  chief  sachem  at  the 
east  end  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  where  the  English  settled,  1642, 
and  the  first  one  of  his  rank  who  became  a  Christian  there. 
Desirous  to  accommodate  them  with  land,  he  was  opposed  by 
several  of  his  council,  called  in  Indian,  Ahtoskouaog.  To  quiet 
these  opposers,  he  gave  them  parts  of  his  sachemship,  and  then 
sold  a  considerable  portion  of  what  he  reserved  for  himself,  to  the 
English,  so  that  they  might  settle  on  what  was  called  Edgartown. 
He  was  at  the  house  of  Miohgsoo  or  Myoxos,  when  Hiacoomes 
preached  there,  1646,  and  he  soon  after  invited  Mr.  May  hew  to 
preach  for  his  tribe,  and  he  himself  was  one  of  his  constant 
hearers.  Several  wise  conversations  of  his  were  noted  by  his 
pastor,  and  a  remarkable  escape  he  had  from  being  killed  for  his 
decided  support  of  the  gospel.  He  took  a  prominent  part  among 
the  praying  Indians  in  signing  a  covenant  drawn  up  by  Mr.  May- 
hew,  as  they  requested  him,  in  their  own  language,  That  they 
would  serve  the  true  God  and  him  only.  At  this  time  he  did  the 
same  for  having  a  Christian  government  formed  for  the  Indians, 
according  to  the  Word  of  God,  which  was  subsequently  done. 
When  this  was  accomplished,  he  was  constituted  a  Christian 
magistrate,  and  long  dutifully  discharged  its  duties,  who  had  ruled 
as  an  Indian  sachem  amid  the  darkness  and  corruptions  of  heathen- 
ism. When  the  time  of  his  departure  came,  in  the  year  at  the 
head  of  this  notice,  he  had  witnessed  a  good  profession,  and  was 
ready  to  lay  down  his  life. 

John  Tackanash,§  as  before  stated,  was  ordained  teacher  with 
Hiacoomes.  His  residence  was  at  Nunpang,  on  the  east  end 
of  Martha's   Vineyard.     His  natural   and  acquired  talents  were 

*  Biblical  Repository  and  Quarterly  Observer,  1835,  p.  210. 

t  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  187. 

%  E.  Mayhew,  Indian  Converts,  p.  80-82.  §  Ibid.  p.  14-16. 


448  CONDiriONS   OF   SETTLING   SWANSEA. 

[Plym. 

more  than  common  for  his  countrymen,  and  his  deportment 
adorned  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  These  fellow-laborers  in 
the  most  important  work  of  men,  continued  harmoniously  to  re- 
deem their  ordination  pledges.  As  members  of  the  church 
resided  several  miles  apart,  at  different  places,  and  thus  they 
found  it  difficult  to  assemble  so  fully  as  they  wished,  it  was  con- 
cluded well  for  them  to  separate.  Hiacoomes  and  Joshua  Mama- 
chegin,  one  of  the  Ruling  Elders,  took  charge  of  those  who  resided 
at  Chappequiddick  ;  Tackanash  and  John  Nohnoso  did  the  like  as 
to  those  resident  on  the  main  island  of  the  Vineyard.  This  separa- 
tion continued  until  age  prevented  Hiacoomes  from  preaching  stated- 
ly, and  then  the  two  churches  united  under  Tackanash,  with  whom 
the  English  as  well  as  the  Indians  were  much  satisfied,  the  pastor 
rendering  the  teacher  assistance  as  his  infirmities  allowed.  Tacka- 
nash perseveringly,  closely  and  successfully  applied  himself  to  the 
appropriate  studies  of  his  profession  like  an  Anglo-Saxon,  and  thus 
disproved  the  unexceptionable  remark,  that  none  of  his  American 
race  ever  so  approved  themselves.  "  For  a  preacher,  no  Indian  in 
these  parts  has  been  thought  to  come  up  to  him."  After  a  linger- 
ing illness,  which  seems  to  have  been  consumption,  he  died  Janu- 
ary 22,  1684,  and  was  buried  the  next  day ;  a  large  collection  met 
to  mourn  his  departure,  and  two  addresses,  suitable  to  the  occasion, 
were  offered  by  Japhet,  a  pious  native,  and  Hiacoomes. 


PLYMOUTH. 

1667.  March.  The  town  allowed  at  Wannamoiset,  is  called 
Swansea.  Thomas  Willett,  one  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  had 
proposed  several  rules,*  on  which  individuals  were  to  be  admitted 
among  them.  Such  regulations  were  accepted.  They  follow. 
"  That  no  erroneous  person  be  admitted  into  the  township  either  as 
an  inhabitant  or  sojourner.  That  no  man  of  any  evil  behavior  as 
contentious  persons,  etc.,  be  admitted.  That  none  may  be  admit- 
ted, that  may  become  a  charge  to  the  place." 

The  church  gathered  here,  under  John  Myles,  the  Baptist,  ad- 
dress Willett  and  other  trustees  of  the  town.  They  agree  to  carry 
on  the  township,  as  the  conditions  prescribed.  They  explain  the 
first  rule  to  exclude  those  holding  the  subsequent  denials  of  "  the 
Trinity  or  any  person  thereof;  the  Deity  or  sinless  humanity  of 
Christ,  or  the  union  of  both  natures  in  him,  or  his  full  satisfaction 
to  the  divine  justice  by  his  active  and  passive  obedience  for  all  his 

*  MS.  Papers  of  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.     Baylies'  Hist,  of  Plym.  vol.  ii.  p.  236-9. 


DISTURBERS  OF  WORSHIP.  449 

1667.] 

elect,  or  his  resurrection,  ascension  to  heaven,  intercession,  or  his 
second  personal  coining  to  judgment ;  or  else  of  the  truth  or  dii  ine 
authority  of  any  part  of  canonical  Scripture,  or  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  or  to  maintain  any  merit  of  works,  consubstantiation, 
transubstantiation,  giving  adoration  to  any  creature,  or  any  other 
anti-christian  doctrine,  thereby  directly  opposing  the  priestly,  pro- 
phetical, or  kingly  office  of  Christ,  or  any  part  thereof." 

They  explain  the  second  rule  to  exclude  such  as  deny  the  right 
of  magistrates  to  govern,  punish  the  evil  and  protect  the  good  ;  as 
deny  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Lord's  or  Christian  Sabbath  ; 
the  giving  of  honor  to  whom  it  is  due,  and  the  allowance  of  civil 
manners,  as  bowing  the  knee,  body,  etc.  ;  as  deny  the  office  of  the 
ministry,  its  comfortable  maintenance,  and  reproach  the  churches 
of  Christ  in  the  country  or  others  like  them. 

They  desire  it  to  be  understood,  that  this  contract  does  not  ex- 
clude persons  who  hold  opinions  not  essential  to  salvation,  "  such 
as  pedobaptism,  anti-pedobaptism,  church  discipline,  or  the  like ; 
but  that  the  minister  or  ministers  of  the  said  town  may  take  their 
liberty  to  baptize  infants  or  grown  persons,  as  the  Lord  shall  per- 
suade their  consciences,  and  so,  also,  the  inhabitants  to  take  their 
liberty  to  bring  their  children  to  baptism,  or  forbear. "  Such  articles 
were  agreed  to  by  the  church  and  Willett,  with  his  associates. 
They  carried  difficulty*  in  their  appearance,  and  required  much 
Christian  forbearance  to  be  rendered  practicable. 

March  5.  Mr.  Samuel  Seabury  f  having,  by  written  and  other 
means,  defamed  "  the  ministry  of  Duxbury,"  is  before  the  Legisla- 
ture and  warned  by  them  "to  desist  from  such  disturbing  practices." 

William  Lumpkin  and  Peter  Worden,  for  disturbance  at  the 
Yarmouth  meeting-house,  are  fined  10/.  each.  Arthur  Howland, 
Jr.,  for  making  an  offer  of  marriage  to  "  Mistress  Elizabeth  Prince," 
and  "prosecuting  the  same"  contrary  to  her  parents'  "mind  and 
wish,"  is  fined  £5,  and  required  to  give  bonds  that  he  will  desist 
from  such  conduct. 

June  5.  Robert  Pinion  is  taken  up  as  a  vagrant  and  publicly 
whipped,  and  ordered  to  depart  immediately,  with  a  pass  from 
the  Government. 

The  General  Court  give  instructions  for  the  Commissioners  of 
Plymouth,  that  if  the  Confederation  continue,  it  be  kept  better. 
They  express  a  preference  for  its  continuance. 

July  2.  Messrs.  Myles  and  Brown,  for  breach  of  order  in  hold- 
ing a  religious  meeting  f  without  leave  of  the  Court,  are  each  fined 
£5,   and  Mr.  Tanner  20/.,  and  the  Court  add :  "  We  judge  that 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  MS.  Before  July  9,  1711,  a  part  of  the  people  in  Swanzey 
petitioned  the  Legislature  that  the  town  might  be  divided  »«  because  they  did 
not  enjoy  the  true  gospel  and  ordinances."  The  Baptists,  opponents  of  their 
petition,  of  course  did  not  agree  with  their  reasons. 

t  Plymouth  Colony  Record.  %  Ibid. 


450  PHILIP  CHARGED   WITH  PERFIDY. 

[Plym. 

their  continuance  at  Rehoboth  being  very  prejudicial  to  the  peace 
of  that  church  and  that  town,  may  not  be  allowed,  and  do  there- 
fore order  all  persons  concerned  therein,  wholly  to  desist  from 
the  said  meeting  in  that  place  or  township  within  this  month,  yet, 
in  case  they  should  remove  their  meeting  unto  some  other  place, 
where  they  may  not  prejudice  any  other  church,  and  shall  give  us 
any  reasonable  satisfaction  respecting  their  principles,  we  know  not 
but  they  may  be  permitted  by  this  Government  so  to  do." 

The  General  Court,  on  the  5th  of  June,*  considered  a  charge 
against  Philip,  sachem  of  Pockanocket,  by  a  Narragansett  sachem, 
that  he  was  "  in  compliance  with  the  French  against  the  English 
of  New  England."  They  then  designated  Lt.  Hunt  and  Ensign 
Smith  to  visit  Warwick,  and  require  Philip  to  give  them  a  meeting 
before  one  of  the  magistrates  there.  They  also  ordered  "that 
Ninnegret  have  notice  thereof,  that  so  he  may  understand  what  is 
charged  against  him."  Philip  now  appears  before  the  Legislature 
of  Plymouth,  to  answer  the  accusation  of  perfidy  by  "  importing  his 
readiness  to  comply  with  French  and  Dutch  against  the  English, 
and  so  not  only  recover  the  lands  sold  to  the  English,  but  also 
enrich  himself  with  their  goods."  He  denies  this  charge,  though 
there  is  strong  proof  that  he  would  do  as  accused,  if  oppor- 
tunity offered.  He  is  charged  with  £40,  as  the  expense  of  per- 
sons sent  to  ascertain  the  reports  on  this  subject.  His  arms,  which 
had  been  delivered  up  and  were  at  Plymouth  and  Eehoboth,  are 
returned  to  him. 

If  any  estates  are  attached  for  the  ministers'  rates,  they  shall 
be  put  in  the  hands  of  such  persons  as  each  town  appoint,  and 
they  shall  dispose  of  the  same  at  their  discretion. 

The  towns  are  advised  by  the  Court  to  make  contributions  for 
"  printing  of  the  History  of  God's  dispensations  towards  New  Eng- 
land in  general ;  in  special  towards  this  Colony."  This,  as  we 
know,  was  Morton's  Memorial. 

September  5.  At  a  session  of  the  Commissioners  f  for  the  three 
Colonies  in  Hartford,  a  letter  from  Plymouth  to  Massachusetts, 
dated  June  £1,  1665,  is  read.  This  communication  gave  reasons 
why  the  Confederation  could  not  be  continued  as  it  had  been  under 
four.  The  same  subject  now  comes  up,  and  is  deferred  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  several  General  Courts. 

Mr.  Bourne,  of  Sandwich,  still  preaches  to  Indians.  He  has 
two  Indian  schoolmasters  among  them.  Ten  pounds  are  handed 
the  Governor  of  Plymouth,  to  distribute  among  the  most  deserving 
Indians. 

Nicholas  Nicarson  appears  before  the  General  Court  to  answer 
for  speaking  against  a  sermon  of  Thomas  Thornton,  and  he  engages 
to  confess  his  fault  publicly,  and  particularly  at  the  Yarmouth 
meeting-house,  and  also  promises  to  reform. 

*  Plym.  Col.  R?e.  and  Lawg.  f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  602,  3,  8. 


PUBLICATION  OF  NORTON'S   MEMORIAL.  451 

November  oO.  John  Cotton,  who  had  been  invited*  to  preach  at 
Plymouth,  September,  1666,  but  could  not  before,  moves  to  this 
place  with  his  family,  and  dispenses  the  gospel  to  them. 

1663.  March.  We  are  told  by  Baylies,  that  Noah,  son  of 
Samuel  Newman,  is  settled  among  the  people  of  his  father  at  Reho- 
both.  The  next  December,  he  is  voted  a  salary  of  £40  and  lire- 
wood.  A  committee  are  designated  "  to  see  the  order  accomplished, 
and  to  speak  to  them  who  were  defective  in  not  doing  their  duty." 
As  in  1671,  his  salary  had  not  been  paid,  it  was  ordered  that  such 
dues  be  discharged  by  contributions  every  Sabbath. 

March  5.  Joseph  Turner, f  "for  publishing  a  scurrilous  and 
infamous  writing  "  in  verse,  "  is  sentenced  to  be  publicly  whipped, 
or  pay  a  tine  of  five  pounds." 

Francis,  the  sachem  of  Nausett,  for  his  inhuman  conduct  towards 
Capt.  Allen,  when  cast  away  on  Cape  Cod,  is  committed  to  prison 
and  fined  £10. 

Nathaniel  Soule,  for  speaking  disrespectfully  of  John  Holmes, 
minister  of  Duxbury,  is  sentenced  to  be  set  in  the  stocks,  make  a 
public  confession,  and  give  bonds  to  keep  the  peace.  The  first  of 
these  requisitions  was  not  executed,  at  the  desire  of  Mr.  Holmes, 
but  the  other  two  were  performed. 

June  3.  Edward  Gray,  for  reviling  John  Bryant,  the  son-in-law 
to  Stephen  Bryant,  of  Plymouth,  on  the  Lord's  day,  as  soon  as 
they  came  out  of  the  meeting,  is  fined  10/. 

Five  persons  are  fined  for  excessive  drinking.  At  the  earnest 
request  of  William  Tubbs  to  be  divorced  from  his  wife,  Marcy, 
who  had  refused  to  live  with  him  M  for  a  long  time,"  and  who 
resided  in  Rhode  Island ;  the  Court  direct  a  letter  to  the  Govern- 
ment there,  desiring  them  to  let  her  know  that,  if  she  does  not 
return  to  her  husband  hefore  the  "  first  Tuesday  of  July  next,"  he 
shall  be  divorced  from  her.  At  the  date  here  assigned,  Tubbs 
appeared  and  claimed  such  separation  from  his  wife,  she  having 
left  him  for  upwards  of  four  years,  and  said,  in  view  of  her  notifica- 
tion, she  would  never  go  back  to  him  "  while  her  eyes  were  open." 
The  Legislature  grant  his  petition. 

The  General  Court  allow  the  Treasurer  to  pay  £20,  besides  con- 
tributions in  the  towns,  for  the  paper,  towards  the  publication  of 
Morton's  Memorial.  They  granted,  5th  of  July,  £5  more  if  needed. 
The  book  was  printed  next  year,  by  Samuel  Green  and  Marmaduke 
Johnson,  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  when  the  Legislature  order 
a  barrel  of  beef  for  the  former  of  these  two,  though  not  his  due, 
because  he  complained  of  a  hard  bargain. 

October  29.  For  the  continuance  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,* 
general  heakh  and  a  common  harvest,  public  Thanksgiving  is 
ordered  the  25th  of  November. 

*  Thacher's  Hist,  of  Plym.  p.  273.  f  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  }  Ibid: 


452  WALLEY'S  ELECTION   SERMON. 

[Plym. 

1669.  March  2.  James  Cole,  Sen.,  of  Plymouth,*  is  fined  £5 
for  his  wife  Mary's  selling  liquor  to  an  Indian,  and  also  £3  for 
her  committing  a  like  offense  during  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath, 
with  reference  to  five  other  persons. 

Richard  Berry,  Sen.,  Jedediah  Lumbert,  Benjamin  Lumbert  and 
James  Maker,  are  fined  5/.  each,  for  smoking  tobacco  at  the  end  of 
the  Yarmouth  meeting-house,  on  the  Lord's  day,  "  in  the  time  of 
exercise." 

June  1.  Namaskett  is  incorporated  by  the  name  of  Middleborough, 
with  the  proviso  "  that  a  competency  of  land  be  reserved  for  a 
minister."  f 

Thomas  VValley,  pastor  of  the  Barnstable  church,  preaches  an 
Election  Sermon  before  the  General  Court.  His  text  is  8th  c.  of 
Jeremiah,  22d  v.  His  subject  is,  "  Balm  in  Gilead  to  heal  Sion's 
Wounds,  or  a  Treatise  wherein  there  is  a  clear  discovery  of  the  most 
prevailing  sicknesses  of  New  England,  both  in  the  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical state  ;  as  also,  suitable  remedies  for  the  cure  of  them."  In 
his  dedication  to  Governor  Thomas  Prince  and  the  Assistants,  the 
preacher  observes  :  "  I  do  aceount  it  a  great  mercy,  that  we  have 
such  Rulers,  that  we  may  more  safely  publish  truth  than  conceal  it. 
If  we  conceal  it,  we  fall  into  the  hands  of  God,  but  if  we  publish 
it,  we  are  not  in  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  men.  Worthy 
Senators,  I  may  boldly  publish,  for  the  honor  of  God  and  your 
honor,  that  such  hath  been  your  labor  of  love  in  the  churches,  that 
you  seem  to  take  more  delight  in  the  unity  of  the  churches,  than 
in  being  magistrates."  As  he  progresses  in  his  discourse,  Mr. 
W alley  mentions  the  spiritual  diseases  which  prevail.  The  lethargy 
of  Christians ;  the  burning  fever  or  fire  of  contention  in  towns  and 
churches ;  evil  spirits  of  oppression,  cruelty  and  covetousness, 
error  and  delusion,  envy  and  jealousy,  pride  in  heart  and  manners." 
He  exhorts  the  magistrates,  as  healers,  to  extirpate  profaneness,  to 
see  that  Christ  is  preached  in  every  waste  place  of  the  Colony,  to 
keep  the  corruptions  of  the  contentious  under  good  laws,  and  to 
preserve  the  faith  once  committed  to  the  saints.  While  on  this 
part  of  his  sermon,  he  remarks :  "  A  well-bounded  toleration  was 
very  desirable  in  all  Christian  commonwealths,  that  there  may  be 
no  just  occasion  for  any  to  complain  of  cruelty  or  persecution  ;  but 
it  must  be  such  a  toleration,  that  God  may  not  be  publicly  blas- 
phemed, nor  idolatry  practiced.  Neither  ought  any  error  to  be 
tolerated,  that  hath  a  tendency  in  its  own  nature  to  profaneness,  or 
the  disturbance  of  peace  and  order  in  Church  or  State."  At  the 
October  session,  the  Court  observed  i(  the  usefulness  and  seasonable- 
ness"  of  this  discourse,  and  required  that  it  should  be  printed.  It 
was  so  issued  at  Cambridge,  and  received  the  imprimature  of 
Charles  Chauncy  and  Thomas  Shepard,  as  licensers. 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  t  Ibid. 


SINGING   AND    DANCING    FORBIDDEN.  453 

1669.] 

30.  John  Cotton  is  ordained*  over  the  First  church  of  Plymouth. 
The  churches  represented  on  this  occasion  were  those  of  Barnstable, 
Marshfieldj  Weymouth  and  Duxbury.  Elder  Thomas  Cushman 
gave  the  charge,  and  the  aged  John  ilowland  took  part  in  the  im- 
position of  hands.  Mr,  \V alley  prayed,  and  Mr.  Torrey  gave  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship.  As  suggested  by  the  late  Election  Ser- 
mon, the  ruling  elder  and  the  pastor  soon  made  it  their  special  care 
to  visit  all  the  families  in  town,  and  converse  with  them  on  their 
spiritual  concerns.  When  Mr.  Cotton  was  first  settled,  there  were 
forty-seven  members  of  his  church  in  full  communion.  He  re- 
marked, "The  work  of  God  seemed  in  those  days  to  have  a  consid- 
erable revival." 

July  5.  At  the  General  Court,  the  following  ordersf  are  passed: 

None  to  sell  wine,  liquor,  cyder  or  beer,  by  retail,  without  a 
license. 

"  Profane  singing,  dancing  or  revelling,"  in  licensed  ordinaries, 
are  forbidden  on  penalty  of  ten  shillings  for  each. 

"  Xone  shall  vote  in  town  meetings  but  freemen,  or  freeholders, 
of  £20  rateable  estate,  and  of  good  conversation,  having  taken  the 
oath  of  fidelity." 

"Whereas  great  inconvenience  hath  arisen  by  single  persons 
being  for  themselves,  and  not  betaking  themselves  to  live  in  well- 
governed  families,"  no  such  person  shall  live  by  himself,  or  in  any 
family  not  approved  by  the  selectmen. 

They  wTho  neglect  to  pay  their  ministerial  taxes,  shall  be  sum- 
moned to  the  next  Court,  and,  if  having  no  good  excuse  for  such 
delay,  shall  be  amerced  double  the  sum  of  their  assessments. 

Constables  shall  look  diligently  after  those  who  sleep  or  play 
about  the  meeting-house,  in  time  of  worship  on  the  Sabbath.  If 
such  offenders  do  not  reform,  their  names  shall  be  returned  to  the 
Court. 

They  who  ride  violently,  when  there  is  no  need,  on  the  Lord's 
day,  shall  be  alike  reported.  They  who  then  smoke  tobacco  within 
two  miles  of  the  meeting-house,  going  to  or  coming  from  public 
worship,  shall  pay  twelve  pence  for  each  default. 

William  Randall,  Sen.,*  for  "villifying  the  government  by 
opprobrious  speeches,"  is  fined  £5. 

October.  Philip  Leonard,  Arthur  Howland,  William  Norkett 
and  William  Hinckman,  are  complained  of  for  refuing  to  pay  min- 
isterial rates. 

This  year,  the  town  of  Plymouth  vote,  that  the  selectmen  §  pro- 
cure a  school-master,  and  settle  him  as  near  the  centre  as  may  be 
convenient.  Each  scholar  who  learns  to  write  or  cypher,  or  studies 
Latin,  shall  pay  three  pence  a  week.     If  he  learn  to  read  only,  he 

•  Thacher's  Hist.  Plym.  p.  273.     Baylies'  Plym.  Colony,  vol.  ii.  p.  252,  3. 
t  Plym.  Col.  Records— Laws.         J  Ibid.  j  Thacher's  Hist.  Plym.  p.  303. 


454  RELIGIOUS  CONFERENCE. 

[Pltm. 

shall  pay  three  half-pence  a  week,  and  what  remains  due  to  the 
school,  to  be  levied  by  rate  on  the  inhabitants. 

1670.  January.  The  Plymouth  church*  commence  a  monthly 
meeting  for  religious  conference,  on  the  Saturday  afternoon  before 
the  sacramental  communion.  Dr.  Thacher  states  that  these  meet- 
ings were  continued  "  many  years,"  and  were  very  useful. 

February  7.  Extracts  from  the  willf  of  an  Indian,  converted  to 
the  faith  of  the  gospel,  follow.  His  will  of  this  date  was  presented 
1st  of  March.  His  name  was  Nan  quit  Numacke,  of  Penquinhole, 
alias  Wesqueebs.  "I  commit  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  Jesus 
Christ,  my  Saviour,  whom  I  do  believe  loveth  me  and  gave  himself 
for  me  to  redeem  me  from  the  sting  of  death."  He  requests  to  be 
buried  in  the  English  manner.  "  I  desire  that  my  children  after 
me,  may  choose  the  Lord  for  their  God  and  to  walk  in  his  ways, 
for  which  end  I  desire  to  leave  my  children  in  the  hands  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  What  a  marked  contrast  to  the  language  of  heathen- 
ism, and  to  that  of  multitudes  born  and  educated  in  gospel  com- 
munities ! 

March  1.  Nathaniel  Fitsrandall  is  fined  42/.  for  refusing  to  pay 
half  this  sum  for  the  ministry  at  Barnstable. 

26.  "Mistris  Alice,  widow  of  Governor  Bradford,  changed 
this  life  for  a  better,  having  attained  to  fourscore  years  of  age,  or 
thereabouts.  She  was  a  godly  matron  and  much  loved  while  she 
lived,  and  lamented  though  aged  when  she  died,  and  was  hon- 
ourably interred  on  the  29th  day  of  the  month  aforesaid,  at  New 
Plymouth." 

June  7.  The  General  Court  assemble.  +  On  the  subject  of  min- 
isters' salaries,  they  express  themselves  as  follows  :  "  Forasmuch  as 
it  appeareth  to  be  greatly  inconvenient,  that  the  ministers  should  be 
troubled  to  gather  in  the  rates  for  their  maintenance ;  and  may  be 
an  occasion  to  prejudice  some  persons  against  them  or  their  min- 
istry, it  is  enacted  by  this  Court,  that,  at  June  Courts  yearly,  two 
meet  persons  in  each  town  be  appointed  by  the  said  Court,  unless 
the  towns  have  already  provided,  who  shall  take  care  for  the  gath- 
ering in  of  their  ministers'  maintenance  for  that  year,  by  inciting  of 
the  people  to  their  duty  in  that  respect,  demanding  it  when  due, 
and,  if  need  be,  by  procuring  distraint  upon  the  estate  of  any  that 
shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  pay  their  rates.  In  case  any  minister 
shall  scruple  to  receive  what  is  so  raised,  it  shall  nevertheless  be 
gathered  as  abovesaid,  and  be  disposed  as  the  Court  shall  order  for 
the  good  of  the  place."  They  make  the  subsequent  declaration. 
"  Whereas  it  hath  been  and  is  the  pious  care  and  true  intent  of  this 
Court,  that  all  such  plantations  and  townships  as  are  by  them 
granted,  should  maintain  the  public  Sabbath  worship  of  God  and 
the  preaching  of  the  word,  and  do,  to  that  end,  afford  them  such 

*  Thacher's  Hist.  Plym.  p,  273.  f  Plym,  Col.  Rec.  J  Ibid. 


INDIAN   CHURCH   FORMED  at   MAR8HP] 

1(370.] 

proportion  of  lands,  as  may  accommodate  such  A  society  as  may  be 
able  to  maintain  the  same  ;  and  yet,  through  the  corruption  or  sinful 
neglect  of  many  or  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  some  plantations,  they 

content  themselves  to  live  without  the  ministry  of  the  word,  to  the 
great  dishonor  of  God  and  danger  of  their  souls  ;  there  being  great 
>n  to  fear  that  many  may  be  acted  therein  by  worldly  and 
covetous  principles  ;  it  is  by  this  Court  enacted,  that  in  such  town- 
ships where  no  minister  is  resident,  especially  if  it  appears  that  the 
generality  of  the  inhabitants  are  remiss  in  the  obtaining  of  one,  the 
General  Court  may  and  shall  henceforth  yearly  impose  a  certain 
sum  to  be  raised  by  rate  upon  the  inhabitants  of  such  plantations  or 
townships,  which  shall  be  kept  as  a  stock  for  building  a  meeting- 
house, or  for  encouragement  of  a  minister  to  labor  among  them,  or 
other  such  pious  uses  as  the  Court  may  improve  it  in  for  their 
good." 

The  Court  require  £15  to  be  assessed  on  Dartmouth*  for  re- 
ligious purposes.  This  being  neglected,  was  repeated  next  year. 
They  pass  a  law,  that  the  Selectmen  of  each  town,  or  any  one 
of  them,  may  take  a  constable  or  his  deputy,  "and  repair  to  any 
house  or  place  where  they  may  suspect  that  any  slothfully  do  lurk 
at  home,  or  get  together  in  company  to  neglect  the  public  worship 
of  God  or  profane  the  Lord's  day,  and  finding  any  such  disorder, 
shall  return  the  names  of  the  persons  "  so  offending,  to  the  next 
Court  for  inquiry. 

It  was  generally  agreed,  that  the  confederation  f  of  Plymouth 
with  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  "  shall  remain  as  it  did  for- 
merly with   three." 

Thomas  Pope,  for  vilifying  the  ministry,  is  fined  10/.,  and  Wil- 
liam Randall,  Sen.,  John  Palmer  and  Henry  Ewell,  of  Scituate, 
are  prosecuted  for  neglecting  to  pay  ministerial  rates.  Capt.  Na- 
thaniel Thomas  is  ordered  to  pay  £2  for  a  similar  neglect  at  Marsh- 
field. 

July  5.  Robert  Harper,  for  censuring  Rev.  Thomas  AValley,  is 
ordered  to  be  whipped  at  the  post. 

August  3.  James  Skiff,  late  of  Sandwich,*  but  now  of  the  Vine- 
yard, is  divorced  from  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  to  Mr.  Naigh- 
bor  Cooper,  of  Boston,  because  she  had  forsaken  him,  gone  to 
Roanoke,  Virginia,  and  taken  another  man  for  her  husband. 

17.  The  church  of  "praying  Indians"  at  Marshpee,§  who  sat 
under  the  preaching  of  Richard  Bourne,  are  gathered. 

♦  Brigham's  Plym.  Col.  Laws,  p.  159,  60.  f  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 

♦  Vineyard  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Hull's  Diary. 


456  TREATY  AT  BREDA. 

[Mi 


MAINE. 

1667.  July  31.  By  the  Treaty  concluded  at  Breda,*  Nova 
Scotia  is  restored  to  the  French,  and  thus  the  borderers  of  Maine 
are  changed  in  their  relations  from  Protestant  to  Catholic  sub- 
jects. 

1668.  May  27.  The  authorities  of  Massachusetts  observe  f  that 
for  about  three  years  their  government  of  Maine  had  been  inter- 
rupted by  some  who  asperse  them,  and  profess  to  serve  his 
Majesty's  interests.  They  resolve  to  exercise  their  jurisdiction  over 
the  people  in  the  County  of  York,  and  command  them  to  obey 
their  laws.  They  require  this  resolution  to  be  read  in  the  public 
town  meetings  which  they  order  to  be  held  there.  They  appoint 
Nathaniel  Masterson,  Marshal,  John  Leverett,  and  others,  Com- 
missioners of  the  County. 

In  their  instructions  to  these  Commissioners,  they  say :  "  In 
case  you  meet  with  any  pretending  to  possess  other  authority,  or 
presuming  to  swerve  from  the  due  obedience  they  owe  to  this 
jurisdiction,  under  his  Majesty's  royal  charter,  to  which  they  have 
submitted  and  solemnly  pledged  allegiance,  you  will  bring  them  to 
trial  before  you,  and  pass  sentence  upon  the  guilty,  according  to 
the  aggravation  of  their  offenses." 

June  12.  Being  informed  of  such  intentions,  cherished  by  the 
Bay  authorities,  Governor  Nichols  writes  J  to  them  from  New 
York.  His  language  follows :  "I  am  not  a  little  surprised  to 
find  that  you  are  preparing  to  usurp  again  the  government  of 
Maine,  at  a  time,  too,  when  the  rights  of  ownership,  which  have 
been  submitted  to  the  King  by  different  claimants,  are  still  await- 
ing his  royal  determination.  Nor  can  it  be  unknown  to  you,  that 
according  to  his  letter  of  April  10,  1666,  whatsoever  his  Commis- 
sioners might  do  or  direct,  was  to  be  conclusive,  till  further  com- 
mands were  received  from  him.  You  possess  power  enough,  it  is 
true,  to  compel  a  submission  of  your  weaker  neighbors  ;  and  you 
may  feel  in  duty  bound  to  re-establish  your  Courts  of  law,  in 
answer  to  the  petition  of  a  few  unquiet  spirits,  and  under  a  plaus- 
ible pretence  of  restoring  order  and  peace.  But  I  ought  not  to  be 
silent,  in  view  of  measures  so  directly  contrary  to  the  injunctions 
of  his  Majesty's  letters.  Do  you  presume  so  much  on  his  forbear- 
ance and  clemency  as  to  suppose  he  will  never  stretch  forth  an  arm 
of  power  to  defend  his  subjects  from  usurpation  ?  "  He  adds  that, 
being  about  to  sail  for  England,  he  must  caution  them  against 

*  Martin's  Hist.  Brit.  Col.  vol.  iil.  p.  311.  f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

$  Hutehinaon's  Coll.  p.  427,  8-. 


session   of  OPPOSITE  AUTHORITIES.  4d7 

E06&] 

breaking  lip  thr  arrangements  of  the  royal  Commissioners  in 
Maine,  lest  it  be  followed  with  "  bitter  quarrels,  and  even  blood- 
shed." But  the  rulers  of  Massachusetts  took  very  different  views 
of  this  Bubject  from  what  Nichols  did,  and  persevered  in  their 
proposed  course. 

July  ().  According  to  their  instructions,  John  Levcrett,  Edward 
Ofyng,  and  Richard  Waldron,  as  Commissioners,  reach  York, 
"  accompanied  by  a  military  escort."  Richard  Pike,  and  the  other 
member  of  their  body,  did  not  attend.  Mr.  Joscelyn  and  others, 
as  Justices  of  the  Peace,  meet  them  at  the  inn  where  they  put  up, 
and  desire  an  interview  with  them  next  morning.  This  is  granted. 
Leverctt  and  his  colleagues  accordingly  meet  Joscelyn  and  his 
associates,  saying  they  would  hear  but  not  treat  with  them.  These 
read  communications  from  Col.  Nichols  to  the  Commissioners,  who 
reply  that  Massachusetts  had  assigned  reasons  to  the  King  why 
they  retained  rule  over  Yorkshire.  Joscelyn  states,  that  they 
would  learn  that  only  five  or  six  persons  in  a  town  of  the  County, 
were  inclined  to  be  under  the  Bay  Authorities.  The  Commission- 
ers say,  We  shall  soon  understand  how  this  is  from  the  returns,  and 
we  must  comply  with  our  orders  to  hold  a  Court.  The  Justices 
answer,  We  must  also  attend  to  ours.  Leverett  and  those  with  him 
repair  to  the  meeting-house,  and  enter  on  their  duties.  They  hear 
the  ballots  for  associates,  who  were  to  serve  with  them,  "  from  five 
towns,  the  other  two  being  hindered  (as  they  said)  by  the  Justices, 
yet  in  one  of  them  one  half  of  the  electors  sent  in  their  votes." 
Thus  they  have  decided  evidence  that  a  majority  of  the  people 
wish  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts. 

While  they  are  so  occupied,  the  Justices  come  to  the  outside  of 
the  door  and  proclaim  "  that  all  should  attend  to  his  Majesty's 
commands."  The  Commissioners  order  the  Marshal  to  declare 
openly,  "  that  if  any  had  any  command  from  his  Majesty,  they 
coming  and  showing  it  to  the  Court,  this  body  wras  open  and  ready 
to  hear  the  same."  The  Justices  then  enter  the  house  and  request 
the  Commissioners  to  have  the  papers  read  to  the  assembly,  which 
they  showed  them  privately.  Leverett  and  his  assistants  consent 
that  it  shall  be  done  in  the  afternoon.  Having  adjourned  to  dine, 
they  are  informed  that  the  Justices  are  going  to  the  meeting-house, 
where  they  intend  to  hold  an  Assembly  or  General  Court.  The 
former  request  the  latter  to  converse  wTith  them  after  dinner.  Each 
party  agree  to  do  this,  if  both  stop  their  proceedings  until  they  have 
held  such  consultation.  Presently  after,  the  Justices  dispatch  their 
Marshal  and  another  to  read  a  paper  in  every  public  place.  These 
two  being  met,  so  occupied,  by  the  Commissioners,  and  declining 
to  show  their  authority,  are  committed  to  the  Marshal  appointed 
by  Massachusetts. 

Leverett  and  those  with  him  go  to  the  meeting-house,  find  it  full 
68 


458  PROCEEDINGS   OF  DIFFERENT  PARTIES. 

[Me. 

of  people,  and  the  Justices  in  their  seats.  Koom  being  made  for 
them,  they  advance  to  Joseelyn  and  his  supporters  and  say  to  them, 
"  You  are  the  authors  of  an  affront  we  little  expected,  but  your 
course  will  avail  you  nothing  ;  you  might  have  called  your  meeting 
elsewhere,  and  at  another  time..  Depend  upon  this — we  shall  not 
be  deterred  from  executing  any  part  of  the  delegated  trust,  to  which 
we  are  commissioned."  A  scene  of  confusion  immediately  ensued, 
some  of  the  people  beginning  to  speak.  But  the  Commissioners 
command  silence,  and  order  their  Marshal  to  close  the  Court,  which 
as  done,  Joseelyn  advises.  They  converse  with  the  Justices,  who 
are  re-seated  and  repeat  their  wish  to  have  the  royal  Mandamus  of 
1666,  their  commissions  and  Nichols's  letter  read,  which  Leverett 
and  his  associates  agree  to,  except  the  last  communication,  and  this 
they  disallow  because  not  required  by  the  occasion.  The  Commis- 
sioners assert  that  they  know  the  intendments  of  the  Bay  Authori- 
ties, as  to  the  settlement  of  Maine,  which  they  had  begun  to  carry 
out,  and,  God  willing,  they  would  accomplish  them.  They  con- 
tinue :  "  We  have  declared  to  the  people,  that  we  were  not  insen- 
sible how  that  at  the  time  of  the  interruption  of  the  Government  in 
1665,  by  such  of  the  King's  Commissioners  as  were  then  on  the 
place,  their  displeasure  was  manifested  by  telling  the  people  that 
the  Massachusetts  were  traitors  and  rebels  and  disobedient  to  his 
Majesty,  the  reward  whereof  within  one  year,  they  said,  should  be 
retributed.  Yet  wTe  told  them,  that  through  the  good  hand  of  God 
and  the  King's  favor,  the  Massachusetts  were  an  authority  to  assert 
their  right  of  government  there,  by  virtue  of  the  royal  Charter,  and 
that  we  did  not  doubt  but  that  the  Massachusetts  Colony's  actings 
for  the  forwarding  of  his  Majesty's  service,  would  outspeak  others' 
words,  where  there  was  nothing  but  words  for  themselves  or  against 
us."  Then  the  Justices  leave  the  assembly.  The  Commissioners 
resume  the  duties  of  the  Court,  impannel  the  jury  and  administer 
oaths  to  them  and  the  associates  present.  One  of  these,  Roger 
Plaisted,  from  Kittery,  inquires  publicly,  as  he  had  privately,  how 
the  Government  is  to  be  reassumed,  and  how  his  constituents  were 
to  submit.  He  is  answered  as  before,  that  it  is  done  by  virtue  of 
the  Charter,  and  that  the  towns  of  York  will  have  the  same  privi- 
leges as  those  of  other  Counties  in  the  Bay  Jurisdiction.  A 
petition  from  Scarborough  is  presented  for  an  increase  of  immuni- 
ties, and  referred  to  the  Legislature.  The  Commissioners  attend 
to  various  calls  of  the  occasion.  They  are  applied  to  by  the 
Justices  for  another  conference,  which  is  granted.  The  latter  pre- 
sent a  paper.  Having  received  it,  the  former  appoint  military 
officers  for  the  different  towns  of  York  County.  They  designate 
another  Court  for  this  section  on  the  15th  of  September,  dissolve 
and  leave  for  their  homes  on  the  9th  of  July.  Thus  -we  have  a 
specimen  of  the  more  than  Spartan  firmness,  which  the  Massachu- 


SABBATH   violators     PAPACY.  L59 

1069-70.] 

setts  authorities  exhibited  in  opposition  to  the  policy  of  royalists, 
who  continually  strove  to  break  down  their  independence,  b 
on  Charter  principles.* 

John  Joscelyn,  after  his  second  voyage  to  New  England  in 
l()tj.3,  resided f  considerably  at  his  brother  Henry's  house  in  Scar- 
borough. He  described  the  preceding  transactions,  in  his  Book  of 
Travels,  with  prejudice  against  Massachusetts  and  in  favor  of  the 
party  who  followed  the  instructions  of  the  royal  Commissioners. 
His  brother  Henry,  a  strenuous  supporter  of  the  national  church, 
greatly  damaged  his  estate  by  opposition  to  the  Bay  Authorities. 

October.  Among  cases  of  presentment,  J  are  fourteen  for  persons 
who  absented  themselves  "from  meeting  upon  the  Lord's  day." 
Two  of  this  class  are  James  Michimore  and  wife,  who  "  pretend 
they  go  to  hear  Mr.  Jordan."  These  two  are  admonished  and 
discharged.  Three  more  individuals  are  presented  for  traveling  on 
the  Sabbath.  Of  them,  John  Moshier  pleads  that  he  went  to  look 
after  Mr.  Lane,  who  was  in  peril  of  drowning.  He  is  fined  5/. 
and  to  pay  fees  5/.,  but  if  his  assertion  should  prove  true,  the 
amount  shall  be  returned  to  him. 

1669.  May  8.  The  people  of  Kittery  agree  §  that  Sturgeon 
Creek  shall  be  the  boundary  between  the  upper  and  nether  parts 
of  the  town  for  public  worship,  as  well  as  for  trainings. 

They  vote  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  ||  of  land  shall  be 
laid  out,  for  the  use  of  the  ministry,  in  each  division  of  the  town. 

As  evidence  that  the  Episcopal  party  had  a  controlling  influence 
in  Kittery,  York  and  Falmouth,  three  deputies  of  this  denomina- 
tion appear  from  these  towns,  at  the  General  Court  in  Boston. 

The  plague  and  fire  in  London  had  turned  away  the  public 
attention  there  from  complaints  of  Massachusetts,  for  exercising 
jurisdiction  over  Maine,  and  thus  occasioned  a  diversion  in  favor  of 
the  accused. 

1670.  May  31.  The  Massachusetts  Legislature  recommend,  as 
the  best  means  of  increasing  freemen  in  Maine,  that  each  destitute 
parish  obtain  an  "  able,  pious  and  orthodox  minister." 

The  French,  having  taken  possession  of  Nova  Scotia,1f  including 
Penobscot,  through  Governor  de  Bourg,  claimed  the  Duke  of 
York's  Patent,  even  to  the  Kennebec  river.  This  last  territory  was 
still  under  the  administration  of  Henry  Joscelyn  and  other  Justices, 
who  had  been  appointed  by  Carr  and  other  Commissioners  of 
Charles  II.  Lovelace,  the  Duke's  Governor  of  New  York,  was 
thought  to  be  neglectful  of  the  Kennebec  territory,  and  the  Duke 
himself,  as  well  as  his  brother  the  King,  were  suspected  of  being 

*  Report  of  Commissioners.     Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  p.  401-4. 

f  Joscelyn's  Voyages.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  iii.  p.  343. 

t  Willis's  Portland,  vol.  i.  p.  120,  1. 

§  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  ||  Kittery  Rec.     Greenleaf  s  Sketches,  p.  26. 

IT  Williamson,  vol.  i.  p.  441. 


460  DECEASE  OF  JOHN  REYNER. 

[N.  H. 

Romanists  at  heart.  These  circumstances  led  the  Bay  Authorities 
to  fear,  lest  they  might  have  Popery  brought  again  nearer  to  their 
jurisdiction  than  would  be  desirable  and  beneficial. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

1667.  Though  the  royal  Commissioners  had  made  strenuous 
efforts  to  draw  off  the  people  here  from  Massachusetts,  still  the 
attempt  was  ineffectual  with  the  greater  portion  of  them. 

1668.  April  15.  As  a  confirmation*  that  Mason's  claim  to  this 
Colony  and  other  territory,  is  allowed  by  some  who  live  in  Massa- 
chusetts, William  Trask,  of  Salem,  agrees  to  pay  the  alledged  pro- 
prietor a  certain  sum  for  the  improvement  of  his  house  and  land 
within  Masonia.  In  1686,  Rev.  John  Higginson,  of  the  same 
town,  agrees  to  pay  a  quit-rent  for  buildings  on  his  land  at  Haver- 
hill to  the  same  concern. 

29.  Still  retaining  their  authority  f  over  New  Hampshire,  as  well 
as  Maine,  though  strenuously  resisted  by  the  opponents  of  their 
stand  in  London,  the  Bay  Legislature  appoint  individuals  to  keep 
Courts  and  otherwise  act  as  magistrates  here. 

1669.  April  20.  John  Reyner,+  minister  of  Dover,  dies.  In 
his  will,  he  mentioned  having  landed  estate  at  Gildersome,  in  the 
parish  of  Botley,  County  of  York,  England.  He  had  had  a  life 
estate  in  "  housing  and  lands  "  in  Edgton  and  Welburn,  of  the  same 
County.  His  first  wife  was  a  Boys  from  England,  who  left  chil- 
dren, Jachim,  and  Hannah  wife  of  Job  Lane ;  his  second  wife  was 
Frances  Clarke,  and  children  by  her,  John,  Elizabeth,  Dorothy, 
Abigail  and  Judith.  The  last  of  these  children  married  Rev.  Jabez 
Fox,  of  Woburn,  and  for  her  second  husband,  Col.  Jonathan  Tyng, 
and  died  June  5,  1736,  aged  ninety-eight. 

Morton's  MS.  History  of  Plymouth  church,  says  of  Mr.  Reyner  : 
"  He  was  an  able,  faithful,  laborious  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  a 
wise  orderer  of  the  affairs  of  the  church.  He  was  singularly  en- 
dowed with  a  gift  to  train  up  children  in  a  catechetical  way  in  the 
grounds  of  the  Christian  Religion.  He  was  sober,  a  lover  of  good 
men,  not  greedy  of  the  matters  of  the  world,  armed  with  much 
faith,  patience  and  meekness,  mixed  with  courage  for  the  cause  of, 
God."  As  before  stated,  he  had  been  pastor  of  the  Plymouth 
church.  In  both  places,  his  walk  accorded  with  the  high  demands 
of  his  sacred  office. 

May  19.  An  address  from  the  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth  is  com- 

*  Annals  of  Salem,  p.  232,  83.  f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

+  N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.  vol.  ii.  p.  238,  9. 


COLLEGE   DONATION.  481 

K.70.] 

miniated  to  the  Genera]  Court  of  Massachusetts.     They  remark, 
By  your  means  we  enjoy  much  peace.*     "  Though  we  have  articled 
with  yourselves  for  exemption  from  public  charges,  yet  we  n 
articled   with  God  and  our  own  consciences   for    exemption  from 

gratitude,  which  to  demonstrate  while  we  were  studying,  the  loud 
groans  of  the  sinking  College  in  its  present  low  estate,  came  to  our 
ears.  We  have  made  a  collection  in  our  town  of  £00  per  annum, 
and  hope  to  make  it  more,  for  seven  years."  Belknap  informs  us, 
that  Dover  gave  £32  and  Exeter  £10  for  the  like  object. 

1670.  May  11.  Under  this  date,f  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
make  provision  ibr  the  protection  of  New  Hampshire,  as  a  part  of 
Norfolk  County.  They  forbid  that  a  ship  at  the  Isle  of  Shoals, 
suspected  to  be  a  pirate,  and  taken  from  the  French,  should  be 
suffered  to  remain  within  their  jurisdiction. 


RHODE    ISLAND. 

1667.  May  10.  The  Governor  and  Council  at  Warwick  con- 
sider^: rumors  about  the  unfriendly  disposition  of  the  Indians. 
They  order  those  suspected,  and  all  of  them  above  sixteen  years 
old,  to  leave  the  island.  They  thankfully  answer  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Plymouth  for  informing  them  of  their  proceedings  as 
to  the  conspiracy  of  Philip  and  his  men.  They  appoint  a  confer- 
ence of  deputies  from  the  four  towns,  one  for  each,  with  Mossup, 
Cochanaquant  and  Ninicraft,  about  such  reports. 

July  2.  The  General  Assembly  order  that  a  beacon  be  placed  on 
Wonemytonimo  hill  and  other  parts,  to  give  alarms,  if  there  be 
insurrections  of  suspected  enemies.  Notice  of  trouble  at  Provi- 
dence, on  3d  of  June,  in  the  election  of  two  sets  of  deputies  for 
the  Assembly,  is  brought  forward.  At  the  head  of  one  party  is 
William  Harris,  who  had  been  previously  disposed  to  pursue  a 
course  which  others  feared  as  ruinous  to  the  order  and  welfare  of 
society.  The  Assembly  fine  him  £50,  and  discharge  him  from  the 
office  of  Assistant.  Several  of  the  same  body  protest  against  this 
measure. 

24.  Col.  Nichols  writes  to  Governor  Brenton.§  He  speaks  of 
the  fine  imposed  on  Harris.  He  remarks,  in  connection  with,  this 
subject :  "  I  hope  you  will  reflect  seasonably  upon  these  things, 
which,  with  trouble  and  grief,  I  now  write ;  my  only  design  therein 
is  to  contribute  my  hearty,  neighborly  and  friendly  advice  to  your 
peace  and  prosperity,  which  you  cannot  expect  till  you  have  purged 
away  the  leaven  of  factious  interests  in  your  Courts  and  country." 

*  Farmer's  Belknap,  p.  64,  439,  40.  t  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

|  Potter's  Narragansett,  p.  70.    Rec.  R.  I.  §  Rec.  R.  I. 


463  PUBLICATION   OF  EOGER  WILLIAMS. 

[R.I. 

November  9.  Samuel  Gorton  and  Randal  Holden,  write  to 
Col.  Nichols,  and  complain  of  Richard  Smith,*  of  Wickford,  as 
using  policy  adverse  to  their  rights.  They  say  of  him  :  "  This  is 
he,  together  with  his  accomplices,  who  offered  indignity  to  noble 
personages,  by  the  inhuman  abuse  of  their  effigies  by  word  and 
deed  upon  Rhode  Island." 

This  year,  Roger  Williams  writes  the  following  production  :f 
"  A  Raised  Lazarus  Breathing  Meditations,  or  Esau  and  Jacob's 
Mystical  Harmony.  In  the  Mystical  Dialect  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, the  New  Heaven  and  the  New  Earth." 

1663.  April  11.  William  Hiscox,  Joseph  Tory  and  Samuel 
Hubbard,  +  as  a  delegation  from  Mr.  Clarke's  church,  of  Newport, 
reach  Boston.  Their  object  is  to  assist  their  Baptist  brethren,  Gould, 
Earnum  and  Osborn,  in  a  public  debate  there  on  the  14th,  con- 
cerning their  particular  opinions,  with  several  elders,  as  appointed 
by  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  Gould  and  others  had  been 
prosecuted  and  imprisoned  for  sustaining  the  worship  of  their 
order. 

May  4.  Nineteen  inhabitants  of  Wickford,  §  claimed  by  Rhode 
Island  as  within  their  charter  bounds,  write  to  the  authorities  of 
Connecticut.  They  state  that  in  accordance  with  their  petition, 
they  were  received,  in  1664,  under  the  government  and  protection 
of  the  latter  Colony,  but  had  been  interrupted  through  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  royal  Commissioners.  Hence  they  feel  themselves 
obliged  to  apply  for  the  protection  ||  of  Connecticut  once  more, 
"  being  not  able  to  live,  either  in  our  civil  or  ecclesiastical  matters, 
without  government,  which  both  the  honor  of  God  and  the  good 
of  the  country  now  call  upon  us  to  seek  after." 

June  4.  The  purchasers  of  Petaquamscutt,  of  whom  is  John 
Hall,  of  Boston,  order  If  that  the  income  and  improvement  of  three 
hundred  acres  belonging  to  it,  shall  be  for  "  an  orthodox  person 
that  shall  be  obtained  to  preach  God's  word  to  the  inhabitants." 
Hull  and  others,  constituting  a  majority  of  the  proprietors,  were 
Congregationalists,  and  very  probably  understood  that  no  preacher 
would  have  the  benefit  of  the  grant,  except  of  their  denomination. 
But  severe  controversy  and  litigation  subsequently  arose  about  it, 
in  which  Dr.  McSparran,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  took  a  promi- 
nent part. 

August  31.  The  town  of  Providence**  send  a  remonstrance  and 
petition  to  the  Governor  and  Council.  A  passage  of  the  docu- 
ment follows :  "  We  pray  your  continuance  and  assistance  to  the 
General  Solicitor  to  proceed  legally  with  William  Carpenter, 
William  and  Thomas  Harris,  for  their  treacherous  speeches,  and, 

*  They  say  that  his  father  had  died  lately.  f  MS.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

X  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  376.  §  Wickford  was  received  under  jurisdiction  of 

Conn.  June  20,  1670.  ||  Rec.  K.  I.  IT  Torrey  vs.  Gardner  Papers. 

**  Staples'  Hist.  Prov.  p.  147-50. 


TOWN  01  WESTERLY  LOCATED.  163 

1689.] 

we  suspect,  actions,  against  his  Majesty's  gracious  charter,  and  the 
liberties,  and  government,  and  privileges,  which  it  hath  pleased 

our  God  and  the  King,  to  the  envy  and  astonishment  of  all  our 
neighborhood,  so  wonderfully  to  bestow  upon  us."  It  states  that 
William  Harris  was  disfranchised  by  the  inhabitants  of  Providence 

about  twenty-four  years  ago,  and  that  they  had  never  orderly  re- 
ceived him  again  ;  that  in  1656  he  issued  his  written  communica- 
tion u  against  all  civil  government,  professing  that  it  would  shortly 
be  that  people  should  cry  out,  No  Lords,  No  Masters."  He  turned 
about,  and  for  ten  years  has  plagued  "  both  town  and  colony  with 
lawsuits."  Harris  Mas  kept  imprisoned  till  the  Quakers  prevailed 
in  the  government,  and  he  was  released  the  ^Dth  of  next  October. 
No  doubt  the  letter  of  Col.  Nichols  had  much  influence  in  this 
discharge. 

Oct.  29.  John  Clark  is  designated  *  to  correspond  with  the 
Plymouth  authorities,  desiring  them  to  restrain  proceedings  against 
land  of  William  Blackstone. 

1669.  February  23.  William  Wickendon,  on  authority  of  Ben- 
edict, now  finishes  his  probation.  The  same  author  mentions  him 
as  moving  to  Providence  in  1639,  but  he  was  there  1636,  and 
signed  the  first  compact,  1637.  He  was  on  a  committee  with  Gregory 
Dexter,  both  being  Baptist  preachers,  to  join  similar  bodies  from 
Portsmouth,  Newport  and  Warwick,  in  1647,  for  forming  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Colony.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
1648,  1651  to  1655,  and  1664.  He  seems  to  have  been  highly 
respected  in  his  ministerial  labors  and  character. 

May  14.  The  people  at  Misquamacuck,f  or  Pawcatuck,  in  the 
Narragansett  territory,  being  desirous  to  become  a  town,  are  granted 
their  request  by  the  Assembly,  and  their  location  is  called  Westerly, 
which  is  to  be  distinguished  as  the  filth  town  of  the  Colony.  This 
settlement  became  the  scene  of  perilous  contests,  between  opposite 
parties,  one  contending  that  they  should  be  under  Connecticut, 
and  another,  under  Rhode  Island. 

John  Clark  is  requested  by  the  Assembly  to  interpose  between 
the  virulent  parties  of  Providence,  and  persuade  them  to  compose 
their  differences. 

June  30.  Samuel  Gorton  defends  himself,  in  a  paper,  £  against 
statements  made  by  Morton  in  his  Memorial,  lately  published. 
He  denies  that  he  had  used  language,  signifying  that  there  was  no 
future  existence  of  mankind  ;  that  sermons  of  salvation  were  tales ; 
that  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  were  vanity  ;  that  ministers  were 
necromancers.  With  respect  to  his  own  preaching,  he  observes  : 
"  I  would  have  you  know,  that  I  hold  my  call  to  preach  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  not  inferior  to  any  minister  in  this  country,  though  I 
was  not  bred  up  in  the  schools  of  human  learning,  and  I  bless  God 

*  Rec.  R.  I.  t  Ibid.  +  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  467-70. 


464  INDIAN  AND  FRENCH  PLOTS. 

[R.I. 

that  I  never  was  ;  least  I  had  been  drowned  in  pride  and  ignorance, 
through  Aristotle's  principles,  and  other  heathen  philosophers,  as 
millions  are  and  have  been,  who  ground  their  preaching  of  the 
gospel  upon  human  principles,  to  the  falsifying  of  the  word  of 
God  in  the  ruin  of  men's  souls.  Yet  this  I  doubt  not  of,  but  that 
there  hath  been  as  much  true  use  made  of  the  languages,  within 
this  twenty  years  past,  in  the  place  where  I  live,  as  hath  been  in 
any  church  in  New  England."  He  speaks  of  his  preaching,  when 
last  in  the  mother  country,  and  how  it  was  received  by  people  and 
ministers.  He  mentions  the  intercouse  which  he  had  with  Mr. 
Winslow,  and  how  the  book  of  the  latter  was  criticised  by  John 
Brown. 

July  20.  The  Governor  and  Council  issue  a  warrant*  to  appre- 
hend Ninigret  on  suspicion  of  a  plot  against  the  English,  as  indi- 
cated by  a  letter  of  the  5th  inst.  from  Gov.  Lovelace,  of  New  York. 
The  cause  of  this  was,  that  the  chief  had  entertained  six  Indians, 
absconded  from  Thomas  Terry,  of  Block  Island.  Besides,  notice 
of  the  22d  came  to  them  from  Plymouth,  that  they  had  sent  persons 
to  examine  the  chief,  and  ask  him  why  he  had  kept  with  him  seven 
of  Philip's  ancient  men  nine  or  ten  days  together,  and  that  they 
suspected  a  plot,  as  Major  John  Mason  does,  between  the  French 
and  almost  all  the  Indians  of  the  country.  On  the  28th,  Ninigret 
appeared  before  the  Authorities  at  Newport.  He  was  questioned 
about  the  Indians  at  his  residence,  and  a  great  dance  he  was  pre- 
paring for.  He  gave  specious  replies,  and  said  that  the  latter 
diversion  was  meant  as  a  "  kind  of  an  invocation,  that  they  might 
have  a  plentiful  harvest."  He  was  dismissed  with  admonition  to 
be  careful  and  appear  again  in  about  a  month. 

August  24.  Francis  Lovelace,  of  New  York,  writes  to  the 
Assembly,!  and  thanks  them  for  particulars  about  the  alarm  lest  the 
Indians  are  plotting  an  insurrection.  He  remarks  that  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  such  correspondence,  they  "  are  not  only  obligated  by 
the  common  ties  of  Christianity,  but  common  safety  and  the  happi- 
ness promised  to  all  brethren  living  in  love  and  unity  together." 

October  27.  In  consequence  of  difficulty  about  lands  in  Provi- 
dence,* the  inhabitants  could  not  agree  to  choose  persons  sufficient 
to  transact  their  own  business  peaceably,  and  to  take  part  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Colony.  The  General  Assembly  depute  a  committee, 
John  Easton,  Joshua  and  John  Coggeshall,  William  Vaughan  and 
John  Sanford,  to  attend  a  general  meeting  of  the  men  there,  "  and 
endeavour  to  persuade  them  to  a  loving  composure  of  their  differ- 
ences," and  summon  a  meeting  of  the  freemen  to  elect  town  officers 
and  deputies.  This  committee  discharged  their  assigned  duty,  but 
did  not  succeed.     The  Legislature  appoint  another  committee,§  the 

*  Rec.  R.  I.  t  Ibid.  J  Staples'  Hist,  of  Frov.  p.  151,  2. 

$  Rec.  R.  I. 


FREEMEN   ADMITTED.  465 

1070.] 

next  March  Ifcfcd,  to  visit  Providence  for  a  like  purpose.  These 
means  appear  to  have  resulted  favorably. 

1670.  May  4.  John  Clark,  being  elected  Deputy  Governor,* 
declines  to  stand.  Roger  Williams  is  chosen  an  Assistant  by  the 
Assembly. 

June  :ii).  John  Clark  and  John  Green  are  appointed  by  the 
same  body,  to  visit  England  ami  vindicate  their  right  to  land  in 
Narragansett,  claimed  by  Connecticut.  Green  declined.  Clark's 
appointment  was  confirmed  several  times,  till  May,  1672,  when  it 
was  repealed,  because  the  occasion  ceased. 

lloger  Williams  moved  in  the  Assembly,  that  several  of  Provi- 
dence be  admitted  as  freemen.  On  the  26th  of  next  October,  the 
Legislature  conclude  "  that  it  shall  be  in  the  power  of  every  town 
to  make  all  persons  freemen,  that  are  capable  of  public  service." 

August  3.  Capt.  John  Mason  writes f  to  the  Connecticut  Gov- 
ernment, that  he  sends  to  them  a  communication  from  "  Roger 
Williams  and  others  of  his  sect,  in  reference  to  our  difference  with 
Rhode  Island."  He  speaks  of  the  intended  litigation  in  England 
for  the  land  which  has  been  long  in  question  between  the  two 
Colonies.  He  asks,  "  If  you  recover,  what  will  you  gain,  as  the 
best  is  already  gone ;  and  what  remains  but  rocks,  swamps  and 
sand  heaps?  And  in  lieu  of  this,  we  must  erect  a  government 
over  a  people,  that  will  come  under  no  government,  neither  civil 
nor  ecclesiastical ;  they  being  already  in  dispersed  corners,  like 
Swedes,  so  that  there  is  no  likelihood  of  any  tolerable  Christian- 
like society  to  be  settled  among  them." 

November  30.  John  Clark  and  his  church,  of  Newport,  are 
written  to  J  by  Edward  Drinker,  relative  to  trials  of  the  Baptist 
church,  worshiping  at  Noddle's  Island,  opposite  Boston. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1667.  May  9.  There  being  only  one  prison  or  house  of  cor- 
rection in  the  Colony,  and  that  in  the  county  of  Hartford,  the 
Legislature  order  §  that  there  shall  be  such  a  building  in  each 
county,  to  secure  delinquents  for  trial.  To  prevent  the  violation 
of  the  Sabbath  within  the  English  limits  by  Indians,  it  is  ordered 
that  whoever  of  these  shall  "  labor  or  play  "  there  on  such  terri- 
tory, shall  be  fined  5/.,  or  set  in  the  stocks  one  hour.  They  are  to 
be  notified  of  this  regulation.  On  complaint  that  "  divers  persons 
have  thrust  themselves  into  the  several  plantations,  to  the  unjust 
disturbance  of  the  same,"  the  Court  require  that  each  person  who 
shall  so  act  and  still  remain  after  being  warned  to  depart,  shall  pay 

*  Rec.  R.  I.  f  Ibid.  j  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  398,  9.  $  Rec.  Conn. 

59 


466  PURPOSES   OF  CONFEDERATION. 

[Conn. 

20/.  a  week,  while  continuing,  or,  in  default  of  payment,  sit  in  the 
stocks  one  hour. 

As  a  strong  prejudice  existed  against  the  term  Synod,  because 
under  this  name  the  half-way  covenant*  had  been  introduced,  the 
Legislature  of  Connecticut  alter  it  as  to  the  body  about  to  convene, 
and  thus  speak  of  it :  "  Style  them  an  assembly  of  the  ministers  of 
this  Colony,  called  together  by  the  General  Court  for  the  discus- 
sion of  the  questions  stated  according  to  former  order."  The 
ministers  collected  at  the  Election,  converse  on  these  questions, 
but  do  not  debate  them.  They  put  them  off  till  Fall,  when  they 
expect  to  re-assemble. 

September  5.  The  United  Commissioners  at  Hartford  observe  f 
that  "one  main  end  of  the  Confederation  is  as  well  the  preserving 
and  propagating  of  the  truth  and  liberty  of  the  gospel,  as  for 
outward  welfare."  They  propose  in  reference  to  the  assembly  of 
ministers  about  to  meet,  that  such  body's  proceedings  bear  on  the 
common  religious  interests  of  their  Colonies,  and  therefore  they 
should  be  composed  of  members  from  "  the  churches  called  indif- 
ferently out  of  all  the  United  Colonies  by  an  orderly  agreement  of 
the  several  General  Courts,  and  the  place  of  meeting  be  at  or  near 
Boston." 

12.  Mr.  Pierson  still  preaches  for  Indians  part  of  his  time. 
Ten  pounds  of  the  missionary  funds  are  paid  to  the  Commissioners 
of  this  Colony  for  deserving  Indians.  These  officers  reply  to  the 
Commissioners  of  the  two  other  Colonies,  relative  to  some  objec- 
tions. They  say  that  they  hope  their  Court  will  rectify  what 
Massachusetts  think  amiss  relative  to  Southertown ;  that  they  could 
wish  the  Pequot  Indians  had  been  allowed  sufficient  land  sooner, 
but  now  they  are,  they  hope  it  will  satisfy  their  Confederates ;  that 
the  union  with  New  Haven  has  been  made  "  with  equal  patent 
privileges  "  to  all.  They  conclude  by  desiring  their  Confederates 
"  to  implore  the  throne  of  grace  in  our  behalf,  that  the  Lord 
would  so  unite  our  hearts  according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel, 
that  with  one  heart  and  hand  we  may  promote  the  establishment 
of  peace  and  righteousness  throughout  our  borders." 

24.  As  a  remarkable  event  in  the  life  of  John  Davenport,  con- 
sidering his  advanced  asre  and  the  attachment  of  the  New  Haven 
church  to  him,  he  is  called  by  the  First  Boston  church  to  become 
their  pastor.  A  majority  of  those  who  so  invite  him  agreed  with  him 
in  his  opposition  to  the  half-way  covenant,  which  was  promoted  by 
many  in  Boston  and  the  rest  of  the  Colony.  He  also  stood  by  the 
Massachusetts  authorities  in  their  struggles  with  the  royal  Com- 
missioners, and  communicated  with  Leverett,  as  his  near  friend,  on 
the  subject.     Besides,  he  was  strenuous  against  the  policy  of  Con- 

*  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  page  482,  remarks  that  he  did  not  know  of  any  church 
which  had  adopted  the  half-way  covenant  in  America, 
f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  508-10. 


SYNOD  CONVENE,  467 

necticut  in  embracing  the  Colony  of  New  II  iven  within  its  charter, 
and  tlms  nullifying  the  government  of  this  section  by  church 

members.  The  tacts  ot'  the  hist  sentence  were  powerful  enough 
to  break  him  off  (torn  that  quarter ;  and  the  facts  of  the  two 
sentences  immediately  preceding,  to  render  him  welcome  among 
friends  in  Boston. 

The  reply  of  the  New  Haven  brethren  contained  the  subsequent 
We  see  no  cause  nor  call  of  God  to  resign  our 
reverend  pastor  to  the  church  of  Boston  by  any  immediate  act  of 
ours,  therefore  not  by  a  formal  dismission  under  our  hands.  It  is 
our  great  grief  and  sore  ailiiction  that  we  cannot  do  for  him,  whom 
we  so  highly  esteem  in  love  for  his  works'  sake  and  profitable 
labors  among  us,  what  is  desired,  without  wrong  to  our  consciences. 
Anything  that  we  have  or  are,  besides  our  consciences,  we  are 
•eady  to  lay  down  at  his  feet.  Such  is  our  honorable  respect  to 
him,  our  love  to  peace,  our  desire  of  your  supply,  that  we  shall  go 
as  far  as  we  safely  can,  in  order  to  his  and  your  satisfaction  in  this 
matter,  having  before  us  for  our  warrant,  Acts,  21  c,  14  v. :  l  When 
he  would  not  be  persuaded,  we  ceased,  saying,  the  will  of  the  Lord 
be  done.'"  This  was  construed  by  those  who  wished  Mr.  Daven- 
port to  become  their  minister  in  Boston,  as  a  proper  dismission, 
while  those  of  an  opposite  inclination  construed  it  reversely. 

October  10.  The  General  Court  meet  at  Hartford.  The  min- 
isters also  assemble,!  as  appointed,  to  hold  a  Synod  or  Council, 
and  discuss  ecclesiastical  questions.  Rev.  Messrs.  Warham, 
Hooker  and  Whiting  offer  a  written  paper  to  the  Court,  represent- 
ing that  the  Council  would  like  a  larger  representation  of  elders 
from  the  Bay  to  assist  them.  They  also  state  that  however  them- 
selves and  others  are  inclined  to  proceed  and  publicly  discuss  the 
questions,  yet  the  major  part  of  the  Council  were  not  so  disposed. 
Rev.  Messrs.  Bulkley  and  Haynes  inform  the  Court  that  the 
greater  number  of  their  brethren  are  desirous  to  have  closed  doors 
when  they  attend  their  specific  business,  as  most  subservient  to  the 
cause  of  religion  ;  that  they  have  voted  to  meet  again  on  the  third 
Wednesday  of  October,  and  that  they  are  ready  to  abide  by  the 
decision  of  the  Court  as  to  the  time  of  another  session.  The 
Court  answer  that  they  had  not  concluded  on  the  date,  and  request 
the  churches  to  send  their  ministers,  at  their  own  cost,  to  sit  in 
Council  with  such  as  the  churches  of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts 
may  send. 

Great  trouble  had  existed  about  the  choice  of  a  colleague 
with  Mr.  Warham,  of  Windsor.  Strong  parties  existed.  The 
General  Court  order  that  the  people  of  Windsor  and  Majsacoe  meet 
the  next  Monday  morning,  and  give  their  votes  relative  to  Mr. 
Chauncy,  who  was  preaching  among  them.     A  small  majority  were 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  Ibid. 


468  PLANTATION   COVENANT. 

[Conn. 

in  his  favor.  The  Court  grant  the  congregation  liberty  to  settle 
Mr.  Chauncy,  if  they  choose.  They  require  the  minority  to  pay 
proportionately  for  Mr.  Chauncy's  salary,  until  they  obtain  a  min- 
ister for  themselves.  Though  the  candidate  was  not  settled  there, 
the  minority  separated  and  formed  a  distinct  church.  The  town 
remained  in  a  divided  condition  about  sixteen  years  from  this 
date. 

11.  John  Woodbridge  and  two  more  date  a  petition  to  the  Court, 
that  Kenilworth  may  be  embodied  into  a  church  state. 

16.  John  Allyn,  Secretary,  addresses*  a  letter  to  the  Massachu- 
setts Legislature :  "  We  send  you  an  agreement  to  concur  with 
yourselves  and  our  other  confederates  about  a  General  Convention 
or  Synod  for  clearing  up  the  truth  in  some  matters  controversial, 
that  are  stirring  not  only  amongst  us,  but  elsewhere  in  the  country, 
at  least  some  of  them ;  which  being  of  common  concernment,  we 
take  notice  of  what  is  recommended  by  the  Commissioners,  at  their 
late  session  upon  that  account."  He  says  that  the  place  of  session 
is  proposed  to  be  in  or  near  Boston,  and  that  the  choice  of  time  and 
place  is  left  with  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  He  proceeds  :  "  If 
you  please  to  take  in  with  our  motion  and  desire  herein,  and  do 
settle  the  affair,  it  would  be  acceptable  that  what  is  with  you  of 
such  nature,  meet  to  be  then  debated,  etc.,  may,  in  some  copy 
thereof,  be  sent  hither  also,  and  ours  returned  to  you,  sometime 
before  the  session,  to  ripen  thoughts  upon  preparatorily.  And 
the  good  Lord  direct  and  incline  all  our  hearts  into  the  knowledge 
and  love  of  his  truth,  and  grant  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
bond  of  peace  unto  all  the  churches  in  New  England." 

"  This  year  there  was  a  Synod  f  called  at  Hartford,  to  discuss 
some  points  concerning  baptism  and  church  discipline ;  but  nothing 
was  concluded,  the  Congregational  party,  which  was  the  greatest, 
violently  opposing  the  Presbyterian.  There  was  this  year,  and 
divers  years  foregoing,  great  contentions  in  divers  of  the  churches 
concerning  these  things." 

31.  The  Legislature  of  the  Bay  reply,  J  that  they  shall  be  ready 
to  help  forward  the  Convention,  but  as  the  questions  to  be  consid- 
ered had  not  been  forwarded,  they  should  be  glad  to  receive 
them. 

1668.  January  20.  The  male  inhabitants  §  of  Branford  sign  a 
"New  Plantation  and  Church  Covenant."  This  says,  that  as  the 
settlement  of  the  town  was  undertaken  by  men  of  "  Congregational 
principles  as  to  church  order,  according  to  the  Platform  of  Disci- 
pline agreed  on  by  the  Synod,"  in  which  "  we  have  found  much 
peace  to  our  great  comfort,"  and  for  which  we  bless  God  and 
pray  that  he  would  so  continue  it  among  us  and  our  successors,  we 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Bradstreet  of  New  London,  Journal. 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.  1849,  p.  153,  4. 


DAVKNPQKE  QOBfl  TO   BOSTON.  4GS 

L68&] 

will  settle  an  orthodox  minister  and  encourage  the  gathering  of  a 

church  ;    will   maintain  Mich  chinch   officers,  and   will  not  infringe 

on  any  of  their  liberties. 

April.  At  the  close  of  this  month,*  Mr.  Davenport  and  his 
family  set  out  for  Boston.  They  reach  that  place  the  2d  of  next 
month.  He  finds  a  minority  of  the  people  who  had  invited  him, 
opposed  to  his  installation  over  them.  These  suppose  that  some 
equivocation  had  been  used  about  his  letter  of  dismission,  as  it 
purported  to  free  him  from  New  Haven  church,  when  they  believe 
that  it  granted  him  no  such  explicit  liberty,  though  his  flock  there 
expressed  the  highest  esteem  for  his  services  and  character. 

Mav  18.  On  petition  of  some  who  live  in  Windsor,  the  Legisla- 
ture approve  f  of  Mr.  Woodbridge's  continuance  in  the  ministry 
there  as  a  lecturer,  and  they  will  allow  him  to  preach  once  a  fort- 
night on  the  Sabbath,  as  well  as  on  week-days,  if  agreeable  to  the 
church  of  Mr.  Warham.  On  the  8th  of  October,  they  permit  Mr. 
Woodbridge  to  lecture  once  a  fortnight  there,  on  the  4th  day  of  the 
week,  and  not  on  the  Sabbath,  without  leave  from  Mr.  Warham. 

Rev.  Mr.  Warham  desires  to  know  of  the  General  Court 
whether  their  order  of  October  last,  granting  leave  for  the  choice 
of  another  minister,  includes  any  member  of  the  Windsor  church. 
They  reply  that  the  dissenting  party,  designated  by  the  order,  are 
those  who  have  such  liberty  allowed  them. 

20.  As  to  the  law  about  fines  for  keeping  books  or  manuscripts 
of "  Quakers,  Ranters,  Adamites,  or  such  like  notorious  Here- 
tiques ; "  the  Legislature  order  the  constables  to  seize  them, 
wherever  found,  and  deliver  them  to  the  next  County  Court,  who 
shall  take  care  to  have  such  productions  suppressed. 

Whoever  profanes  the  Sabbath  "  by  unnecessary  travel  or  play- 
ing thereon  in  time  of  public  worship,  before  or  after,  or  shall  keep 
out  of  the  meeting-house  during  the  public  worship  unnecessarily," 
shall  pay  5/.  for  each  offense,  or  be  set  in  the  stocks  one  hour. 

22.  Fast  Day  to  be  observed  J  on  the  29th,  "for  our  manifold 
sins,  whereby  we  have  caused  the  Lord  to  go  out  against  us  in  those 
yearly  judgments  of  blasting  the  increase  of  the  field,  the  spoiling 
the  fruits  of  trees,  the  continuance  of  divisions  in  several  Plantations 
and  Societies  amongst  us,  and  to  implore  mercy  from  the  Lord  in 
behalf  of  his  people  of  England,  and  that  he  would  cause  his  face 
to  shine  upon  us  in  this  wilderness." 

John  Allyn  and  Thomas  Stanton  are  empowered  to  lay  before 
the  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  the  wrong  done  by  some  of  that 
Colony  to  Connecticut,  "  in  interrupting  the  quiet  possession  of 
divers  inhabitants  in  their  lands  and  estates  at  Squamacuck,  or 
elsewhere  in  the  Narragansett  Country,"  granted  to  them  by  their 
Charter. 

*  Hutchinson,  vol.  i.  p.  247-51.  f  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

1  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


470  RELIGIOUS  CONSTITUTION. 

[Conn. 

October  8.  The  General  Assembly  appear  to  relinquish  the  idea 
of  being  successful  in  the  settlement  of  their  ecclesiastical  difficulties 
by  public  disputations  and  councils.  They  entertain  the  purpose 
to  try  for  so  desirable  an  end,  in  the  promotion  of  some  system  of 
church  communion  and  discipline,  by  which  the  professors  of  reli- 
gion in  their  Colony  might  walk  harmoniously,  though  not  agreed 
in  minor  points.  For  this  object,  they  appoint  Bev.  Messrs.  James 
Fitch,  Samuel  Wakeman,  Gershom  Bulkley  and  Joseph  Eliot,  to 
meet  at  Saybrook.  Trumbull,  who  gives  this  account,  remarks, 
that  such  a  step  "appears  to  have  been  the  first  towards  a  religious 
constitution,"  though  many  years  passed  before  is  was  accomplished. 

The  Legislature  appoint  the  same  divines,  designated  to  con- 
vene at  Windsor  the  fourth  of  the  second  week  in  April,  or  sooner, 
if  they  can,  to  endeavor  for  a  reconciliation  between  parties  in  the 
church  there.  They  speak  of  such  division  relative  to  the  ordina- 
tion of  Mr.  Chauncy  and  the  continuance  of  Mr.  Woodbridge. 

November  4.  Nathaniel,  son  of  Edward  Collins,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  is  ordained  at  Middletown.  He  graduated  at  H.  C.  1660, 
and  was  brother  of  John,  who  became  eminent  in  England  among 
its  Puritan  clergymen.  He  was  proposed  for  freeman,  1667.  He 
died  December  28,  1684,  in  his  forty-third  year.  The  Magnalia* 
says  of  him :  "  All  the  qualities  of  most  exemplary  piety,  extraor- 
dinary integrity,  obliging  affability,  joined  with  the  accomplishments 
of  an  extraordinary  preacher,  did  render  him  truly  excellent." 

Zachariah,  son  of  Robert  Walker,f  of  Boston,  born  1637,  edu- 
cated but  not  graduated  at  H.  C,  began  to  preach  in  1662,  at 
Jamaica,  L.  I.,  for  £60  a  year,  moved  this  year  to  Stratford,  with 
part  of  his  people.  May  13,  1669,  he  had  leave  from  the  Legis- 
lature, to  occupy  the  pulpit  once  a  day  till  their  October  session, 
when  they  assigned  to  him  a  part  of  the  ministerial  land  with  Mr. 
Chauncy.  Trumbull  places  him  over  the  Second  church  of  Strat- 
ford, and  informs  us  that,  May  3,  1670,  he  was  settled  at  Wood- 
bury. Here  he  deceased,  January,  1699,  aged  sixty-two.  His 
memory  was  honorably  continued  by  his  son,  who  died  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut. 

1669.  January  6.  The  church  at  Farmington  +  vote,  that  each 
brother  should  send  to  the  deacon  "  a  peck  of  wheat,  or  the  worth 
of  a  shilling  in  current  pay,  for  the  defraying  of  the  next  sacrament, 
as  also  for  the  clearing  off  that  little  which  was  yet  due  for  the 
sacrament  already  past ;  as  also  for  the  future,  every  brother  of 
the  church  should  for  each  sacrament  allow  6c?.,  except  such  of  the 
brethren  whose  wives  come  not  to  the  Supper,  because  not  mem- 
bers of  the  church ;  and  to  them  it  was  permitted  to  put  in  3c/.,  or 
sixpence,  whichever  they  please,  for  each  sacrament." 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  ii.  p.  117.     Field's  Centennial  Address. 

f  Thompson's  L.  I.  vol.  ii.  p.  101.    Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  523.    Conn.  Col.  Rec. 

%  N.  E.  Gen.  Jleg.  vol.  xii.  p.  328. 


DIVISIONS   IN   CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.  471 

ieee.] 

April  7.  John  Woodbridge*  is  ordained  at  Kenilworth.  "Sam'l 
WakemaD  and  Joseph  Elayoes  imposed  hands."  Mr.  Woodbridge, 
on  October  26,  1671,  married  Mrs.  Abigail  Leet 

May  13,  The  Genera]  Assembly  remark f  as  follows:  "Having 
Beriously  considered  the  great  divisions  that  arose  amongst  us  about 
matters  of  Church  Government,'1  we,  "for  the  honor  of  God,  wel- 
fare of  the  churches  and  preservation  of  the  public  peace  so  greatly 
hazarded,  do  declare,  that  whereas  the  Congregational  churches  in 
these  parts,  for  the  general  of  their  profession  and  practice,  have 
hitherto  been  approved,  we  can  do  no  less  than  still  approve  and 
countenance  the  same  to  be  without  disturbance  until  better  light, 
in  an  orderly  way,  doth  appear.  But  yet  forasmuch  as  sundry- 
persons  of  worth,  for  prudence  and  piety,  amongst  us,  are  otherwise 
persuaded,  (whose  welfare  and  peaceable  satisfaction  we  desire  to 
accommodate,)  this  Court  doth  declare,  that  all  such  persons,  being 
also  approved  according  to  law  as  orthodox  and  sound  in  the  fun- 
damentals of  the  Christian  Religion,  may  have  allowance  of  their 
persuasion  and  profession  in  church  ways  or  assemblies  without 
disturbance."  Here  the  toleration  of  other  denominations,  who 
are  correct  in  belief  and  conduct,  besides  the  Congregationalists,  is 
allowed  by  law. 

On  the  petition  of  Stratford,  that  they  may  peaceably  enjoy  the 
labors  of  their  minister,  Mr.  Chauncy,  whom  they  have  settled,  the 
Court  grant  the  request,  though  they  advise  the  petitioners  to  settle 
their  differences,  and  that,  till  their  session  in  October,  Mr.  Walker 
may  preach  once  a  day,  as  before,  "  the  church  allowing  him  full 
three  hours  between  the  church's  two  meetings  for  the  same." 

Mr.  John  Blackleach  desires  of  the  Assembly,  "  that  he  might 
use  his  endeavors  to  make  known  to  the  Indians  something  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  according  as  he  shall  have  opportunity."  They 
consent  "  with  their  desires,  that  he  may,  through  the  blessing  of 
God,  be  an  advantageous  instrument  to  the  end  proposed." 

The  Assembly,  in  declaring  allegiance  to  Charles  II.,  add  the 
clause,  "  renouncing  the  Pope  and  all  other  foreign  Princes,  States 
and  Potentates." 

July  28.  Abraham  Pierson,  Jr.,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  the 
year  before,  is  employed  to  assist  his  father  in  the  ministry  at  New- 
ark, N.  J.  Lambert  states  that  the  son  married  Abigail,  daughter 
of  George  Clark,  who  resided  at  Milford,  prior  to  his  preaching  at 
Newark. 

October  14.  The  subsequent  order  J  is  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly.  "  Whereas  our  beloved  brethren  at  Saybrook  have 
formerly,  by  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  Governor  and  several 
magistrates  and  elders  of  churches,  embodied  themselves  in  church 

*  Farmer's  Register.  f  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Bee.  J  Ibid. 


472  ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERACY. 

[Conn. 

society,  to  take  off  some  scruples  that  may  haply  lie  in  the  breasts 
of  any,  concerning  their  non-attendance  of  the  law  in  the  punctilios 
of  it ;  and  this  Court  finding  no  record  of  their  proceedings  in  this 
matter,  do  now  upon  their  request,  see  cause  hereby  to  declare,  that 
they  do  approve  of  their  embodying  themselves  in  church  society, 
and  desire  the  Lord  to  smile  upon  them,  establish  and  bless  their 
beginning." 

A  petition  of  Mr.  Whiting  is  laid  before  the  General  Court, 
"  for  their  approbation  for  a  distinct  walking  in  Congregational' 
church  order,  as  hath  been  here  settled,  according  to  the  council  of 
the  elders. "  The  Court  recommend  to  the  Hartford  church  to 
allow  Mr.  Whiting  "  to  practice  the  Congregational  way  without 
disturbance,"  or  else  grant  him  and  his  followers  "  to  walk 
distinctly."  They  give  permission  for  him  and  his  supporters  to 
withdraw  and  so  relieve  themselves,  if  the  church  do  not  coincide 
with  either  of  the  two  propositions.  Mr.  Whiting  and  his  advo- 
cates were  for  strict  conformity  with  the  order  observed  by  the 
churches  in  the  first  years  of  New  England.  But  Mr.  Haynes 
and  a  majority  of  the  church  were  in  favor  of  the  half-way  covenant 
recommended  by  the  Synod  of  1662. 

As  the  people  of  Rye,  instead  of  supporting  an  orthodox  min- 
ister, hear  John  Coe  and  Marmaduke  Smith,  suspected  as  being 
unsound  in  doctrine,  the  Court  order  Commissioners  of  the  county 
to  examine  these  two  teachers,  and,  if  found  to  be  erroneous  in 
faith,  to  prevent  their  further  labors  to  "  sow  seeds  of  error  among 
the  people  there  ;  "  and  also  to  inform  Rye,  that  the  Court  "  will 
themselves  procure  and  settle  a  preaching  minister  amongst  them, 
and  take  sufficient  order  that  he  be  maintained  by  them." 

In  case  that  the  friends  of  Mr.  Chauncy  at  Stratford,  will  not  hear 
Mr.  Walker  part  of  each  Sabbath,  the  Court  observe  that  they  shall 
not  be  offended,  if  "  Mr.  Walker  and  his  company  do  meet 
distinctly  elsewhere,  provided  each  of  them  proceed  well  for  the 
comfortable  supply  of  their  minister." 

The  Assembly  permit  that,  as  the  troubles  in  Windsor  church 
are  not  yet  healed,  "  the  dissenters  meet  distinctly  for  the  present, 
and  orderly  and  regularly  embody  themselves  in  church  state,  ac- 
cording to  law,  when  they  shall  seek  it." 

They  appoint  Commissioners  to  meet  with  similar  officers  from 
Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  at  Boston,  in  May  next,  and  transact 
business  of  the  Confederacy,  and  consider  what  alteration  may  be 
required  in  any  of  its  articles. 

They  appoint  a  Fast  on  the  fourth  of  December,  "  to  humble  our 
souls  before  the  Lord,  that  he  may  return  a  harvest  to  us,  healing 
our  sicknesses,  blessing  our  fruits  and  labors,  reconciling  our  dif- 
ferences, and  breathing  out  a  spirit  of  conversion  abundantly 
amongst  us." 


DIVISIONS     BLASTINGS  OF  GRAIN,  I  7& 

L670.] 

r.   Gerohom  Bulkley4  was  ordained  a!  Wethersfield,  by   Mi-. 
Joseph  Rowland  and  Mr.  Samuel  Willard. 

"This  year  the   Lord  frowned  nuieh  upon    tin,'   eoimii\,  by  sick- 

0688  in  divers  places,  especially  in  this  Colony  of  Connecticut. 
Divisions  in  Bevera]  churches.  Blasting  of  all  sorts  of  grain. 
Greater  Bcarcity  having  not  been  known  for  very  many  years." 

1670.  February  l:i.  Mr.  Whiting  and  his  adherents,  having 
separated  from  Mr.  Haynes  and  his  party,  formed  the  Second 
church f  of  Hartford.  They  made  a  declaration  of  their  Congre- 
gational order  and  entered  into  covenant.  The  first  point  of  the 
former  document  was,  "That  visible  saints  are  the  only  fit  matter, 
and  confederation  the  only  form  of  a  visible  church."  This  shows 
that  they  did  not  allow  the  half-way  covenant. 

Israel,  son  of  Charles  Chauncy,  President  of  Harvard  College, 
having  begun  to  preach  at  Stratford  about  1663,  where  Mr.  Black- 
mail had  become  infirm  in  such  employment,  and  been  settled  by  a 
majority,  continued  to  be  counteracted  by  the  remainder.  To  com- 
ply with  the  wish  of  the  latter,  Zechariah  Walker  began  to  preach 
for  them,  1668.  Both  Chauncy  and  Walker  officiated  in  the  same 
house,  but  at  different  times,  on  the  Sabbath  ;  the  former  at  the 
customary  hours,  and  the  latter  two  hours  in  the  middle  thereof. 
But  after  a  period,  Walker  took  three  hours,  which  rendered  it 
necessary  for  Chauncy's  friends  to  occupy  a  private  house  for  their 
afternoon  services.  The  next  day,  they  referred  their  case  to  Major 
Gould,  a  magistrate  of  Fairfield,  who  advised  them  to  allow  the 
other  part  of  the  inhabitants  three,  instead  of  two  hours.  As  pre- 
viously stated,  the  General  Assembly,  in  October  of  1669,  advised 
as  the  Major  did.  They  also  proposed  that  both  parties  refer  their 
troubles  to  a  Council.  This  was  done,  but  without  avail.  The 
supporters  of  Chauncy  excluded  their  opponents  from  the  meeting- 
house, who  betook  themselves  to  a  private  dwelling. 

March  18.  "  Benjamin  Woodbridge  was  ordained  minister  of 
the  Presbyterian  party,  as  they  are  accounted,  of  Windsor. "J 

April  1.  The  Kev.  John  Warham§  expires.  He  had  been  min- 
ister at  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  six  years,  and  thirty-four  in 
Windsor,  Connecticut.  He  was  eminent  for  his  piety,  though  he 
occasionally  doubted  his  being  a  follower  of  Christ.  This  was  so, 
at  times,  when  he  administered  the  sacrament,  and  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  declined  to  partake  of  the  elements.  Cotton  Mather  sup- 
poses that  Warham  was  the  first  minister  in  New  England  who 
used  notes  in  preaching,  "  yet  he  was  applauded  by  his  hearers,  as 
one  of  the  most  animated  and  energetic  preachers."  Connecticut 
considered  him  as  a  principal  pillar  and   father    of  the   Colony. 

*  N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.     Bradstreet's  Journal,  vol.  ix.  p.  45. 

f  Bradstreet's  Journal.      J  N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.    Bradstreet's  Jour.  vol.  ix.  p.  45. 
§  Trumbull's  Conn.  vol.  i.  p.  519.     Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  441. 
60 


474  ARTICLES   OF   UNION. 

[Co  NX. 

To  his  precepts  and  example  our  country  is  greatly  indebted  for 
whatsoever  it  possesses  of  good  report  and  lasting  benefit. 

May  12.  The  General  Assembly  meet  *  at  Hartford.  At  this 
session  they  alter  the  requisition  for  all  the  freemen  to  convene  for 
the  election  of  "  the  Governor,  Magistrates  and  civil  officers, " 
designated  by  the  charter,  so  that  such  voters  may  appear  on  this 
occasion,  the  second  Thursday  every  May,  and  choose  these  mem- 
bers of  Government,  either  in  person  or  by  proxy.  The  reasons 
for  a  change  of  this  sort  were  the  large  number  of  the  convention 
on  election  days,  the  expense  and  inconvenience. 

As  Charles  Hill  had  a  Spanish  slave,  the  Legislature  order 
"  the  Court  at  New  London  "  to  examine  the  case,  and  if  they 
found  that  Hill  had  legally  purchased  him,  they  were  to  free  and 
send  him  home,  if  Hill  had  a  reasonable  sum  for  his  time  allowed 
him  out  of  the  public  treasury.  As  Hannah  Huitt,  of  Stoning- 
ton,  had  not  heard  of  her  husband,  Thomas  Huitt,  for  eight  years, 
having  been  lost  at  sea  with  the  company  of  the  vessel  in  which 
he  sailed,  the  Court  allow  her  to  marry  again  if  she  see  cause. 

As  the  difficulties  between  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  still 
prevailed,  about  lines  of  territory,  the  Court  of  the  former  appoint 
a  committee  to  meet  a  similar  body  from  the  latter,  the  following 
June,  in  New  London,  to  see  if  they  cannot  compose  the  differ- 
ences, and,  if  they  are  unable  to  effect  this,  they  are  empowered 
to  exact  obedience  from  the  inhabitants  of  Squamacuck  and  Nar- 
rasranset.  The  Commissioners  of  the  two  Colonies  held  their 
proposed  session,  but  did  not  come  to  a  harmonious  conclusion. 
Those  of  Connecticut  subsequently  visited  the  Narraganset  country, 
read  their  charter  to  the  people  of  Wickford  and  settlements  east 
of  Pawcatuck  river,  demanded  their  submission,  and  designated 
officers  for  their  government. 

Simon  Bradstreet,  having  preached  four  years  for  the  people  of 
New  London,!  who  called  him  June  1,  is  ordained  as  their  pastor. 
His  salary  at  first  was  £90  a  year,  current  pay,  with  fire-wood 
supplied  and  parsonage  kept  in  repair.     It  was  soon  increased. 

October  13.  The  General  Assembly  recommend  that  the 
Countv  Court  of  Fairfield  "  take  an  effectual  course  to  settle  an 
able  and  orthodox  minister  in  the  town  of  Rye,  and  order  due 
and  competent  maintenance  for  such  minister  in  a  proportional 
way  among  all  the  inhabitants."  They  approve  and  confirm  the 
articles  of  union  between  this  Colony  and  Massachusetts  and 
Plymouth,  if  these  two  do  the  same.  Thus  an  old  league,  which 
had  been  of  much  use  to  New  England,  is  continued,  with  altera- 
tions which  changes  had  made  necessary. 

John,  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Prudent  born  at  Milford,  November 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.  f  Caulkins's  New  London,  p.  143. 

J  Thompson's  Hist,  of  L.  I.  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 


JOHN    PRTOEN.  170 

1(170.] 

\K  1645  ;  graduated  at  Harrard  College,  lf>(>8  ;  settles  as  minister 
at  Jamaica,  I..  I.     He  continued  hare  till  1692,  when  he  accepted 

an  argent  call  from  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  he  succeeded  .Mr. 
Piereon.  IK*  resigned  his  charge  here,  June  9,  1699,  and  died 
December  11,  L7£5,  aged  SO.     He  was  highly  esteemed  lor  his 

talents,  piety  and  usefulness. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Massachusetts.    Hope  Atherton.  — Zechariah  Symmes.  — Church  Dissension. 

—  Fear  in  London  that  Massachusetts  would  become  independent.  —  Oxen- 
bridge's  Election  Sermon.  —  Body  of  Liberties.  —  Ministers  freed  from 
Taxe3.  —  Annuity  renewed.  —  Third  Church  of  Boston. — Change  in  the 
Legislature.  —  General  Courts  at  Nantucket  and  the  Vineyard.  —  College.  — 
John  Allen.  —  Eliot's  Communication.  —  Indian  Church.  —  Court  Present- 
ments. —  Braintree  Church.  —  Eliot's  Resolve.  —  Publications.  —  President 
Chauncy.  —  Test-Act.  —  Discipline  of  Covenant  Children.  —  Edward  John- 
son. —  Charles  Nicholet.  —  Samuel  Parris.  —  Election  Sermon.  —  Confed- 
eration.—  Report  on  Newbury  Divisions. — Laws  revised  and  published. — 
Chancery  Court.  — Advice  of  Ministers.  — Ducking  Stool.  — Power  of  Con- 
gregational Churches.  —  Laws  passed  at  the  Vineyard.  —  Setting  the  Psalm. 

—  Object  of  settling  New  England.  —  Concerns  of  the  Mission.  —  Fast. — 
Antipas  Newman.  —  Richard  Bellingham.  —  Quakers.  —  Churches  gathered. 

—  Michael  Powell.  —  Taxation  of  Colonies.  —  Liberties.  —  Toleration.  — 
Baptists.  — Accusations  against  Massachusetts.  —  Indian  Churches.  —  Dutch 
Fleet.  —  Thomas  Gilbert.  —  Thomas  Gould.  — "Woe  to  Drunkards.  —  Epis- 
copalians. —  Baptists.  —  Divisions    at    Salem.  —  Letters    of    Collins    and 

Knowles.  —  Thomas  Gould Election  Sermon.  —  Licensers  of  the  Press.  — 

Blasphemy.  —  Robert  Boyle.  —  Settlements  of  Converted  Indians.  — Depres- 
sion of  the  College.  —  Governments  of  Nantucket  and  Vineyard.  —  Samuel 
Danforth.  —  John  Oxenbridge.  —  Office  of  Ruling  Elder.  —  Conversion. 
Plymouth.     Philip's    Treaty. —  Prosecutions.  —  Council   of   "War.  —  Laws. 

—  Purpose  of  settling  the  Colony.  —  Heresy.  —  Freemen.  —  Powowing.  — 
Indian  Affairs.  —  College.  —  Confederation.  —  Samuel  Treat.  —  Thomas 
Prince.  —  Free  School.  —  Election  Sermon.  —  Freemen.  —  Thomas  Willet.  — 
Praying  Indians.  Maine.  Papists.  —  Punishments.  —  Shubal  Dummer.  — 
Indians.  —  Letter  of  Lovelace.  —  Collins's  Letter.  New  Hampshire.  Ports- 
mouth Church.  —  Edward  Hilton.  —  John  Reyner. —  Conditions  of  Town 
Grant.  —  Matthew  Cradock's  Widow.  —  College.  —  Quakers.  —  Collins's 
Letter.  P^hode  Island.  Letter  of  Roger  Williams.  —  Philip.  —  Seventh- 
day  Baptists  excommunicated.  —  Quakers.  —  William  Harris  in  Custody.  — 
Taxation  resisted.  —  George  Fox.  —  Discussion.  —  Coddington's  Letters.  — 
Divorce.  —  Intemperance.  —  Executions.  —  Discipline.  —  Jury.  —  Missionary 
Labor.  —  Publication.  Connecticut.  Missionaries.  —  Mrs.  Mason.  —  Char- 
ity. —  John  Mason.  —  Emigrants.  —  Col.  Goffe.  —  Laws.  —  John  Youngs.  — 

—  Contract  of  Uncas.  —  Confederation.  —  Fasts.  —  Rogereens.  —  Nicholas 
Street.  —  Election  Sermon.  — Robert  Fordham.  —  Visit  to  Christian  Indians. 

—  Edmund  Andros.  —  Ecclesiastical. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

1671.  January  21.  Hope  Atherton  unites  with  the  people  of 
Hatfield  in  a  Fast  for  "  setting  up  ordinances."  On  May  17,  two 
years  before,  he,  having  preached  for  them,  was  voted  £50  salary. 


DI88EN8IONS  a  1'  NBWBURT.  171 

hiTl.j 

November  26,    1(>70,    being  about    to  be  ordained  there,  they 

giant  him  the  ministerial  lot  of  meadow,  home  lot  of  eight  ;« 

ge  to  have  a  sufficient  house  built  for  him,  and  pay  him  660  a 
year,  two-thirds  in  merchantable  wheat,  and  one  third  in  pork,  with 

the  condition,  M  If  our  crops  fall  so  short  that  we  cannot  pay  in 
kind,  then  we  are  to  pay  him  in  the  next  host  pay  we  have."*  He 
son  of  Humphrey  Atherton,  of  Dorehester,  baptized  August, 
1646,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1665. 

February  4.  Zechariah  Symmes,  of  Charlestown,  dies,  within  two 
months  of  being  scventv-two  years  old.  He  was  the  son  of  AVilliam 
Symmes ;  born  at  Canterbury,  England,  April  5,  1599.  lie  came  to 
Massachusetts,  August  or  September,  16o4,  in  the  ship  Ann,  with 
John  Lathrop  and  Ann  Hutchinson.  He  wras  settled  as  teacher 
and  colleague  with  Mr.  James,  December  22,  1634.  He  preached 
the  Election  Sermon  of  1648.  His  wife  was  Sarah,  who  was 
remarkable  for  her  energy  and  virtues,  and  with  whom  he  lived 
nearly  fifty  years.  He  had  thirteen  children,  six  of  whom  were 
born  in  Dunstable,  where  he  was  rector  before  coming  to  our 
shores,  from  1626  to  1633,  inclusive  ;  of  whom  was  Zechariah, 
who  became  a  highly  esteemed  minister,  first  of  Boxford  and  then 
of  Bradford.  One  of  his  chief  trials  was  with  members  of  his 
church,  who  were  among  the  principal  founders  of  the  First  Baptist 
church  in  Boston.  Cotton  Mather  says  of  him,  "  He  knew  his 
Bible  well,  and  he  was  a  preacher  of  what  he  knew,  and  sufferer 
for  what  he  preached."  Thus  wisely  taught,  usefully  occupied 
and  profitably  disciplined,  he  was  a  fit  guide  of  others,  and  followed 
Christ  in  the  way  heavenward. 

12.  Robert  Chalkley,f  of  the  Charlestown  church,  is  censured 
publicly  for  "  reviling  authority."  He  was  absolved  the  first  day 
of  the  succeeding  September. 

16.  The  Congregational  party  of  the  church  at  Newbury  J  invite 
the  Rowley  church  to  unite  with  the  Salisbury  church,  and  visit 
them  by  their  messengers,  the  last  of  the  month,  for  advising  about 
their  protracted  dissensions. 

20.  The  Rowley  church  decline  to  comply,  because  they  who 
request  them  so  to  attend  had  not  desired  the  pastor,  Mr.  Parker, 
and  his  Presbyterian  friends,  to  unite  with  them  in  calling  a 
Council. 

The  messengers  from  Salisbury  meet  and  advise  the  Woodman 
party,  "  That  the  choice  of  officers,  either  teaching  or  ruling  elders, 
such  as  the  church  should  most  unanimously  agree  upon,  would 
most  conduce  to"  their  "peace  and  quiet." 

March  17.  Such  a  party  inform  the  Rowley  church,  that  because 


*  Farmer.     N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.     Holland,  vol.  i.  p.  69. 

f  First  Ch.  Rec.  Charlestown.  +  Rowley  Ch.  Rec.     Coffin's  Newburv, 

p.  90,  99,  100. 


478  FIRST  PRINCIPLES   OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

[Mass. 

Mr.  Parker  would  not  allow  this  advice,  they  had  laid  him  "  under 
blame,  suspending  him  from  all  official  acts  until  he  gave  the  church 
satisfaction,  only  to  preach  as  a  gifted  brother,  if  he  please ;  and 
having  so  done,  they  elected  two  ruling  elders,  Mr.  Richard  Dum- 
mer  and  Mr.  Edward  Woodman,  and  have  appointed  Thursday 
next  for  their  ordination."  They  invite  Rowley  church  to  attend 
by  their  messengers ;  and  their  minister,  Mr.  Phillips,  to  preach  a 
sermon  on  the  occasion. 

20.  The  Rowley  church  decline,  because  they  do  not  approve 
of  the  censure  on  Mr.  Parker,  nor  of  the  intended  ordination  of  the 
ruling  elders. 

April.  A  complaint  is  lodged  with  the  County  Court  at  Ipswich, 
by  the  Presbyterians  of  Newbury  against  the  Congregationalists,  for 
their  proceedings  towards  Mr.  Parker,  chiefly  admonishing  their 
pastor,  Mr.  Parker,  and  suspending  him  from  his  office. 

18.  A  communication  is  made  to  the  Court  by  the  accused. 
Several  other  similar  documents  are  presented. 

May  1.  In  view  of  the  controversy  which  prevailed  with  regard 
to  the  formation  of  the  Third  church  in  Boston,  and  their  favor 
for  the  half-way  covenant,  and  the  opposition  of  the  First  church 
there  and  others  to  it,  Increase  Mather  dates  his  preface  to  the 
following  work  :  "  The  First  Principles  *  of  New  England,  con- 
cerning the  subject  of  Baptism  and  Communion  of  Churches,  col- 
lected partly  out  of  the  printed  books,  but  chiefly  out  of  the  origi- 
nal manuscripts  of  the  first  and  chief  Fathers  in  the  New  England 
Churches,  with  the  judgment  of  sundry  learned  divines  of  the  Con- 
gregational way  in  England,  concerning  the  said  questions."  The 
author  says,  that  his  design  is  to  "  commend  a  few  things  to  the 
serious  and  Christian  consideration  of  the  Anti-synodalian  Breth- 
ren ;  "  and  that  he  was  formerly  of  their  persuasion.  He  observes 
that  some  who  dissented  from  the  late  Synod,  decided  for  the  en- 
largement of  baptism ;  the  minority  of  that  body  thought  the  rest 
of  it  had  apostatized ;  his  father,  Richard  Mather,  gave  his  dying 
counsel  to  him,  that  he  should  endeavor  to  have  children  brought 
under  the  government  of  the  church,  and  when  grown  up,  to  have 
baptism  for  their  children. 

26.  As  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  f  of  Trade  and 
Plantations  established  in  London,  Evelyn  remarks  of  Massachu- 
setts, then  often  called  abused  New  England,  as  follows :  "  What 
we  most  insisted  on,  was  to  know  the  condition  of  New  England, 
which  appearing  to  be  very  independent  as  to  their  regard  to  Eng- 
land or  his  Majesty,  rich  and  strong  as  they  now  were,  there 
were  great  debates  in  what  style  to  write  to  them,  for  the  condition 
of  that  Colony  was  such,  that  they  were  able  to  contest  with  all 

*  Printed  1675.  f  Memoirs  of  Evelyn,  vol.  i.  p.  438.     Holmes's  Amer. 

Annals,  vol.  i.  p.  358. 


civil,  ami    RBU0I0U8   LIBERTIES.  171* 

1071.] 

other  Plantation!  about  them,  and  there  was  fear  of  their  breaking 
from  all  dependence  on  this  Nation." 

29.  The  Essex  Court41  decide  that  those  who  had  acted  against 
Mr.  Parker,  were  not  a  majority  of  the  church,  as  they  contended, 

though  a  majority  ,%  of  such  as  met  together  ;  M  had  acted  disorderly 
in  electing  two  ruling  elders  and  appointing  the  day  for  their  ordi- 
nation ;  and  wrongfully  in  suspending  -Mr.  Parker  from  his  minis- 
try; and  that  thirty-nine  of  them  be  lined  and  pay  the  charges  and 
and  he  committed  until  they  pay  such  amercements.  Two 
more  were  not  lined.  The  favorers  of  Mr.  Parker  were  also  forty- 
one.  The  Congregationalists  did  not  feel  willing  to  abide  by  such 
a  decision. 

SI.  The  General  Court  assemble.  The  Election  Sermon  is 
preached  by  John  Oxenbridge,  of  Boston.  His  subject,  "  New 
England  Freemen  warned  and  warmed,  to  be  free  indeed,  having  an 
eye  to  God  in  their  Elections."  His  text,  Hosea  viii.  4.  "  They  have 
set  up  kings,  but  not  by  me ;  they  have  made  princes,  and  I  knew 
it  not."  He  observes  to  his  audience  :  "Your  choice  of  magistrates 
and  others  in  authority,  when  it  is  in  your  power,  will  shew  whether 
ye  are  resolved  to  serve  God  in  your  generation  or  not. — If  our 
magistrates  set  up  for  our  protection,  be  not  owned  by  the  Lord, 
they  will  be  no  protection. — As  for  you  in  New  England  to  back- 
slide and  to  fashion  yourselves  to  the  flaunting  mode  of  England  in 
worship  or  walking,  you  undertake  a  vain  thing,  for  you  can  but 
limp  after  them,  and  you  will  forget  your  errand  of  planting  this 
wilderness,  and  if  you  have  a  mind  to  turn  your  churches  into 
parishes,  and  your  ministers  into  priests  and  prelates,  I  cannot 
think  the  Lord  will  ever  endure  it. — Mind  faithfully  and  diligently 
your  liberties,  that  ye  may  be  free  to  act  for  and  according  to  God, 
in  the  constitution  and  manage  of  your  magistracy.  Quit  once 
your  liberties,  and  ye  must  have  such  a  magistracy  and  manage  of 
it,  as  will  please  not  God  nor  yourselves,  but  other  men  will  be 
your  masters  ;  for  servants,  yea,  slaves  must  you  be  to  some  body 
when  ye  have  let  go  your  liberties. — We  should  have  cause  to 
complain  of  any,  that  is  chosen,  if  he  should  use  this  trust  against 
our  liberties,  as  the  eagle,  in  the  Greek  epigram,  lamented  that  it 
was  slain  with  an  arrow  winged  with  its  own  feathers.  Ye  are 
also  trusted  for  men,  for  many,  all  inhabitants  have  their  liberties, 
women,  children,  servants,  yea,  and  strangers  too :  let  me  beseech  this 
honorable  assembly,  in  the  name  of  all  the  freemen,  (who  am  also 
a  freeman,)  not  to  part  with  any  of  your  liberties  by  force  or  fraud. 
These  are  our  crowns  and  jewels,  which  we  commit  to  your  care 
and  charge. — If  ye  shall  break  down  the  hedge  of  your  churches 
and  commonwealth,  you  will  lay  the  field  open  to  such  as  watch  to 
make  spoil  of  you. — Your  civil  and  religious  liberties  are  so  coupled 

*  Essex  Co.  Ct.  Rec. 


480  BODY   OF   LIBERTIES. 

[Mass. 

here,  that  if  one  be  lost,  the  other  cannot  be  kept. — Objection. 
1 Doth  any  say  that  the  Patent  or  Charter  right  is  questioned  by 
some.'  Answer.  Such  men  do  not  appear  so  good  friends  either 
to  the  Crown  or  country,  for  the  question  cutteth  off  the  true  and 
proper  ligament  between  them.  Obj.  ( If  it  be  said,  there  may  be 
just  reason  to  quit  some  of  the  liberties.'  Ans.  I  grant  so  much 
on  condition  ye  will  also  grant  that  some  such  deliberation  should 
be  used  in  the  quitting  any  of  them,  as  there  was  in  constituting  of 
them.  The  liberties  were  probationers  for  three  years,  and  in  all 
the  General  Courts  for  that  time,  they  were  passed  by  all  the 
freemen,  and  it  seems  equal  that  all  the  freemen  should  have  a 
sufficient  time  to  consider  of  the  change  and  abrogation  of  them. 
Nothing  can  undo  this  country  but  unwariness  and  unfaithfulness, 
but  the  mis-making  or  mis-acting  of  freemen.  Choice  of  men  to 
power  and  trust  gives  the  true  picture  or  character  of  them  that 
choose. — Ye  know,  my  brethren,  what  new  neighbors  we  have ; 
their  busy  locusts  will  know  and  improve  all  your  strife  and  other 
snares,  for  you  are  boasted  of,  therefore  now  is  your  season  for  self- 
denial." — These  neighbors  were  the  French,  being  Roman  Catholics, 
who  had  lately  resumed  possession  of  Nova  Scotia,  including  part 
of  Maine.  The  preacher  does  not  think,  that  the  questions  about 
the  church  (Old  South)  seceded  from  the  First  church  of  Boston, 
and  the  adult  children  of  the  churches  in  general,  should  be 
occasions  of  division  in  the  Colony. 

On  the  26th  page  of  his  discourse,  Mr.  Oxenbridge  refers  to  the 
Body  of  Liberties,  adopted  by  Massachusetts,  1641,  as  follows  : 
"  If  you  be  dull  and  sleepy,  and  keep  not  your  hold  when  others 
are  active  and  pull  hard,  you  must  needs  let  go ;  unless  I  mistake, 
the  60th  liberty,  and  the  74th,  are  infringed  by  inadvertency.  I 
would  hope  it  were  no  worse.  By  your  75th  liberty,  you  have 
power  to  enter  your  dissent  and  protestation,  which  will  save  your 
own  souls  from  guilt,  and  ye  have  encouragement  to  help  yourselves 
and  the  whole,  because  as  yet  the  promise  is  made  good  to  you. 
Jer.  xxx.  21.  Your  nobles  are  of  yourselves,  and  your  Governor 
proceeds  from  the  midst  of  you." 

Resrularlv  ordained  ministers  are  freed  from  countrv,  countv  and 
church  rates,  and  also  from  those  of  the  town,  except  they  make  a 
contrary  agreement. 

The  churches  of  Dedham,  Roxbury,  Charlestown,  and  First  of 
Boston,  are  required  to  send  elders  and  messengers  to  the  church 
of  Newbury,  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  their  troubles,  and 
Gfivinsr  suitable  advice. 

The  Secretary  is  to  inform  Mr.  Parker  of  this  order,  and  also 
the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  parties.  William  Stoughton 
is  joined  with  the  Secretary  to  write.  This  he  did  on  the  23d  of 
next  month,  as  follows.  He  observes  that  their  dissension  has 
grieved  the  hearts  of  all  Christians,  who  wish  well  to  the  churches 


COUNCIL  CHARGED   as    DISORGANIZBR8.  481 

11571.] 

of  NCw  England  Be  mentions  the  appointment  of  the  fonr 
churches  to  Bend  elders  and  messengers  among  them.  He  be- 
seeches them  to  prepare  their  hearts  lor  the  proper  reception  of 
such  delegates,  that  their  advice  may  be  effectual  for  terminating 
the  difficulties. 

As  the  period  for  allowing  £30  a  year  to  the  widow  of  Gov- 
ernor Endicott  had  expired,  it  is  renewed  to  her. 

Fifteen  ministers,*  who  counseled  the  Third  church  of  Boston 
to  heroine  organized,  present  an  address  to  the  Court,  desiring  that, 
as  their  committee  the  last  year  reported  them  as  disorganizes  for 
giving  such  advice,  they  may  be  heard  before  the  Legislature  or  a 
Convention  of  churches.  Among  their  complaints,  one  is,  that  the 
document  offensive  to  them,  "  scandalizeth  the  professed  and  de- 
clared doctrine  of  Baptism,  insinuating  that  no  children  ought  to 
be  baptized  but  such  whose  parents  have  given  such  evidence  of 
the  grace  of  faith  to  the  church,  as  whereupon  they  are  admitted 
to  full  communion  in  instituted  churches !  "  Another  is,  "  The 
whole  charge  savoreth  of  a  spirit  under  an  extraordinary  trans- 
portation from  a  pleasant,  personal  and  passionate  concern  in  the 
interest  of  a  party,  as  appears  by  the  instance  of  the  business  of  the 
Third  church,  and  so  a  design  to  scandalize  that  precious  church  of 
Christ,  at  least  to  hinder  the  consummation  and  confirmation  of 
that  work  of  God,  by  the  peaceable  settlement  of  that  church  in 
actual  and  full  communion  with  other  churches."  The  Court, 
being  mostly  new  members  and  elected  because  favorable  to  the 
new  church,  hear  the  document  and  apologize  to  the  ministers  for 
improper  terms  applied  to  them  by  their  committee.  They  say 
that  it  is  "  their  duty  to  declare  that  several  expressions  in  the  votes 
referred  to  in  the  petition  appeared  exceptionable,"  and  order,  "  that 
the  said  papers  referring  to  the  case  should  be  accounted  useless, 
and  not  be  improved  against  the  reverend  elders  as  having  been 
the  causes  of  God's  displeasure  against  the  country,  or  to  be  made 
public.  And  whereas  many  have  taken  liberty  to  publish  secrets 
of  the  Court  in  that  case,  they  are  to  be  accountable."  "  The 
Court  doth  further  declare,  that  they  knew  no  just  cause  of  those 
scandalous  reflections,  contained  in  said  papers,  indefinitely  against 
magistrates,  elders  and  churches,  either  in  reference  to  the  new 
church  in  Boston  or  otherwise ;  and,  therefore,  until  they  were 
further  informed,  they  must  judge  them  innocent  and  unduly 
calumniated  and  misrepresented."  Thus  the  new  church  and  its 
friends,  wrho  favored  the  half-way  Covenant,  were  relieved  from 
the  censure  which  had  been  cast  upon  them. 

June  8.    While  the  Court  thus  showed  a  wish  to  relieve  the 

*  John  Ward,  Samuel  Whiting,  John  Allin,  Edmund  Brown,  John  Higgin- 
son,  John   Sherman,  Thomas  Cobbet,  Thomas  Thatcher,  Sen.,  Thomas  Shep- 
ard,  Samuel  Phillips,  "William  Hubbard,   Seaborn  Cotton,  Antipas  Newman, 
Samuel  Torrey.  Samuel  Whiting,  Jr. 
61 


482  GOVERNMENT  AT  NANTUCKET  AND  VINEYARD. 

[Mass. 

favorers  of  the  half-way  Covenant  from  what  they  considered 
unjust  imputations,  they  also  gave  proof  that  they  were  not  preju- 
diced against  those  who  had  or  did  oppose  this  ecclesiastical  docu- 
ment. The  instance  to  this  effect  was,  that,  as  the  Eev.  John 
Davenport  had  subscribed  to  the  Company's  common  stock,  and 
been  instrumental  in  advancing  their  Colony,  the  Court  grant  his 
son  John  five  hundred  acres  of  land. 

14.  Arthur  Mason  having  been  disfranchised  last  year  for  his 
passionate  words  and  behavior  before  the  First  church  of  Boston, 
by  the  General  Court,  confesses  his  sin  and  prays  the  Court  to 
release  him  from  such  a  punishment.     They  grant  his  petition. 

28.  In  answer  to  proposals*  from  Nantucket,  Gov.  Francis 
Lovelace  and  Council,  at  Fort  James,  New  York,  grant  that  the 
people  of  that  Island  have  a  Court  one  year,  and  those  of  the 
Vineyard  another  Court  next  year ;  and  each  of  them,  consisting  of 
a  chief  magistrate  and  assistants,  to  make  such  laws  as  they  need, 
and  administer  them  in  all  cases,  except  capital  ones,  which  shall 
be  tried  at  New  York.  On  July  7,  we  have  the  subsequent  order. 
As  Thomas  Mayhew,  of  "  Martin's  or  Martha's  Vineyard,"  had, 
"  by  God's  blessing,  been  an  instrument  of  doing  a  great  deal  of 
good,  both  in  settling  several  plantations  there,  as  also  in  reclaim- 
ing and  civilizing  the  Indians,"  he  is  appointed  by  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  New  York,  Governor  for  life,  of  the  said  Vine- 
yard, and  chief  magistrate  of  a  General  Court,  with  the  privilege 
of  a  double  vote,  which  body  shall  consist  of  himself  and  three 
assistants,  the  latter  elected  annually  by  the  inhabitants  of  his  juris- 
diction. With  a  commission  dated  July  8,  to  Mayhew,  Lovelace 
sends  him  a  letter.  He  remarks :  "  He,  with  his  dear  deceased 
son,  having  been  instruments  of  doing  much  good  by  their  instruc- 
tion in  bringing  divers  of  them  (Indians)  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Christian  Religion,  which  is  worthy  of  great  commendation." 

Tristram  Coffin  was  appointed  on  June  28,  1671,  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  of  New  York,  chief  magistrate  of  a  General 
Court  for  Nantucket  and  Tuckanuckett,  which  body  is  to  consist  of 
said  Coffin  and  his  successors,  chosen  annually,  and  of  two  assist- 
ants, then  chosen  by  the  people  of  the  two  Islands. 

July  2.  The  First  church  of  Boston  appoint  John  Leverett,  John 
Oxenbridge,  James  Allen,  James  Penn,  John  Wiswell  and  Thomas 
Clarke,  as  messengers  to  the  Newbury  church,  to  hear  and  adjust 
the  differences  existing  between  its  Congregational  and  Presbyterian 
members. 

August  21.  The  magistrates  and  ministers  write  to  dissenting 
ministers  in  and  about  London,  for  encouragement  and  aid  to  the 
College  at  Cambridge. 

26.  Rev.  John  Allin,  of  Dedham,  dies,  aged  seventy-five,  after 

*  Nantucket  Papers,  p.  35,  41. 


Al.l.IN,    A    SlILNINti    LIGHT,  183 

ien.] 

"an  easy  sickness  of  ten  day**"  His  w  beloved  wife  Katharine," 
as  he  expressed  bimself  when  writing  about  her,  survived  him  only 
three  days.  They  were  both  buried  in  one  grave.  She  was  the 
relict  of  Governor  Thomas  Dudley,  and  married  to  Mr.  Allin,  No- 
vember 8,  1653.  When  married  to  the  Governor,  she  was  widow 
of  Samuel  Haekburne.  She  was  the  mother  of  Governor  Joseph 
Dudley.  By  Mr.  Allin  she  had  three  sons,  Benjamin,  Daniel  and 
Eleazer.  Mr.  Allin  was  among  the  chief  founders  of  New  England, 
in  its  principles  of  Church  and  State,  and  in  its  elements  of  charac- 
ter. He  was  able  and  faithful  as  a  pastor,  indefatigable  and  patri- 
otic as  a  member  of  the  Commonwealth,  beloved  and  beneficent  in 
all  his  relations  in  life.  In  1638,  he  took  part  in  replying  to  the 
Nine  Points,  which  came  from  England  the  year  before.  Such  a 
reply  was  answered  by  John  Ball,  a  copy  of  which  was  sent  to  the 
New  England  ministers,  but  did  not  arrive.  It  was  printed  16-43, 
and  the  year  after  was  brought  to  our  shores.  It  was  answered  by 
Mr.  Allin  and  Thomas  Shepard,  of  Cambridge,  1645,  in  a  pam- 
phlet known  as  a  "  Defense  of  the  Nine  Questions,  or  Positions." 
At  an  adjourned  session  of  the  Synod  in  1648,  Mr.  Allin  preached 
before  this  body  to  great  acceptance.  In  the  Synod  of  1662,  he 
was  a  prominent  supporter  of  the  half-way  covenant  then  intro- 
duced. The  change  so  made  was  argued  against  by  President 
Chauncy  in  his  Anti-synodalia,  and  also  by  the  Rev.  John  Daven- 
port. While  Richard  Mather,  of  Dorchester,  answered  the  latter, 
Mr.  Allin  replied  to  the  former.  Among  the  chief  supporters  of 
the  Third  church  in  Boston,  who  seceded  from  the  First,  under 
Davenport,  and  principal  remonstrants  against  the  censure,  passed 
on  them  by  the  Legislature,  1670,  was  Mr.  Allin.  Soon  after  his 
parish  were  called  to  part  with  him,  they  adopted  measures  to  pub- 
lish the  two  last  sermons  which  he  preached.  They  paid  the 
charges  of  his  funeral.  They  passed  a  vote,  that  a  "  convenient 
tomb,  or  monument,  of  stone  and  lime-mortar,  and  covered  with 
meet  timber,  be  erected  over  his  grave,  and  an  inscription  cut 
thereon,  with  the  date  of  his  death."  Thus  they,  who  remained 
to  be  his  living  epistles,  to  show  forth  the  nature  of  his  pastoral  care 
over  them,  testified  their  heart-felt  regard  for  him,  who  was  no 
more  to  return  to  them,  but  they  must  go  and  stand  with  him  in 
the  Judgment.  The  character  given  him  by  Johnson's  Wonder- 
working Providence,  is  evidently  true;  the  "humble  and  heavenly 
minded  Mr.  John  Allin,  a  man  of  a  very  courteous  behavior, 
full  of  sweet  Christian  love  towards  all,  and  with  much  meekness 
of  spirit'  contending  earnestly  for  the  faith  and  peace  of  Christ's 
churches."  His  people,  in  their  preface  to  his  printed  sermons,  thus 
speak  of  him  :  "  A  constant,  faithful,  diligent  steward  in  the  house 
of  God,  a  man  of  peace  and  truth,  a  burning  and  a  shining  light." 
A  few  weeks  before  his  decease,  he  wrote  a  suggestion  to  In- 
crease Mather  to  publish  his  "First  Principles  of  New  England." 


L 


484  LECTURE  IN   LOGIC. 

[Mass. 

Having  done  this,  Mather  notes  in  a  postscript :  "  Since  the  com- 
posure of  this  Collection  of  Testimonies,  it  hath  pleased  the  Lord 
to  take  unto  himself  another  of  our  ancient  studs,  viz.,  worthy  and 
Reverend  Mr.  Allin." 

September  4.  A  communication  from  John  Eliot  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Union,  contains  the  subsequent  passages :  "  The 
church  of  Natick  having  in  it  sundry  young  men,  who  were,  when 
I  first  began,  children  and  youths,  whom  I  did  catechise  and  so 
train  up  ever  since ;  there  are  now  sundry  of  them  of  good  parts, 
able  to  teach.  For  their  farther  and  better  fitting  for  that  work, 
we  have  set  up  an  exercise  of  prophesying  according  to  1  Cor.  14  c, 
wherein  four  of  them  exercise  in  one  day,  and  I  moderate  and 
order  them.  Their  profiting  hereby  is  evident  to  all.  It  putteth 
life  unto  them,  also.  I  read  unto  them  a  lecture  in  the  liberal  arts, 
especially  in  Logick.  For  their  encouragement,  I  provide  them 
some  small  entertainment  of  food  at  such  times,  especially  such  as 
come  from  other  places. 

"  Furthermore,  God  put  it  into  the  heart  of  the  church  to  send 
some  of  their  brethren  to  sundry  parts  of  the  country,  to  call  in 
their  countrymen  to  pray  unto  God.  I  foresaw  this  would  be 
chargeable.  Some  of  yourselves  did  last  year  tell  me  before  your 
sitting,  that  you  doubted  I  must  abate  of  my  salary  and  others  also 
with  me,  in  a  proportion,  because  you  were  so  short  in  means. 
After  your  rising,  you  told  me  you  had  made  shift  to  extend  mat- 
ters to  answer  every  one.  This  gave  me  to  understand,  that  there 
was  to  be  no  help  to  be  expected  there.  By  some  intimation  I  had 
from  worthy  Mr.  Ashurst,  I  took  boldness  to  charge  a  bill,  for  the 
whieh  Mr.  Usher  alloweth  me  £50.  With  this  supply,  I  fell  to 
work,  sent  out  messengers  to  many  parts,  gave  entertainment  to 
such  as  attended  the  Lecture.  A  particular  account  thereof  is 
here  inclosed,  taken  out  of  Mr.  Usher's  book,  who  hath  paid  all, 
and  I  have  meddled  with  none  of  it.  Now  I  humbly  request  your 
approbation  of  this  very  act  and  account,  and  the  same  account  I 
shall  give  to  the  right  honourable  Corporation. 

"  Moreover,  the  church  of  Xatick  is  about  to  dismiss  sundry  of 
their  members  to  gather  into  a  church  estate  at  Nipmuck  river, 
forty  miles  from  the  Bay,  in  which  work  and  in  order  thereunto 
I  shall  be  put  to  sundry  great  charges,  and  I  request  that  you 
would  please  to  allow  me  something  towards  the  same ;  and  the 
rather  I  am  bold  to  propose  it  because  in  all  other  public  meetings, 
motions,  journeys,  translations,  attendances  on  the  press,  and  other 
occasions,  that  I  have  attended  in  this  work,  I  have  never  had  (to 
my  knowledge  and  remembrance)  the  least  acknowledgment  from 
yourselves,  or  one  penny  supply,  save  my  bare  salary."  Mr.  Eliot 
desires  that  the  Commissioners  would  pay  £100  debt  for  him, 
because  it  hindered  his  usefulness  in  the  mission.  "  Further,  I  do 
present  you  with  our  Indian  a,  b,  c,  and  our  Indian  dialogues,  with 


BKAINTREE  CHURCH  TO   liKAR  MR.  fisk.  485 

1671.] 

■  request  that  you  would  pay  the  printer's  bill.     An  ingenioui 

young  >cholar  (J.  Foster)  did  cut.  in  wood  the  scheme,  for  which 
work  L  request  you  would  pay  him.     I  think  him  worthy  of  .'J,  or 

4,  or  £5  ;  but  1  leave  it  to  your  wisdom.  With  reference  to  our 
Lecture,  my  noble  Lady  Armine,  and  our  right  honorable  ( iovornor, 

Esq.  Boyle,  have  sent  me  the  sum  of  £12,  a  sum  which  1  pro- 
posed  in  my  letters  last  year.  This  I  shall  extend  so  far  as  1  can. 
But  besides,  this  work  of  sending  for  the  church  messengers  is  still 
incumbent  upon  us,  yea,  increased  much  by  these  stormy  times. 
The  number  of  our  fixed  teachers  are  ten,  and  the  number  of  fixed 
rulers  are  ten;  but  in  the  several  towns,  who  are  in  the  birth  to 
pray  unto  God,  there  is  a  great  addition  both  of  teachers  and  rulers. 
But,  in  that  respect,  1  commit  the  matter  to  God  and  wait  on  him 
for  supply/' 

23.  An  Indian  church  is  gathered*  at  Hassanamessit,  or  Hassan- 
amisco,  afterwards  Grafton.  Gookin  says  that  the  original  name 
signified  a  place  of  small  stones. 

October  4.  Thomas  Foster  is  arraigned  before  the  Middlesex 
Court,f  for  absence  from  worship  on  the  Sabbath.  He  pleads  ne- 
cessity, and  is  therefore  discharged. 

November  4.  Samuel  Hubbard,  of  Newport,^  Rhode  Island, 
writes  to  the  Baptist  church,  who  worship  on  Noddle's  Island,  near 
Boston.  He  gives  them  a  gospel  benediction,  speaks  of  his  own 
religious  course,  of  their  support  under  trials,  and  their  growth  in 
numbers. 

23.  A  County  Court,  held  in  Boston,  thus  express  themselves  : 
"Having  taken  into  consideration  the  many  means  that  have  been 
used  with  the  church  at  Braintree,  and  hitherto  nothing  done  to 
effect,  as  the  obtaining  the  ordinances  of  Christ  among  them,  this 
Court  therefore  orders  and  desires  Mr.  Moses  Fisk  to  improve  his 
labors  in  preaching  the  word  at  Braintree,  until  the  church  there 
agree  and  obtain  supply  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  or  this  Court 
take  further  order."  Mr.  Fisk  obeyed  this  judicial  requisition, 
and,  by  advice  of  adjacent  elders,  began  to  preach  at  Braintree  the 
3d  of  December.  Thus  was  authority  exercised  where  popular 
disagreement  threatened  a  famine  of  the  bread  of  life. 

December  1.  A  letter  from  Mr.  Eliot  to  Mr.  Ashurst,  treasurer 
of  the  Missionary  Corporation,  states  his  indebtedness,  as  he  had  to 
the  Commissioners  here.  It  adds  that  they  had  not  answered  him 
on  the  subject,  and  therefore  he  had  drawn  a  bill  for  £80  on  the 
treasurer  in  London,  for  his  debt  to  Mr.  Usher.  It  has  the  remark 
of  Eliot,  that  let  this  matter  turn  as  it  may,  "I  am  resolved, 
through  the  grace  of  Christ,  I  will  never  give  over  the  work  so 
long  as  I  have  legs  to  go." 

Benjamin  Sweetser,  of  the  Baptist  church,  worshiping  at  Nod- 

*  Hull's  MS.  Diary.        f  Middlesex  MS.  Rec.         J  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  404-5. 


486  BAPTISTS  STILL   PROSECUTED. 

[Mass. 

die's  Island,  addresses  a  letter  to  Samuel  Hubbard,  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  He  imparts  Christian  consola- 
tion to  Mr.  Hubbard  and  wife,  afflicted  with  the  loss  of  their  only- 
son  and  child.  He  observes :  "  Brother  Turner  has  been  near  to 
death,  but  through  mercy  is  revived,  and  so  has  our  pastor  Gould. 
The  persecuting  spirit  begins  to  stir  again.  Elder  Russell  and  his 
son,  and  Brother  Foster,  are  presented  to  the  Court,  that  is  to  be 
this  month." 

19.  John  Johnson,  of  Woburn,  is  presented*  for  absence  from 
worship  on  the  Sabbath.  He  stated  that  he  formerly  went  to  the 
"  Anabaptistical  Assembly,"  but  that  he  had,  for  some  time,  wor- 
shiped with  the  congregation  where  he  lived,  and  was  determined 
so  to  do.  He  is  excused  by  paying  costs.  Hopestill  Foster  and 
John  Peirce,  of  the  same  town,  and  Matthew  Johnson,  for  "  turn- 
ing their  backs  on  the  holy  ordinance  of  baptism,"  being  their  first 
offense  of  this  kind,  are  admonished  and  ordered  to  pay  costs. 
John  Russell,  of  Woburn,  for  renouncing  communion  with  the 
church  there — being  absent  frequently  of  late,  from  public  wor- 
ship, turning  his  back  on  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  having  joined 
"  the  schismatical  assembly  of  the  Anabaptists,"  and  "  resisted  all 
endeavors"  for  his  reformation — is  required  to  give  bond  for  £10 
to  appear  at  the  next  Court  of  Assistants  in  Boston. 

As  John  Wright,  Isaac  Cole,  Francis  Wiman,  John  Wiman, 
Francis  Kendall,  Robert  Peirce,  Matthew  Smith  and  Joseph 
Wright,  members  in  fall  communion  with  the  church  of  Woburn, 
were  presented  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  Middlesex  last  October,f  for 
refusing  to  commune  with  said  church  and  conform  with  advice 
from  the  neighboring  churches  and  other  means  to  rectify  their  dis- 
order, and  not  giving  sufficient  reasons  to  the  County  Court  for 
their  course,  this  body  order,  that  the  churches  of  Charlestown, 
Cambridge,  Watertown,  Reading  and  Billerica  be  requested  to 
send  their  elders  and  messengers  to  the  church  of  Woburn,  the 
last  fifth  day  of  March  next,  "  where  the  brethren  presented  are 
required  to  give  a  meeting  with  the  church  there,  and  shall  have 
libertv  humbly  and  inoffensively  to  declare  their  grievances,  and 
the  church  also  to  declare  the  whole  case  for  the  clearing  of  their 
proceedings.  And  after  the  case  is  fully  heard  by  the  Council," 
they  are  to  endeavor  to  heal  the  difficulties,  and  make  return  to 
the  next  Court  at  Cambridge. 

Eleazer  Mather,  of  Northampton,  publishes  this  year  an  "  Ex- 
hortation to  the  present  and  succeeding  generation  in  New  Eng- 
land, to  endeavor  that  the  Lord's  gracious  presence  may  be  con- 
tinued with  posterity,  being  the  substance  of  his  last  sermons 
preached."  It  has  an  address  by  Increase  Mather,  to  the  church 
and  inhabitants  of  the  same  town.     Both  productions  were  worthy 

*  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec.  t  Ibid. 


HELP   FOR  THB   COLLBG  1ST 

of  their  Bubject,  and  of  conformity  from  the  population,  for  w\ 
benefit  they  were  sincerely  intended. 

1672.  January  L6.  Samuel  Phillips,  pastor  of  Rowley  church, 
writes4  to  the  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  of  Newbury.  The  latter 
sent  to  the  former  s  defense  of  the  Newbury  brethren's  continu- 
ance of  coming  to  the  Lord's  table,  though  the  last  Council  on 
their  difficulties  advised  them  to  cease  from  so  sacred  a  service 
until  they  were  better  disposed  towards  each  other.  .Mr.  Phillips 
again  dissents  from  .Mr.  Woodbridge's  judgment,  and  assigns  good 
ins, 

February  5.  A  letter  is  addressed  by  Philip  Nye,  John  Owen, 
William  Hook,  John  Collins,  and  nine  other  dissenting  ministers, 
in  and  about  London, f  to  the  magistrates  and  ministers  of  Massa- 
chusetts. It  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  theirs,  dated  the  preced- 
ing August  21st,  and  refers  to  the  topics  of  its  contents.  Before 
it  proceeds  to  notice  these  particularly,  it  uses  the  subsequent 
language  :  "  It  hath  pleased  the  infinitely  wise  God  to  make  of  us 
in  our  stations,  and  also  of  the  conditions  which  he  hath  measured 
out  to  his  people,  amongst  whom  he  hath  placed  us,  from  whom, 
as  well  as  ourselves,  you  cannot  expect  (as  things  stand  with  usj 
to  receive  that  fruit  that  either  your  need  calls  for  or  our  love 
would  produce,  were  we  not  ourselves,  together  with  the  churches 
of  Christ  in  these  nations,  intangled  in  many  straits."  With 
regard  to  Harvard  College,  for  which  help  was  asked  through  their 
influence,  the  letter  states  that  its  authors  are  thankful  lor  the 
benefit  of  the  institution,  and  they  with  their  friends  would  gladly 
make  large  contributions  to  it,  if  in  their  power  ;  but  they  purpose 
to  do  something  for  the  support  of  the  fellows  and  tutors  who  may 
instruct  youths  "  in  good  literature  and  fear  of  the  Lord,  for  future 
employment  in  church  and  Commonwealth."  They  recommend 
Dr.  Hoar,  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  New  England,  as  a  suitable 
person  for  the  Presidency  of  the  College.  Their  advice  had  been 
asked  on  this  matter.  They  promise,  as  desired,  to  use  their  influ- 
ence for  having  students  sent  over  to  receive  an  education  at  this 
seminary. 

19.  Charles  Chauncy,  President  of  Harvard  College,  dies,  in 
his  eighty-second  year.  He  left  six  sons,  graduates  from  this 
institution,  all  preachers  of  the  gospel,  and,  like  him,  "  had  an 
eminent  skill  in  physick."  He  left  a  daughter,  Sarah,  who  mar- 
ried Gershom  Bulkley.  His  worthy  wife,  Catharine,  daughter  of 
Robert  Eyre,  Esq.,  died  a  short  time  before  he  did.  He  possessed 
great  talents,  was  very  studious,  learned  and  scientific,  excelled  as 
a  preacher,  was  an  example  of  piety,  remarkably  active  till  near 
the  close  of  -his  days,  and  filled  a  long  life  with  distinguished 
usefulness. 

*  Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  105.  t  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  429. 


488  CONTRIBUTION  FOR  THE    COLLEGE. 

[Mass. 

When  over  eighty  years  old,  as  he  was  going  to  preach  on  a 
winter's  day,  some  of  his  friends  advised  him  not  to  attempt  it,* 
for  if  he  did  he  would  die  in  the  pulpit,  he  urged  his  way  more 
energetically  through  the  snow-drift,  saying  :  "  How  glad  should 
I  be  if  this  should  prove  true."  On  the  Commencement  before 
his  decease,  he  delivered  a  farewell  oration.  After  this,  he  sent 
for  his  children,  and  gave  them  a  father's  blessing.  He  waited  for 
the  time  of  his  departure  as  one  who  had  a  strong  hope  that  his 
death  would  be  followed  with  eternal  life.  His  publications  were 
a  sermon  from  Amos,  2  a,  11  v.,  1655  ;  an  election  sermon,  1656, 
as  previously  noticed  ;  a  volume  of  sermons  on  Justification,  1659  ; 
Antisynodalia  Americana,  1662,  as  before  mentioned.  He  left 
valuable  manuscripts,  which  fell  to  the  hands  of  his  son  Nathaniel's 
widow,  of  Hatfield,  whose  husband  used  them  up  in  his  business. 
On  the  tombstone  of  President  Chauncy,  as  the  Magnalia*  states, 
he  is  called  "  a  man  of  unsullied  integrity,  an  accomplished  debater, 
gifted  with  equal  merit  in  piety  and  scholarship." 

March.  John  Amanhutf  was  son  of  Wannamanhut,  sent  by  his 
father,  a  sachem  of  Massachusetts,  to  take  care  of  some  claims  at 
Martha's  Vineyard.  Being  a  serious  professor  of  Christianity, 
well  versed  in  its  principles,  and  a  sufficient  reader,  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  Indians  to  preach  for  them.  His  labors  among 
them  received  the  divine  blessing.  At  the  date  aforementioned, 
he  was  called  to  give  account  of  his  ministry. 

March  10.  The  records  of  the  First  church  in  Boston  have  the 
subsequent  entry.  "  This  day  a  public  contribution  was  made  in 
the  congregation,  for  the  use  of  the  College  at  Cambridge,  at  the 
motion  of  the  Council  ;  and  beside  the  public,  there  was  a  private 
subscription  wherein  did  many  show  their  desire  to  have  it  at 
Boston,  by  subscribing  for  Boston  ten-fold,  five-fold,  three-fold 
and  the  like.  This  contribution  went  over  all  the  country."  It 
amounted  to  £1,895  2s.  6d.,  of  which  Boston  gave  £800,  and  of 
this,  £100  were  presented  by  the  generous  Sir  Thomas  Temple. J 

15.  As  a  concern  for  which  New  England  had  much  sympathy, 
a  royal  declaration  is  made,§  that  the  ejected  ministers  of  the 
mother  country  who  are  approved  for  the  purpose,  may  preach  "  to 
those  of  their  denomination,  by  a  license  from  the  King  in  Coun- 
cil." One  result  of  this  change  was  the  establishment  of  a  weekly 
lecture  at  Pinner's  Hall,  in  London,  by  Presbyterians  and  Inde- 
pendents, to  sustain  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  against 
"  errors  of  Popery,  Socinianism  and  Infidelity."  But  the  royal 
indulgence  to  dissenters  was  soon  prevented  by  the  Test  Act,  on 
March  29,  1673,  promoted  by  those  of  the  Protestant  class  for  the 
purpose  of  its  operating  against  the  Papists. 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  475,  6.  fE.  Mayhew,  Ind.  Converts,  p.  72,  3. 

X  Holmes,  vol.  i.  p.  362.     §  Neal,  vol.  ii.  p.  562-5.    Salmon,  vol.  i.p.  190,  201, 


IT.ATH    OF  EDWARD   JOHNSON.  489 

1679L] 

22.  The  town  of  Salem*  allow  the  "Farmers"  at  the  Salem 
village  to  have  a  minister  to  preach  ior  them.  In  the  church  of 
Salem,  two  persons  who  were  covenant  memhers  by  being  bap- 
tized when  children,  are  publicly  censured  and  admonished  for 
ill-conduct. 

April  2.  The  Middlesex  Court f  requires  that  the  master  of  the 
House  of  Correction  shall  bring  the  persons  under  his  custody,  to 
public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  that  constables  shall  help  him 
if  necessary.  Andrew  Stevenson,  the  master,  said  he  should 
resign  his  office  in  June,  sooner  than  perform  such  service.  He 
accordingly  left  his  place. 

15.  Officers  were  chosen  +  by  the  First  Boston  church.  "This 
day  was  a  church  meeting  in  the  town-house,  where,  after  prayer 
of  the  elders  and  some  other  brethren,  the  conference  about  choice 
of  a  deacon  (succeeded),  and  our  brother  Henry  Phillips  was 
chosen.  At  the  same  time,  the  necessity  of  a  ruling  elder  being 
taken  into  consideration,  and  after  some  debate,  our  brother  Lieut. 
Thomas  Clark  was  put  to  the  vote  and  chosen  to  the  office  of  ruling 
elder."  Other  sessions  were  held  on  account  of  some  objection  to 
this  vote.  Four  churches  were  designated  the  next  year  for  the 
Council  to  ordain  Mr.  Clark ;  but  at  another  meeting  of  the  church, 
the  matter  was  put  off  indefinitely. 

23.  Of  the  warm-hearted  Puritans  who  regarded  the  spiritual 
prosperity  of  New  England  more  than  all  its  other  interests,  was 
Edward  Johnson,  who  now  departed  from  this  life,  in  his  seventy- 
first  year.  He  came  from  Herne-Hill,  a  parish  in  Kent,  to  this 
Colony,  in  1630.  He  resided  some  time  at  Charlestown.  When 
the  village  of  this  town  was  set  off  and  incorporated  by  the  name 
of  Woburn,  he  was  one  of  its  principal  men.  He  was  their  repre- 
sentative in  the  Legislature  from  1643  to  1671,  excepting  1648, 
and  was  Speaker  for  a  short  time  in  1655.  Till  his  decease,  he 
wras  one  of  the  Committee  who  had  care  of  the  Colonial  Charter  for 
safe  keeping.  He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  church  where  he 
resided.  He  was  devoted  to  the  great  object  of  religious  refor- 
mation, for  which  our  fathers  emigrated  to  this  country.  His 
"  History  of  New  England,"  or  "  Wonder  Working  Providence," 
from  1628  to  1652,  verifies  such  a  position.  He  left  a  wife,  Susan, 
and  children,  Edward,  George,  William,  Matthew,  John  and  two 
daughters.  Though  the  style  of  his  writings  falls  short  of  that 
now  mostly  popular,  they  exhibit  a  spirit  fitted  more  for  com- 
munion with  serious  obligation  than  common  practice. 

May  1.  Two  individuals,  one,  if  not  both  of  them,  living  in 
Ipswich,  are  required  by  the  County  Court  §  to  make  a  public  and 
audible  "  acknowledgment  next  lecture  day,"  for  asserting  "  that 

*  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec.  f  Middlesex  Rec. 

{  Rec.  of  First  Ch.  in  Boston.  §  Essex  Ct.  Rec. 

62 


490  MR.  NICHOLET  IMPORTUNED  TO   SALEM. 

[Mass. 

Mr.  Parker,  of  Newbury,  had  sent  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  for  help  and  relief  about  their  troubles  at  New- 
bury/' and  that  they  "  saw  a  copy  of  the  letter." 

6.  The  town  of  Salem,  by  consent  of  Mr.  Higginson  and  his 
church,  request  *  Charles  Nicholet,  who  came  to  Boston  with  his 
wife  and  a  child,  the  2d  of  April,  from  Virginia,  to  preach  for 
them  one  year.  They  also  desire  him  to  deliver  a  lecture  once  a 
week.  It  appears  that  soon  after  this,  he  preached  for  the  Dedham 
people,  who  invited  him  to  settle  with  them.  But  the  congrega- 
tion of  Salem  were  very  earnest  that  he  should  continue  there. 
And,  as  the  fragment  of  an  ancient  record  quoted  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Lamson,  says  :  "  Both  people  and  minister,  men  and  women,  so  set 
upon  him  and  his  wife,  with  great  and  incessant  importunity,  that 
they  first  overcame  Mrs.  Nicholet  to  be  willing  to  live  at  Salem, 
rather  than  at  Dedham.  He  was  so  far  staggered  in  his  resolution 
that  he  would  put  the  case  to  a  council  of  elders."  This  was  done, 
and  the  result  was  that  he  should  remain  at  Salem. 

8.  The  selectmen  of  Salem  forbid  twelve  men  f  to  spend  their 
time  and  money  at  two  ordinaries  of  the  town,  in  drinking. 

10.  The  Rev.  John  Collins,  of  London,  writes  to  Gov.  Leverett, 
by  Leonard  Hoar,  M.  D.  He  recommends  the  last  person  who 
graduated  at  Harvard,  1650,  as  fit  to  be  employed  in  the  concerns 
of  this  institution.  He  mentions  that  a  certain  Lord  was  going 
to  travel,  and  would  probably  visit  the  Governor,  and  if  pleased, 
would  be  very  serviceable  to  our  country.^ 

12.  Samuel  Parris,  afterwards  involved  in  the  troubles  of  witch- 
craft at  Salem  village,  unites  with  the  First  church  of  Boston. 

15.  Thomas  Shepard,  of  Charlestown,  preaches  the  Election 
Sermon.  His  text  was  from  Jeremiah  ii.  31.  The  title  was, 
"  Eye-Salve,  or  a  Watchword  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  his 
Churches,  especially  those  within  the  Colony  of  the  Massachusetts, 
to  take  heed  of  Apostasy."  It  bears  the  imprimatur  of  John 
Sherman  and  Urian  Oakes,  as  licensers  of  the  press.  The  author 
of  it  refers  to  perils  from  the  Familists,  who  even  threatened 
resistance  with  the  sword,  and  from  the  Gortonists,  whom  he  com- 
pares to  hornets.  He  expresses  his  judgment  of  the  good  effects 
produced  by  the  Synod,  "  in  the  time  of  opinions."  Alluding  to 
the  interposition  of  civil  power  in  these  and  other  cases,  he  observes  : 
"  It  is  hoped  that  this  coercive  power  of  a  godly  magistracy,  which 
we  have  experienced  the  benefit  of  so  many  ways,  being  duly 
managed,  shall  not  be  abandoned,  nor  therefore,  a  repealing  of  any 
wholesome  law  about  religion  for  the  defense  and  maintaining  the 
gospel  among  us,  or  that  liberty  shall  be  proclaimed  to  men  of  any 
religion  to  come  and  set  up  shop  or  schools  of  seductions  among 
us.  To  tolerate  all  things,  and  to  tolerate  nothing,  (it's  an  old  and 
true  maxim,)  both  are  intolerable." 

*  Annals  of  Salem.  f  Ibid.  j  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  435. 


PORTENDING   commotions.  491 

UJ78.] 

Referring  to  Morton's  Memorial  6f  Plymouth,  he   remarks:   "I 

wish  the  second  Colony  might  be  awakened  further  to  take  their 

turn  also,  and  0!  that  it  might  be  said  concerning  this  and  that  of 
the  mercies,  judgments  and  great  acts  of  the  Lord,  never  to  be 
forgotten  by  us,  'As  it  is  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of 
the  Governors  of  the  Massachusetts.'  " 

He  mentions,  that  when  he  was  a  boy,  ministers'  associations 
met  in  Cambridge,  Boston,  Charlestown,  Uoxbury,  etc.,  with  good 
effect  ;  that  the  lack  of  sufficient  care  for  the  common  schools 
caused  the  College  to  languish  by  deficiency  of  students,  and  that 
it  woidd  be  well  tor  such  schools  to  have  "  foundations,"  or  funds, 
to  educate  poor  scholars.  He  speaks  of  prayer,  catechising  and 
repeating  sermons  in  families,  as  too  much  neglected.  He  inquires 
whether  towns  of  small  means  should  not  be  assisted  by  some 
public  fund,  to  pay  their  ministers.  He  addresses  the  rulers  before 
him  :  "  Stand  to  your  liberties,  and  let  us  not  be  gulled,  befooled, 
deluded,  baffled  or  beaten  out  of  them." 

The  Court  attend  to  the  following  subjects.  As  "  a  day  of  sore 
trouble  and  hazard  to  the  people  of  God  in  general  through  the 
present  portending  commotions  and  combinations  amongst  the 
nations  of  Europe,  threatening  no  less  than  war  and  blood,  with  all 
those  innumerable  evils  which  do  attend  the  same ;  but  also  in 
that  our  own  dear  nation  stands  so  particularly  involved,  whose 
sufferings  we  are  bound  to  reckon  as  our  own,  and  further  cannot 
but  expect,  that  as  we  are  of  the  same  nation,  and  many  ways 
dependent  thereon,  so  also  we  must  be  sufferers  with  them," — a 
public  Fast  is  appointed  for  the  13th  of  June,  to  seek  the  Lord  for 
deliverance,  and  especially  for  that  "of  his  church  and  people 
from  an  anti-christian  yoke."  Another  Fast  is  ordered  to  be  ob- 
served by  members  of  the  Legislature,  on  the  22d  instant.  Urian 
Oakes,  John  Eliot,  Thomas  Cobbet,  John  Oxenbridge,  Samuel 
Whiting,  Sen.,  and  Increase  Mather,  are  invited  to  "carry  on  the 
work  of  that  day  by  prayer  and  preaching,  and  any  Elders  to  be 
present,  if  they  desire  it." 

Seeing  that  workmen  refuse  employment,*  unless  they  can  have 
wine  or  liquors  over  their  wages,  which  "  tends  much  to  the 
rooting  young  persons  in  an  evil  practice  and  by  degrees  to  train 
them  up  to  a  habit  of  excess,"  any  person  who  complies  with  their 
demand,  except  in  cases  of  necessity,  shall  be  fined  20/. 

The  Commissioners  for  the  United  Colonies  are  empowered  to 
sign  the  articles  of  Confederation,  as  again  renewed  by  this  Colony, 
Plymouth  and  Connecticut.  Such  a  contract  was  completed  the 
5th  of  next  September. 

A  committee,  of  William  Hathorne  and  Eleazer  Lusher,  are 
appointed  to  make  a  record  of  Divine  providences,  and  particularly 

*  Records  of  Mass.  Gen.  Ct. 


492  FIRST   COPYRIGHT   OF   THE   LAWS. 

[Mass. 

of  "  what  hath  been  collected  by  John  Winthrop,  Sen.,  Thomas 
Dudley,  John  Wilson,  Sen.,  and  Edmund  Johnson,  or  any  other, 
that  so  matter  being  prepared,  some  meet  person  may  be  appointed 
by  this  Court,  to  put  the  same  into  form,  that  so,  after  perusal,  it 
may  be  sent  to  the  press." 

The  Messengers  requested  by  the  last  Legislature  to  visit  New- 
bury about  their  ecclesiastical  difficulties,  make  a  report.  This 
states  that,  however  the  Congregational  part  had  a  small  majority, 
they  were  not  regular  in  withdrawing  from  the  rest  and  worshiping 
separately  as  the  church ;  in  admonishing  and  suspending  Mr. 
Parker,  their  pastor,  from  his  ministry,  and  choosing  ruling  elders 
and  appointing  the  time  for  their  ordination.  It  also  disapproves 
of  Mr.  Parker  and  his  friends'  suspending  their  opponents,  though 
the  former  were  offended,  as  out  of  order  and  not  calculated  to 
promote  peace.  It  advises  Mr.  Woodman,  leader  of  the  separatists, 
to  attend  public  worship,  so  far  as  his  infirmities  allow ;  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  to  discontinue  his  labors  with  the  church,  so  that  these  may 
choose  the  minister  they  wish  for ;  that,  "  hereafter,  ecclesiastical 
offenses  be  not  too  suddenly  brought  to  civil  courts,  without  con- 
sulting with  churches,  being  contrary  to  Colossians  ii.  5 — 7  ; 
that,  owing  to  the  "  great  age  and  weakness  of  Mr.  Parker  and 
thereby  his  unfitness  to  manage  church  discipline,"  a  ruling  elder 
or  two,  approved  by  both  parties,  may  be  chosen.  It  then  counsels 
the  parties  to  use  proper  means  for  a  mutual  reconciliation.  The 
Court  sanction  the  report  and  desire  that  its  proposals  be  obeyed. 
They  also  have  a  letter  prepared  for  Xewbury  church,  in  which 
they  express  a  similar  wish.  They  say  in  the  close  of  it,  "  Should 
there  be  a  failure,  we  shall  be  necessitated  to  advise  what  further 
course  is  to  be  taken,  according  to  God,  that  contentions  may  be 
removed  and  peace  restored  among  you." 

At  their  session,  the  Legislature  order  "  the  General  Laws  and 
Liberties  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  to  be  revised  and  reprinted." 
This  was  accordingly  done.  John  Usher  issued  the  Laws  from 
the  press,  and  had  the  copyright  of  them  for  seven  years.  This  is 
the  first  privilege  of  the  kind  of  which  we  have  any  information, 
as  granted  in  New  England.  Under  the  ecclesiastical  head,  we 
have  the  following.  Churches  may  be  gathered  in  a  Christian 
way,  with  the  approbation  of  magistrates  and  elders.  Xo  person 
who  joins  a  church  not  so  approved,  can  "  be  admitted  to  the  free- 
dom of  the  Commonwealth."  Every  church  has  liberty  to  keep 
days  of  Fasting  and  Prayer  and  of  Thanksgiving.     Ministers  and 

Note.— The  declaration  of  war  by  England  against  Holland,  is  ordered  to 
"be  published  by  the  Marshal  General,  on  May  28,  in  the  three  usual  places  in 
Boston,  by  sound  of  trumpet." 

For  what  Mrs.  Ann  Harvey  had  laid  out  for  the  encouragement  of  Massa- 
chusetts Government,  William  Brovm  is  granted  three  hundred  acres  of  land 
by  Massachusetts. 


SIGNIFICATION  OP  Tin;  TERM   'CHURCH.'  491 

[672.] 

other  brethren  are  illowed  to  meel  monthly,  quarterly  or  other- 
wise, to  consult  about  Christian  and  chinch  questions.  Private 
meetings   for  edification  in  religion,  may  be  held  in  an  orderly 

manner.  No  man  shall  become  the  constant,  preacher  of  a  people, 
it'  any  u  two  organic  churches,  Council  of  State,  or  General  Court, 
shall  declare  dissatisfaction  there.it."  This  was  done  to  secure 
well-qualified  dispensers  of  the  gospel. 

Open  opposers  of  the  Christian  religion  and  its  ministers  shall, 
for  the  first  offense,  "  be  convented  and  reproved  openly  by  the 
magistrate  at  some  lecture,  and  bound  to  their  good  behaviour." 
Whoever  ii  chargeable  with  a  second  offense  of  this  kind,  shall 
pay  live  pounds,  or  "  stand  two  hours  openly  upon  a  block  or 
stool,  four  feet  high,  on  a  lecture-day,  with  a  paper  fixed  on  his 
breast,  written  in  capital  letters,  An  open  and  obstinate  contemner 
of  God's  holy  ordinances." 

Whoever  makes  disturbance,  according  to  the  order  of  16-46, 
"  upon  pretense  that  the  churches  were  not  planted  by  any  new 
apostle,  or  that  ordinances  are  for  carnal  Christians  or  babes  in 
Christ,  and  not  for  spiritual  or  illuminated  persons,  shall  pay  40/. 
for  every  month,  so  long  as  he  shall  continue  in  his  obstinacy." 

Every  town  is  required  to  provide  a  dwelling-house  for  their 
minister.  Each  County  Court  is  to  take  measures  that  all  defi- 
ciencies of  salary  for  ministers  in  their  jurisdiction  are  supplied. 

That  the  term  church  might  be  understood,  the  Court  say,  "  Be 
it  hereby  enacted  that  by  the  church  is  to  be  meant  such  as  are  in 
full  communion  only  ;  and  that  the  teaching  officer  or  officers  of 
such  church  or  churches  we  do  intend  shall  be  the  minister  or 
ministers  to  all  the  people  in  that  town  where  such  church  or 
churches  are  planted ;  and  that  no  inhabitant  in  any  town  shall  act 
in  the  calling  or  election  of  such  officer  or  minister,  until  he  be  in 
full  communion,  upon  penalty  of  being  accounted  a  disturber  of 
peace  and  order,  and  to  be  punished  by  the  Court  of  that  shire." 

The  subsequent  passage  shows  the  relation  which  the  Legislature 
held  to  the  church  :  "  The  civil  authority  here  established  hath 
power  and  liberty  to  see  the  peace,  ordinances  and  rules  of  Christ 
be  observed  in  every  church  according  to  his  word,  as  also  to  deal 
with  any  church-member  in  a  way  of  civil  justice,  notwithstanding 
any  church  relation,  office  or  interest."  On  the  other  hand,  every 
church  has  "  liberty  to  deal  with  any  magistrate,  deputy  of  Court, 
or  other  officer  whatsoever,  that  is  a  member  of  theirs,  in  a  church 
way,  in  .case  of  apparent  or  just  offense  given  in  their  places,  so  it 
be  done  with  due  observance  and  respect." 

Under  the  caption  of  Heresy,  the  revised  laws  speak  as  follows  : 
"  If  any  Christian  within  this  jurisdiction  shall  go  about  to  destroy 
the  Christian  religion,  by  broaching  and  maintaining  any  damnable 
heresies :  as  denying  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  resurrection 
of  the  body,  or  any  sin  to  be  repented  of  in  the  regenerate,  or  any 


494  PUNISHMENT  FOR   SPREADING   HERESY. 

[Mass. 

evil  done  by  the  outward  man  to  be  accounted  sin,  or  denying  that 
Christ  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  our  sins,  or  shall  affirm  that  we 
are  not  justified  by  his  death  and  righteousuess,  but  by  the  perfec- 
tion of  our  own  works,  or  shall  deny  the  morality  of  the  fourth 
commandment,  or  shall  openly  condemn  or  oppose  the  baptizing  of 
infants,  or  shall  purposely  depart  the  congregation  at  the  admin- 
istration of  that  ordinance,  or  shall  deny  the  ordinance  of  mag- 
istracy, or  their  lawful  authority  to  make  war  or  to  punish  the 
outward  breaches  of  the  first  table,  or  shall  endeavor  to  seduce 
others  to  any  of  the  errors  or  heresies  above-mentioned  ; — every 
such  person  continuing  obstinate  therein,  after  due  means  of  con- 
viction, shall  be  sentenced  to  banishment." 

Whoever  denies  any  of  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments to  be  the  word  of  God  shall,  after  legal  conviction,  pay  not 
above  £50,  or  be  whipped  not  more  than  forty  lashes.  If  he 
publicly  recant  before  his  conviction,  he  shall  be  fined  not  exceed- 
ing £10,  or  be  whipped.  For  a  second  offense  of  this  sort,  he 
shall  be  banished  or  put  to  death,  as  the  Court  may  decide. 

All  persons  who  have  in  their  hands  the  books  of  John  Reeves 
and  Lodowick  Muggleton,  who  pretend  to  be  the  last  two  witnesses 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  do  not  bring  them  to  the  magistrate  next  to 
their  residence,  shall  pay  £10  for  every  such  book  found  in  their 
possession,  and  the  books  shall  be  burnt  in  the  market-place  in 
Boston  the  succeeding  lecture-day,  by  the  public  executioner. 

The  laws  for  banishing  Quakers  on  pain  of  death,  and  also  for 
putting  to  death  children  who  curse  or  smite  their  parents,  and  a 
rebellious  son,  and  those  convicted  of  idolatry,  witchcraft  and 
blasphemy,  are  still  continued. 

As  the  Legislature,  on  the  loth  of  May,  invited  the  elders  of  the 
Colony  to  "consult  and  advise  concerning  the  present  difficult 
emergencies  before  them,"  the  latter  body  accordingly  lay  before  the 
former  their  unanimous  opinion. 

1.  That  the  civil  constitution  or  liberties  of  the  Common- 
wealth, are  founded  on  the  Charter. 

2.  That  this  document  is  to  be  inviolably  observed  in  "the  right 
constitution  of  Courts  and  regular  distribution  of  differing  interests 
of  power  and  privilege  between  the  magistrates  and  the  freemen, 
and  the  distinct  exercise  of  legislative  and  executive  power  by 
those  who  are  by  patent  vested  therewith." 

3.  That  in  cases  of  diversity  as  to  opinion  in  public  concerns,  a 
just  accommodation,  consistent  with  the  patent  and  the  general  sat- 
isfaction and  safety,  is  advisable. 

4.  That  however  they  approve  of  former  advice  given  by  their 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  suited  to  circumstances  of  their  time, 

Note. — A  Committee,  consisting  of  Governor  Leverett  and  others,  are  in- 
structed to  report  at  the  next  session,  "  some  order  for  a  Chancery  Court." 


REPORT  OF  BLDBR8  ON  BMERGBNCIB8,       MMI 
W73.] 

that  the  negative  votes  should  be  "in  the  major  part  of  both 
Houses,  yet,  tor  a  present  accommodation,  we  hnmbly  conceive  that 
our  honored  magistrates'  hill  referring  to  the  issuing  of  all  debates 

in  matters  of  judicature,  in  ease  of  the  non-concurrence  of  both 
Houses  voting  apart,  unto  the  vote  of  the  whole  Court  met  together, 
or  the  major  part  of  them,  whereof  the  Governor,  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor and  four  magistrates,  or  otherwise  five  magistrates  at  least, 
shall  always  be  a  part  to  the  making  any  valid  act.  We  say  we 
hnmbly  conceive  that  a  mutual  concession  hereunto  and  a  joint 
concurrence  herein,  may  be  a  fit  medium  of  such  an  accommoda- 
tion as  that  which  falls  within  a  true  latitude  of  interpretation." 
The  elders  proceed  to  give  reasons  why  the  magistrates  should 
have  a  voice  in  questions  before  the  General  Court,  as  well  as  the 
deputies  thereof.  They  remark,  that  "  to  leave  the  final  determi- 
nation of  judicature  in  any  case  altogether  to  the  freemen,  doth 
tend  to  evacuate  our  great  liberty  and  privilege  of  election." 

5.  That  as  the  General  Court  have  less  trouble  in  civil  and  crim- 
inal cases,  more  power  be  granted  to  inferior  courts  of  judicature. 

6.  That  when  the  deputies  in  General  Court  are  called  to  act  as 
judges  of  a  case  before  them,  they  shall  be  sworn  so  far  as  the 
magistrates  are. 

7.  That  cases  already  before  the  Legislature  be  settled  "  in  the 
wonted  way  of  procedure." 

In  conclusion,  the  elders  observe :  "  Being  under  the  awful 
sense  of  the  great  necessity  of  the  amicable  agreement  of  both 
Houses  in  such  a  time  as  this,  we  do  most  humbly  and  unfeignedly 
beseech  Him,  who  is  the  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  and  Prince  of 
Peace,  that  He  would  guide  you  by  his  counsel  and  fill  you  with 
the  spirit  of  wisdom,  that  you  may  be  able  to  discern  and  conclude 
upon  such  a  way  of  agreement  in  this  matter,  as  may  be  for  the 
glory  of  his  name,  welfare  of  his  people  here,  and  your  account 
with  joy  in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord." 

Signed  by  Samuel  Whiting,  Sen.,  John  Oxenbridge,  for  sub- 
stance, Thomas  Cobbet,  John  Sherman,  John  Higginson,  Thomas 
Thacher,  Sen.,  William  Hubbard,  John  Wilson,  James  Allen,  for 
substance,  Samuel  Phillips,  Samuel  Torrey,  Antipas  Newman, 
John  Hale,  for  substance,  and  Josiah  Flint. 

All  persons  convicted  of  **  railing  and  scolding,*  shall  be  gagged 
or  set  in  a  ducking  stool,  and  dipt  over  head  and  ears  three  times, 
as  the  Court  or  magistrate  shall  judge  meet." 

They  who  keep  houses  of  ill  fame,  shall  be  severely  whipped 
through  the  streets  at  the  cart's  tail  with  thirty  stripes,  and  com- 
mitted to  houses  of  correction  on  hard  fare  and  hard  labor.  When 
refusing  to  work,  they  shall  be  whipped  ten  stripes  every  night 
and  once  a  week  at  least.     The  leader,  followed  by  companions  in 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  436.     Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rcc. 


496  POWER  OF  CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES. 

[Mass. 

guilt,  shall  wear  with  them,  "  hair  frocks  and  blue  caps."  They 
shall  be  fastened  to  a  hand-cart  and  draw  filth  through  the  streets 
to  the  sea-side,  going  to  the  gallows  of  each  county,  as  ordered  by 
the  Court,  and  thence  to  the  house  of  correction. 

18.  A  letter  is  written*  by  Peter  Tillton,  a  deputy  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  to  his  wife  at  Hadley :  "  As  to  news  from  England,  all 
men,  both  wise  and  others,"  think  there  "  will  be  as  black  a  day  as 
the  world  hath  known.  There  is  another  ship  expected,  in  which 
one  Dr.  Hoar,  a  minister,  is  expected." 

28.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Mather  dates  his  preface  to  "  the  Power  of 
Congregational  Churches,"  published  this  year  in  London  and 
Ireland,  by  John  Davenport,  in  1645,  as  a  reply  to  Mr.  J.  Paget's 
"Defense  of  Church  Government  exercised  in  Classes  and  Synods." 
He  states  that  Mr.  Davenport's  answer  was  lost  on  its,  passage  to 
England,  and  that  he  re-wrote  it  in  1652,  as  the  editor,  undertook 
to  have  it  printed  according  to  request,  made  from  New  England, 
several  months  previously,  for  such  a  purpose.  He  and  others 
thought  the  particular  time  was  come  when  this  work  should  be 
laid  before  the  public,  so  that  the  rulers  of  the  kingdom  may  per- 
ceive that  "  the  principles  and  practices  of  the  Congregational  way 
are  not  in  truth  so  incompatible  with  the  power  of  the  supreme 
magistrate  in  matters  of  religion,  as  some  would  represent,  nor  such 
as  may  render  them  suspected  to  civil  powers,  and  that  therefore 
we  may  not  for  these  our  principles  be  accounted  unworthy  to 
enjoy  a  peaceable  dwelling  in  our  native  land,  the  weal  whereof  is 
more  dear  to  us  than  our  lives,  or  all  our  private  earthly  enjoy- 
ments in  it."  Little  over  two  months  had  elapsed  since  the  Exec- 
utive of  England  had  shown  a  relenting  towards  ministers  ejected 
for  non-conformity,  so  far  as  to  allow  them  licenses  for  preaching 
to  those  who  wished  to  hear  them.  Among  such  sufferers  was 
Mr.  Mather,  who  wished  to  improve  an  opportunity,  favorable  for 
the  enlargement  of  their  privileges,  and  a  diminution  of  the  odium 
resting  upon  them  for  the  influence  of  their  opinions  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  Commonwealth  under  Cromwell. 

June  3.  Urian  Oakes  preaches  an  Artillery  Election  Sermon. 
This  was  entitled,  "  The  unconquerable,  all-conquering,  and  more- 
than-conquering  soldier,  or  the  successful  war,  which  a  believer 
wageth  with  the  enemies  of  his  soul." 

14.  In  a  letter  f  of  William  Hamlit,  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  which  he  seems  to  have  sent  to  Newport,  R.  L,  he  observes, 
"  I  perceive  you  have  heard  as  if  our  brother  Russell  had  died  in 
prison.  Through  grace  he  is  yet  in  the  land  of  the  living,  and  out 
of  prison  bonds ;  but  is  in  a  doubtful  way  as  to  recovery  of  his 
outward  health." 

18.  A  General  Court  hold  its  session  at  Edgartown,  +  Martha's 

*  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  441.     f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  441.     J  Nantucket  Papers,  p.  42. 


CONFEDERATION    RENEWED.  491 

1672.] 

Vineyard,  and  pass  the  succeeding  laws.  Every  person,  who  aelli 
intoxicating  drink,  as  ««  wine  or  any  Btrong  drink,  beer  only  ex- 
cepted,'1 to  Indians,  shall  be  fined  -V.  b  pint,  or,  if  so  charged, 
may  clear  himself  by  oath  from  such  accusation,  or  if  he  "scruple 
in  conscience "  to  swear  "according  to  the  usual  custom,"  "may 
purge  himself  by  subscription."  An  individual  seen  drunk  shall 
pay  10  .  No  person  is  to  sell  less  than  a  gallon  of  "liquor,  wine, 
or  other  strong  drink  bv  retail,  nor  beer,  cyder  or  the  like,  under 
the  barrel,  or  quarter  cask,  unless  he  have  a  license,"  on  penalty 
of  £5.  No  inhabitant  is  allowed  to  tarry  in  a  licensed  house  longer 
than  a  half  hour,  on  penalty  of  5/.,  unless  he  can  give  a  sufficient 
reason  to  the  magistrate,  before  whom  he  may  be  called  to  answer. 
Whoever  profanely  swears  or  curses,  shall  pay  10/. 

19.  The  members  of  Maiden  church  are  required  to  defray  ex- 
penses of  the  late  Council,  according  to  their  taxes.  John  Wright, 
Isaac  Coale,  Robert  Peirce  and  Matthew  Smith,*  for  withdrawing 
from  communion  with  that  church,  are  admonished  by  the  Court 
and  ordered  to  pay  costs. 

July  IT.  The  First  church  of  Boston f  desire  Richard  Cook  and 
Simon  Rogers  "to  set  the  Psalms  on  Sabbath  and  Lecture  days." 

September  1.  A  letter  of  this  date  J  is  ordered  by  the  Baptist 
church,  who  worshiped  on  Noddle's  Island,  for  William  Hiscox 
and  other  Seventh-day  Baptists,  who  had  seceded  the  last  year 
from  their  brethren,  under  John  Clarke,  and  formed  themselves 
into  another  church.  It  expresses  a  Christian  spirit,  and  earnestly 
desires  them  to  heal  the  breach,  so  called. 

5.  Articles  of  confederation  are  again  signed  §  by  Commissioners 
of  Connecticut,  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts.  The  introduction 
runs  thus  :  "  Whereas,  we  all  came  into  these  parts  of  America 
with  one  and  the  same  end  and  aim,  viz.,  to  advance  the  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  enjoy  the  liberties  of  the  gospell 
in  purity  and  peace.  And  whereas,  in  our  settling,  by  a  wise 
providence  of  God,  we  are  further  dispersed  upon  the  seacoasts 
and  rivers  than  was  first  intended,  so  that  we  cannot,  according  to 
our  desire,  with  conveniency,  communicate  in  one  government  and 
jurisdiction ;  and  whereas,  we  are  compassed  with  people  of  several 
nations  and  strange  languages,  which  hereafter  may  prove  injurious 
to  us  and  our  posterity,  and  forasmuch  as  the  natives  have  formerly 
committed  sundry  insolencies  and  outrages  upon  several  plantations 
of  the  English,  and  have  several  times  combined  themselves  against 
us  ;  and  seeing  by  reason  of  our  distance  from  England,  (our  dear 
native  country,)  we  are  hindered  from  that  humble  way  of  seeking 
advice  and  reaping  those  comfortable  fruits  of  protection  which  we 
might  otherwise  well  expect ;  we  therefore  account  it  our  duty,  as 

*  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec.  f  Ch.  Rec.  +  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  411-13. 

§  Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  521-6. 
63 


498  GOSPEL  AMONG  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

well  as  safety,  to  enter  into  a  confederation  for  mutual  help  aud 
succor  in  all  our  future  concernments;  that  as  in  nation  and  relig- 
ion, so  in  other  respects,  we  be  and  continue  one."  The  Colonies 
so  united  agree  to  give  each  other  "  advice  and  succor  upon  all 
just  occasions,  both  for  preserving  and  propagating  the  truth  and 
liberties  of  the  gospel,  and  for  their  own  mutual  safety  and  wel- 
fare." In  this  connection,  they  leave  the  declaration  of  an  offen- 
sive war  to  the  several  General  Courts,  and  not  to  their  Commis- 
sioners, as  under  their  former  constitution.  These  Commissioners, 
as  previously,  are  to  be  in  "church  fellowship"  with  the  confed- 
erate Colonies,  who  were  of  the  Congregational  order.  However 
each  session  of  the  Commissioners  was  to  be  triennial,  except  in 
extraordinary  events,  yet  they  were  to  be  elected  yearly  for  manag- 
ing the  missionary  funds,  while  such  care  was  left  principally  for 
those  of  Massachusetts. 

The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  assembled  at  Plymouth,  attend 
to  several  items  of  business.*  They  receive  letters  from  Messrs. 
Eliot,  Mayhew  and  Fitch,  giving  an  account  of  the  gospel's  pro- 
gress among  the  Indians,  and  directed  to  the  Corporation  in  Eng- 
land. Thomas  Danforth  is  instructed  to  have  all  the  Bibles  and 
"  other  prints  "  for  the  Indians  bound  up,  so  that  they  may  not  be 
lost.  A  letter  is  written  to  Roger  "Williams  in  reply  to  his,  and 
another  to  Uncas,  encouraging  him  to  attend  on  missionary  preach- 
ing. 

6.  Disbursements  for  the  missions  one  year  are  £407  18s.  6d. 
John  Eliot  was  paid  £50  ;  ten  Indian  teachers  and  ten  rulers 
under  him,  the  former  £5  each,  and  the  latter  20 '.  each,  £60  ; 
Waban,  £5  ;  Daniel  Gookin,  £20 ;  Richard  Bourn,  of  Sandwich, 
£35;  three  Indians  under  him,  £15;  "Old  Mr.  Mayhew,"  of 
the  Vineyard,  £40 ;  Indian  teachers  and  rulers  on  "  Martin's " 
Vineyard  and  Xantucket,  under  his  direction,  £57  ;  James  Fitch, 
of  Hartford,  the  revenue  of  "  Mr.  Mouthe's  gift  for  the  year  past," 
£31  10s.;  for  well  deserving  Indians  who  assist  him,  £10;  diet, 
fuel,  clothes  and  schooling  of  an  Indian  youth  at  Cambridge,  £18 
8s.  ;  John  Cotton,  of  Plymouth,  £20  ;  Mr.  Usher's  bill  of  dis- 
bursements, £23  os.  Qd.  ;  Commissioners  of  Connecticut  to  dis- 
tribute among  well-deserving  Pequods  and  others  thereabouts,  £10; 
Marmaduke  Johnson,  for  printing,  stitching  and  cutting  a  thousand 
Indian  Logic  Primers,  £6 ;  clothing  for  a  blind  Indian  called 
Bartimeus,  £5 ;  Mr.  Danforth,  for  physic  and  other  charitable 
expenses  to  Indians,  £1  155. 

9.  The  Commissioners  of  the  Union  f  write  to  the  President  of 
the  Missionary  Corporation  in  England.  They  acknowledge  the 
reception  of  his  communication,  dated  the  20th  of  March.  Speak- 
ing of  the  Christian  Indians,  they  say  :   "We  dare  not  judge  any 

*  Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  527,  8.  f  Ibid.  p.  530-1. 


PRBSmSMT  ENAUGTJRATBD.  1(.>!> 

1672.] 

other  but  that  the  Lord  hath  amongst  them  some  of  his  elect  ones, 
the  redemption  of  whose  souls  is  precious  in  bis  Bight,  and  that  this 
work  ia  indeed  owned  oi'  himself.     That  it  i^  attended  with  diffi- 

eulties,  many  discouragements  from  men  and  devils,  as  you  may 
see  in  part  bv  Mr.  Fitch's  letter,  renders  (it)  the  fitter  object  for 
the  wisdom,  power  and  compassion  of  an  Infinite  and  Unchange- 
able Being,  who  taketh  most  delight  to  magnify  his  own  glorious 
name  in  the  midst  of  man's  misery  and  nothingness."  They  ob- 
serve,  that  had  the  funds  sent  over  been  more,  they  should  have 
appropriated  part  of  it  for  several,  who  promised  to  be  useful  as 
missionaries  ;  "  one  whereof  is  the  son  of  the  Reverend  and  good 
man,  Mr.  Mayhew,  deceased,  who  being  born  on  the  Island  called 
Martha's  Vineyard,  and  now  grown  to  man's  estate  and  there  set- 
tled ;  is  an  hopeful  young  man  and  hath  their  language  perfectly." 
They  thank  the  President  for  his  readiness  to  assist  the  College  at 
Cambridge,  "although  that  society  doth  at  present  labor  under 
sundry  discouragements,  partly  arising  by  death  of  their  late  Presi- 
dent, and  also  by  the  decay  of  their  buildings,  which  were  made  in 
our  infancy,  yet  are  now  in  a  hopeful  way  to  be  again  supplied  with 
an  able  President,  and  also  with  a  new  building  of  brick  and  stone, 
for  the  effecting  whereof  there  is  already  a  contribution  made  ac- 
cording to  our  low  condition.  We  hope  that  our  endeavors  herein 
will  be  a  blessing  to  the  Indians  as  well  as  to  the  English." 

11.  Moses  Fisk,  son  of  John  Fisk,  settled  at  Chelmsford,  is 
ordained  over  the  church  of  Braintree.  Pie  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  1662,  and  was  admitted  freeman,  1666. 

25.  The  Topsfield  church*  invite  the  Rowley  church  to  take 
part  in  the  ordination  of  Jeremiah  Hobart  over  them  on  the  2d  of 
October.  The  invited  decline  for  several  reasons.  One  was,  that 
they  had  prosecuted  their  late  pastor,  Mr.  Gilbert,  at  Court. 
Another  was,  that  it  was  too  soon  to  settle  Mr.  Hobart,  who  had 
been  among  them  "  scarcely  a  year." 

October  8.  General  Court  assemble.  President  Hoar,  doctor  in 
physic,  who  was  inaugurated  over  the  College,  September  10,  is 
admitted  a  freeman  of  the  Colony.  They  confirm  his  office  and 
allow  him  a  salarv  of  £150.  The  Legislature  grant  a  Charter  for 
the  College,  which  repeats  the  idea  of  the  preceding  Charter,  that 
in  all  its  resources  the  Institution  "  may  conduce  to  the  education 
of  English  and  Indian  youth,  there  residing,  in  all  good  literature 
and  godliness." 

A  Fast,  to  be  the  24th  of  December,  for  increase  of  "  ignorance, 
pride,  sensuality,  security,  worldly-mindedness,  contention  and 
strife  in  some  societies,  civil  and  sacred,  unsubduedness  to  God's 
order  in  families,  churches  and  Commonwealth, — unusual  diseases 
the   latter  part  of  summer,  which  still  continue  in  some   places, 

*  Rowley  Ch.  Rec. 


500  CHURCH   DIFFICULTIES  COMPOSED. 

[Mass. 

whereby  many  useful  persons  have  been  removed  by  death  ;  un- 
seasonable rains  in  the  late  hay-harvest,  whereby  many  have  sus- 
tained considerable  damage  ; "  for  the  churches  of  Europe,  and 
especially  those  of  England,  involved  in  wars  of  "  the  Protestant 
nations." 

A  settlement  is  allowed,*  named  Squakeake,  of  six  miles  square, 
on  Connecticut  river.  The  committee  are  "  to  take  special  care 
that  a  godly  preacher  be  placed  there  as  soon  as  there  are  twenty 
families  settled." 

John  Payne  and  others  are  granted  a  tract  of  land  equal  to  ten 
miles  square,  near  Hudson  river ;  to  have  free  trade  with  the  na- 
tives for  twenty-one  years,  and  after  settling  twenty  families  there, 
to  maintain  "a  godly  and  orthodox  ministry." 

Edward  Naylour  is  relieved  from  his  banishment  of  twenty  miles 
from  Boston ;  is  to  receive  his  books,  papers  and  estate ;  to  have 
the  care  and  education  of  his  children,  if  he  give  security  so  to  do, 
and  to  treat  his  wife  well. 

15.  Antipas  Newman,  supposed  to  be  a  son  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Newman,  of  Rehoboth,  dies  at  Wrentham.  Hull  intimates  as 
though  the  spotted  fever  caused  his  decease.  He  preached  among 
his  people  in  1657,  and  was  ordained  over  them,  December,  1663. 
He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Governor  John  Winthrop.  She 
had  five  children,  John,  Samuel,  Waitstill,  Elizabeth  and  Sybil, 
who  survived  him.  His  widow  married  Zerubbabel  Endicott,  of 
Salem,  who  was  a  son  of  Governor  John  Endicott.  Mr.  Newman 
was  a  literary,  able  and  faithful  minister.  Bradstreet,  in  his  Journal, 
says  that  "  his  death  was  much  lamented." 

November  8.  The  diary  of  Hull  contains  the  subsequent  passage : 
"  The  divisions  of  the  church  of  Newbury  were  matters  of  great 
exercise  to  the  churches  and  ministers,  and  to  the  General  Court. 
Many  too  much  abetting  one  Edmund  Woodman  and  his  party, 
viz.,  about  five  magistrates  and  above  twenty  deputies,  and  two 
ministers,  viz.,  Mr.  James  Allin  and  John  Oxenbridge,  but  it 
pleased  God,  by  a  committee  sent  by  the  General  Court,"  to  con- 
vince and  unite  them.  As  before  stated,  Mr.  Woodman  was  a 
leader  of  the  Congregationalists,  while  the  Eev.  Mr.  Parker  was 
followed  by  the  Presbyterians  of  the  Newbury  church.  The  man- 
ner in  which  Mr.  Hull  speaks  of  Messrs.  Allin  and  Oxenbridge, 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact,  that  they  considered  him  and 
others,  who  left  the  First  Boston  church  to  form  what  has  been 
long  called  "  the  Old  South  Church,"  as  walking  disorderly. 

Referring  to  such  compromises,  Hubbard  remarks  :  f  "  During 
these  intervals  of  time  (1666  to  1671  and  may  be  extended  to 
1672)  several  contentious  breaches,  that  happened  in  sundry  of 
the  churches  of  the  Massachusetts,  were  orderly  composed,  though 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Hubbard's  New  England,  p.  608,  9. 


DBGBAfll  OF  BELUNCIIAM.  501 

L673.] 

not  without  the  Interposition  of  the  civil  magistrate,  who  is  cuttot 
utriutque  tabula, which  it  is  thought  meet  rather  to  intimate  in  this 
place,  than  pass  over  with  Bilence,  Beeing  thereby  a  full  answer  is 

given  to  the  main  objections,  that  use  to  be  made  against  the  Con- 
gational  churches  of  Now  England,  as  if  there  was  no  way  found 

to  end  differences,  that  might  occasionally  arise  in  or  amongst  the 
churches  of  that  constitution."  He  further  observes,  that  the  com- 
mon method  of  settling  ecclesiastical  diiliculties,  was  through  the 
advice  of  a  Council,  composed  of  elders  and  messengers  from  adja- 
cent churches.  But  in  case  of  difference  among  members  of  the 
Council,  or  "contumacy  in  any  of  the  offending  parties,  the  civil 
magistrates'  help  being  implored  by  them  that  are  aggrieved,  that 
useth  always  to  put  a  final  end  to  all  matters  of  controversy  amongst 
any  of  their  churches." 

11.  James  Bailey,  of  Newbury,*  who  began  to  preach  at  Salem 
village  about  October,  1671,  is  voted  by  the  people  there,  £40  for 
his  first  year's  labor  among  them. 

December  7.  Richard  Bellingham  dies,  aged  over  eighty  years. 
He  was  born  in  England  and  educated  for  a  lawyer.  He  was  the 
only  surviving  patentee,  named  in  the  Royal  Charter  of  Massa- 
chusetts. He  arrived  at  Boston,  1634,  and  August  3,  with  his 
wife  Elizabeth,  united  with  the  church  there.  As  he  began  his 
purpose  and  endeavors  for  the  advancement  of  Puritanism  in  New 
England,  so  he  continued  them  to  the  end.  His  resistance  to  the 
Quakers  rendered  him  the  object  of  severe  remarks,  as  in  Codding- 
ton's  "  True  Love."  However  he  had  the  faults  of  human  nature, 
yet  he  was  remarkable  for  Christian  integrity.  He  stood  with 
Davenport  in  the  controversy  against  the  half-way  covenant.  He 
left  a  second  wife,  whom  he  married,  1641,  performing  the  ceremony 
himself,  as  a  magistrate,  which  cost  him  a  presentation  of  the  grand 
jury,  though  he  was  cleared.  After  the  decease  of  his  wife  and  son 
and  his  son's  daughter,  he  gave  his  whole  estate  at  Winnisimmet 
"  to  be  an  annual  encouragement  to  some  godly  ministers  and 
preachers,  who  may  be  judged  by  my  Trustees  faithful  to  those 
principles  in  church  discipline,  which  are  owned  and  practiced  in 
the  First  church  of  Christ  in  Boston,  of  which  I  am  a  member,  a 
main  one  whereof  is,  that  all  Ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  is  committed 
by  Christ  to  each  particular  organic  church,  from  which  there  is  no 
appeal,  visible  saintship  being  the  matter,  and  express  covenanting 
the  form  of  the  church."  As  to  what  he  wished  of  his  Trustees, 
he  proceeds :    "I   do   desire   them  to   observe   these  instructions. 

1.  Minister's  house  and  meeting-house  be  built  at  Winnisimmet,  etc. 

2.  Lots  for  dwellers  and  inhabitants  be  given  out,  and  conveniency 
of  land  to  the  minister's  house.  3.  That  four  or  six  young  students 
be  brought  up  for  the  ministry,  as  the  estate  will  bear.     4.  That 

*  Annals  of  Salem. 


502  INDIAN   MISSION. 

[Mass. 

something  be  allowed  yearly  to  any  godly  Congregational  minister, 
who  shall  be  willing  to  settle  in  that  place,  etc.  That  every  quarter 
of  the  year  one  sermon  be  preached  to  instruct  the  people  of  Boston 
in  church  discipline  according  to  the  word  of  God,  and  such  com- 
pensation be  given  to  each  preacher  as  my  Trustees  think  meet." 
Though  the  Court  set  aside  this  will  as  impairing  the  rights  of 
Bellingham's  family,  still  it  shows  the  prevalent  bias  of  his  motives. 

This  year  Joseph,*  an  Indian,  and  a  member  of  the  church  at 
Hassanamesitt,  subsequently  Grafton,  collects  a  small  society  of 
Indians  at  Chabanakongkomum,  afterwards  Dudley,  and  opens  to 
them  the  instructions  of  the  Bible. 

Gookin  informs  us  that  six  or  seven  Indians,  one  of  whom  was 
a  teacher,  with  others  to  assist  them,  who  could  speak  the  English 
and  Indian  tongues,  undertook  a  mission  to  the  Wessamomeks, 
who  were  reported  to  be  numerous,  and  acquainted  with  the  lan- 
guage of  the  New  England  Indians,  and  living  by  a  lake  "  three 
or  four  hundred  miles  south-west  from  Boston."  The  mission- 
aries took  with  them  a  supply  of  Indian  catechisms,  primers, 
Bibles,  and  other  books,  and  presents  and  supplies  for  their  journey 
to  the  value  of  thirty  or  forty  pounds.  After  they  had  gone  one 
hundred  miles,  their  conductor  complained  of  sickness,  and  other 
difficulties  rose,  which  induced  the  company  to  return,  to  the  great 
disappointment  of  those  interested  in  their  undertaking. 

Besse,  in  his  work  on  the  sufferings  of  the  Quakers,f  says  that 
Richard  Bellingham  caused  Samuel  Eccles  and  Nicholas  Alexander 
of  Jamaica,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  there,  to  be  banished.  He  also 
detained  £10  worth  of  books  sent  to  William  Coddington,  from 
England.  John  Tysoe  had  a  parcel  of  books  and  goods  seized, 
and  he  was  apprehended  before  he  came  on  shore,  and  then 
brought  to  Boston  prison  because  he  was  a  Quaker.  The  captain 
who  brought  Tysoe  was  required,  on  £100  penalty,  to  carry  him 
away  the  first  opportunity.  Five  strangers,  James  Lancaster,  John 
Stubs,  John  Ranee,  Thomas  Eaton  and  Robert  Harnden,  Quakers, 
were  put  in  jail.  George  Heathcot,  the  owner  and  commander  of 
a  ship,  being  of  the  same  persuasion,  was  alike  confined,  1st  of 
August  He  refused,  when  delivering  a  letter  to  Governor  Bel- 
lingham, to  take  off  his  hat. 

William  Coddington  wrote  to  the  Governor  for  his  books, 
warning  him  against  hard  dealings  with  the  Quakers. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  First  church  in  Salem,:}:  1629,  to  the 
present  year,  Joscelyn  states  that  forty  churches  had  been  gathered 
in  New  England,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  towns  granted.  A 
large  portion  of  the  latter  corporations  which  belonged  to  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut  and  Plymouth,  were  strong  enough  to  sup- 

*  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  189,  90. 

f  Ibid.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  157,  8.  J  Joscelyn's  New  England,  p.  105. 


PEST  a<t    PASSED.  508 

port  the  stated  ministry  among  them,  as  required  by  their  colonial 
governments. 

1673.  January  £6.  Michael  Tow  I'll  dies.  He  preached  for  the 
Second  church  of  Boston,  and  was  strongly  desired  by  them  to 
become  their  pastor]  but  he  was  prevented  by  the  General  Court, 
because  they  did  not  consider  his  literary  qualifications  sufficient. 
He  was  chosen  by  the  church  to  the  oflicc  of  ruling  elder,  and  he 
Usefully  discharged  its  duties,  lie  felt  himself  kept  back  from  a 
sphere  of  action  to  which  he  believed  himself  called  by  Provi- 
dence. It  was  his  consolation  that  the  Lord  reigned  in  righteous? 
ness. 

March  2.  The  Salem  church  keep  a  Fast  day  for  "  the  afflicted 
state  of  the  people  abroad,  and  also  fears  of  approaching  judg- 
ments* towards  ourselves." 

16.  A  letter  of  dismission  is  granted  by  the  First  church  of 
Boston  to  John  Harwood,  to  "  Mr.  Grenill's  church  in  London, 
Mr.  Matthew  Mead  being  pastor." 

89.  The  King  assents  to  the  Test  Act,f  which  requires  all 
officers,  civil  and  military,  to  partake  of  the  Sacrament,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  form  of  the  English  church,  and  declare  against 
Transubstantiation.  This  act  allows  the  exception  to  our  Colonies, 
so  far  as  they  are  dissenters. 

April  1.  As  Benanuel  Bowers  and  family  neglected  public  wor- 
ship,;}: he  was  fined  40/.,  the  costs  of  prosecution,  and  admonished 
to  be  more  careful.  He  appealed  to  the  next  Court  of  Assistants. 
He  was  fined  again,  June  IT,  was  admonished  and  ordered  to  pay 
costs,  October  7,  for  allowing  labor  in  his  family  on  the  Sabbath  ; 
and,  December  23,  was  fined  £5  for  "  reviling  the  Court  of  Mid- 
dlesex and  their  sentences  against  him,  and  several  magistrates  by 
name."  He  was  committed  till  his  fine  should  be  paid.  Lie 
appealed   to   the  Assistant   Court. 

16.  A  vote  is  passed  in  Newbury  that  the  rate  for  the  minister's 
salary  shall  be  paid  in  English  grain,  as  rye,  barley,  wdieat  and 
peas,  for  one  half,  and  the  rest  in  Indian  corn.  This  is  an  indica- 
tion that  the  two  parties  there,  Congregational  and  Presbyterian, 
had  laid  aside  their  differences,  after  existing  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  so  as  to  join  in  common  action  for  the  support 
of  a  preacher.  This  person  was  John  Richardson,  for  whom  in 
December  they  ordered  a  house  to  be  erected.  He  had  been  one 
of  the  Fellows  in  Harvard  College. § 

*  Among  these  was  that  on  the  foregoing  Feb.  4,  when  increased  restrictions 
were  laid  by  Parliament  on  the  commerce  of  their  Colonies.  At  the  restoration 
of  Charles  II.,  duties  of  poundage  and  tonnage  were  required  of  them,  but  now 
11  is  the  first  act  which  imposed  customs  on  the  Colonies  alone,  to  be  regularly- 
collected  by  Colonial  revenue  officers,  approved  by  Commissioners  of  the  Cus- 
toms in  England." — Chalmers'  Pol.  Annals,  317-20,  Holmes'  Annals,  I.  360. 

f  Salmon's  Chron.  vol.  i.  p.  201.  %  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec. 

§  Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  113,  4. 


504  DIVINE   FAVOR  TO   NEW  ENGLAND. 

[Mass. 

May  7.  The  General  Court  assemble.  The  Election  Sermon  is 
preached  by  Urian  Oakes.  His  text  is  Deuteronomy  xxxii.  29, 
and  subject,  "New  England  pleaded  with  and  pressed  to  answer 
the  things  which  concern  her  peace."  He  views  the  protection 
divinely  extended  to  the  Jews,  like  that  experienced  by  the  people 
of  the  confederated  Colonies.  From  this  he  discusses  the  doctrine, 
"  That  it  is  the  great  wisdom  of  a  people  that  have  been  conducted 
by  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  to  a  place  of  rest  and  liberty,  and 
settled  in  the  possession  of  singular  privileges  and  enjoyments,  to 
understand  and  consider  what  will  be  the  latter  end  of  their  sinful 
ways."  He  remarks:  "Good  magistrates,  good  laws,  and  the 
vigorous  execution  of  them,  have  been  the  privilege  and  glory  of 
New  England,  wherein  you  have  been  advanced  above  most  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  As  to  your  sanctuary  mercies,  God  hath 
sequestered  you  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  brought  you  into  these 
parts  of  the  earth,  that  you  might  set  up  his  way  and  worship  in 
the  purity  and  gospel  glory  of  it.  This  was  the  refreshing  mercy 
of  God  to  his  people  when  he  first  brought  them  over,  and  that 
which  sweetened  to  them  many  a  bitter  cup,  and  supported  them 
under  the  burdensome  inconveniences  of  a  wilderness  condition. 
Here  you  have  seen  the  orderly  administration  of  the  worship  and 
ordinances  of  God.  Church  officers  duly  qualified  and  set  apart  to 
their  work,  and  ruling  authoritatively  in  the  Lord,  according  to  the 
order  of  the  gospel,  using  their  power  to  edification,  and  not  de- 
struction. And  church  members  allowed  and  using  their  liberty 
and  privilege,  obeying  and  consenting  in  a  due  exercise  of  their 
judgment  and  discretion.  The  doctrine  of  faith  duly  dispensed, 
the  worship  of  God  solemnly  celebrated,  without  the  mixture  of 
human  inventions,  and  discipline  administered  (for  the  substance 
thereof)  according  to  the  appointment  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  in 
cases  of  difficulties,  emerging  through  want  of  light  or  peace, 
Councils  orderly  assembling  and  acting  in  the  fear  of  God,  minis- 
terially declaring  the  mind  of  God,  and  commending  their  advice 
to  the  churches  concerned,  without  any  irregular  imposing  upon 
their  liberty.  And  this  course  also  attended  generally  with  the 
blessing  of  God  for  the  final  issue  of  controversies  and  ending  of 
differences.  These  are  such  mercies  as  are  almost  appropriately 
yours,  if  all  circumstances  be  considered,  so  that  hardly  any  people 
under  heaven  equal  you  in  this  respect.  And  for  the  continuance 
of  these  mercies,  the  Lord  hath  given  you  schools  of  learning,  and 
prospered  that  work  of  the  education  of  your  children  in  the  hands 
of  those  that  have  undertaken  it,  both  in  inferior  private  schools, 
and  in  the  College  (that  nursery  of  piety  and  good  literature)  even 
to  admiration. 

"  You  have  here,  in  this  place  of  retirement,  enjoyed  peace  and 
rest  when  other  parts  of  the  world  have  been  embroiled,  and  that 
dear  nation  of  which  you  are  a  part,  have  been  involved  in  blood 


SPECIMEN   OF  CHRIST'S   KINGDOM.  505 

L67a] 

and  distractions.  All  that  have  attempted  to  devour  you, yon  have 
offended,  and  'evil  bath  come  upon  them.'  God  having  bli 
you  in  basket  and  store,  hath  raised  you  up  to  some  considera- 
blenesfl  in  the  world.  Lndeed,  if  we  cast  up  the  account  and  sum 
up  all  our  mercies,  this  our  Commonwealth  seems  to  exhibit  to  us 
B  specimen,  or  a  little  model  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  upon  the 
earth,  not  in  the  wild  sense  of  those  that  are  called  Fifth-monarchy 
men,  but  in  the  sober  sense  of  many  of  our  divines,  wherein  it  is 
generally  acknowledged  and  expected.  This  work  of  God,  set  on 
foot  and  advanced  to  a  good  degree  here,  being  spread  over  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  perfected  as  to  greater  degrees  of  light  and  grace 
and  gospel  glory,  will  be  (as  I  conceive)  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  so  much  spoken  of.  When  this  is  accomplished  you  may 
then  say,  '  He  hath  taken  to  himself  his  great  power  and  reigns ; 
and  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.' 

"  You  have  been  as  a  city  upon  a  hill,  though  in  a  remote  and 
obscure  wilderness,  as  a  candle  that  gives  light  to  the  whole  house. 
You  have  to  a  considerable  degree,  enlightened  the  whole  house 
(world  I  mean)  as  to  the  pattern  of  God's  house,  the  form  and 
fashion  and  outgoings  and  incomings  thereof.  God  hath  been 
doing  (in  my  apprehension)  the  same  thing,  for  the  substance  of  it 
here,  that  shall  be  done  more  universally  and  gloriously,  when 
Israel  shall  blossom  and  bud  and  fill  the  face  of  the  world  with 
fruit." 

The  preacher  speaks  of  the  controversies  about  the  half-way 
Covenant,  as  recommended  by  the  last  Synod,  and  the  seceders 
from  the  old  church  in  Boston :  "  Your  differences  will  make  way 
for  those  that  will  make  no  difference  between  Synodists  and 
Anti-synodists,  Old  or  New  churchmen." 

He  says :  "I  fully  believe  that  the  Congregational  way  is  the 
highest  step  that  hath  been  taken  towards  reformation,  and,  for  the 
substance  of  it,  is  the  very  way  that  was  established  and  practiced 
in  the  primitive  times  according  to  the  institution  of  Jesus  Christ. — 
They  who  would  forsake  the  Congregational  and  pass  over  to  the 
Presbyterian  way,  because  of  some  differences  of  notion  among  our 
Congregational  divines,  or  difficulties  in  the  practice  and  way  of 
the  Congregational  churches,  shall  find  that  they  make  but  a  bad 
exchange.  I  cannot  find,  upon  my  utmost  inquiry,  that  there  is 
any  real  foundation  for  such  invidious  reports,  or  anything  which 
answers  the  '  great  cry  which  some  make.'  " 

"  He  is  a  madman  that  will  hope  for  the  continuance  of  our 
spiritual  liberties,  if  the  wall  of  our  civil  government  be  once 
broken  down.  He  that  shall  be  treacherous  to  the  civil  govern- 
ment, as  he  is  injurious  highly  to  the  present  and  succeeding  gen- 
erations, so  he  is  guilty  of  high  treason  against  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.     It  hath  been  very  sage  counsel  that  hath  been  often  given 

64 


506  CARE  FOR  TRUE  TOLERATION. 

[Mass. 

you,  (  Keep  to  your  patent.  Stand  for  the  liberties  and  immu- 
nities conferred  upon  you  therein.'  My  heart's  desire  and  prayer 
is,  that  the  electors  this  day  may  use  their  privilege  well  in  choosing 
men  fearing  God  and  duly  accomplished  for  government,  acquainted 
with  the  worth  and  glory  of  the  interest  of  Christ  among  us  in 
church  and  Commonwealth." 

With  regard  to  toleration,  he  observes :  "  I  profess  I  am  heartily 
for  all  due  moderation.  Nevertheless  I  must  add,  that  I  look 
upon  an  unbounded  toleration  as  the  first-born  of  all  abominations. 
This  would  be  not  only  to  open  the  wicket,  but  to  fling  open  the 
great  gate  for  the  ready  admission  and  reception  of  all  abominable 
heresies.  The  eye  of  the  magistrate  is  to  be  to  the  securing  of  the 
way  of  God,  that  is  duly  established.  And  if  anywhere  this  is  to 
be  the  concern  and  duty  of  rulers,  surely  it  is  most  of  all  so  in 
New  England,  which  is  originally  a  plantation  not  for  trade  but  for 
religion.  We  must  not  be  so  compassionate  to  schismatic,  turbu- 
lent, erroneous  persons,  as  to  be  cruel,  injurious,  or  unkind  to  the 
precious  interests  of  Christ  among  us.  Nature  teacheth  a  man  self- 
preservation.  Grace  should  teach  a  Christian  magistrate  (if  you 
will  allow  me  the  word)  Christ-preservation ;  I  mean  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  truth,  ordinances  and  interest  of  Christ."  The  preacher 
urges  that  greater  encouragement  should  be  given  to  graduates  from 
the  College,  when  settled  as  ministers,  so  that  learning  may  be 
advanced,  as  well  as  spiritual  good  promoted. 

May  10.  A  letter  from  the  Governor  and  Assistants*  to  Robert 
Boyle  is  dated.  They  thank  him  for  speaking  in  their  behalf  to 
the  King,  while  others  accused  them,  and  thus  allowing  himself 
"  an  advocate  for  this  part  of  God's  poor  church  in  the  wilderness." 
They  notice  the  charges  at  Court  against  them.  First,  disloyalty. 
They  mention  several  particulars  to  the  contrary.  They  did  not 
proclaim  the  Commonwealth  or  act  in  its  name,  during  the  absence 
of  the  King,  "as  all  other  remote  colonies  did."  In  public  and 
private,  they  pray  for  his  Majesty.  They  sent  provisions  for  the 
Squadron,  under  Sir  John  Harman,  in  the  West  Indies.  They  had 
forwarded  a  ship  load  of  masts  for  the  royal  navy.  Second,  they 
are  "  factious  in  the  principles  of  religion."  They  answer,  that 
their  religion  was  like  that  of  the  Puritans  under  Edward  VI.,  and 
Elizabeth,  who  were  approved  by  all  true  Protestants.  Third, 
they  "  are  a  divided  people."  They  reply,  that  however  there  is 
not  all  the  unanimity  they  wish,  because  of  human  imperfection, 

Note. — The  inhabitants  of  Hadley  are  granted  a  plantation  of  six  miles 
square,  near  the  northward  of  their  bounds,  if  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  be 
reserved  for  the  Colony  ;  and  families  enough  be  there  in  seven  years,  and  they 
settle  a  good  orthodox  minister. 

Note Poucomptock,  afterwards  Deerfield,  is  allowed  to  be  a  town  on  like 

conditions  of  reserved  land  and  settlement  of  a  pastor. 

*  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  453-8. 


VINDICATION    OF   AIT1K  >IiITI  B8.  507 

ir.73.] 

they  bless  God  they  "have  much  peace  and  tranquillity  in  <  hurch 
ami  state."  Fourth,  disrespectful  treatment  of  his  Majesty'i  Com- 
missioners.    They  respond,  we  dealt,  with  them  civilly,  though  we 

did  DOt  obey  their  mandates,  beeause  subversive  of  our  Charter. 
Fifth,  "  great  omission  as  to  the  baptism  of  infants."  They  state 
that  their  principles  are  before  the  world  in  print,  which  allow 
"  visible  confederate  believers  and  their  seed  "  the  ordinance  of 
baptism,  as  in  "other  reformed  churches,  and  as  particularly  ex- 
pressed in  the  result  of  their  last  Synod."  Sixth,  rigidness  to  other 
denominations.  They  allow  that  "  Familism,  Anabaptism  and 
Quakerism  have  been  looked  upon  by  the  godly  here,  as  great 
errors,  and  the  promoters  of  them  disturbers  of  the  peace  and 
order ;  "  that,  to  keep  them  from  inflicting  on  this  country  the 
evils  which  they  had  caused  elsewhere,  they  had  laws  against  them, 
which  have  been  executed  on  such  as  "  have  exceeded  the  rules  of 
moderation  in  practice."  They  add  :  "  We  may  say  truly,  that 
some  peaceable  Anabaptists  and  some  other  sects,  who  have  deport- 
ed themselves  quietly,  have  and  do  live  here,  under  the  protection 
of  this  government,  undisturbedly." 

Lastly,  grasping  after  territory,  especially  the  Province  of  Maine. 
They  state  that  their  Charter  includes  this  Province  by  clear  de- 
monstration ;  that  it  was  deserted  by  its  proprietor,  and  its  popula- 
tion petitioned  to  be  under  the  care  of  Massachusetts,  so  that  their 
divisions  might  not  destroy  them ;  that  it  was  a  source  of  trouble 
and  expense ;  that  when  it  was  taken  from  their  jurisdiction  by 
order  of  the  royal  Commissioners,  the  people  fell  into  their  former 
collisions,  and  again  besought  that  they  might  return  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Bay  Authorities,  as  a  means  of  keeping  them  from  ruin  ; 
that  their  el  main  end  in  taking  them "  under  their  government, 
was  to  encourage  "  a  pious  and  able  "  ministry  in  their  several  set- 
tlements. 

June  19.  William  Hamlet  writes*  to  Samuel  Hubbard,  of  New- 
port, that  the  Baptists  are  still  prosecuted  and  fined  for  not  attend- 
ing the  public  worship  allowed  by  law.  He  says:  "Brother 
Trumbel  and  brother  Osborne  were  fined  last  Court  at  Charles- 
town.     They  have  appealed." 

27.  A  letter  "from  the  dissenters," f  afterwards  Old  South 
church,  to  the  First  church  of  Boston,  is  read  before  the  latter  and 
much  debated.  It  was  put  off  to  the  8th  of  the  next  month,  when 
a  vote  was  passed,  that  it  should  be  answered  by  "  the  three  magis- 
trates and  the  three  elders."  Mention  is  subsequently  made  that 
such  a  letter  was  accordingly  prepared,  and  that  the  First  church 
made  several  appointments  to  consider  it,  but  no  record  of  theirs 
shows  that  they  did  send  it  to  the  church  who  had  left  them. 

It  is  very  likely  that  the  recent  sermon  of  Mr.  Oakes,  strongly 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  412.  f  Fkst  Ch.  Rec.  of  Boston. 


508  REPORT  OF  INDIAN   CHURCHES. 

[Mass. 

setting  forth  the  need  of  harmony  with  regard  to  the  difference 
between  these  two  churches,  as  well  as  to  others,  helped  to  promote 
the  renewal  of  an  application  by  the  members  who  had  withdrawn, 
for  reconciliation,  and  a  more  deliberate  consideration  of  such  a 
paper  by  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  than  they  had  been  dis- 
posed to  give  on  similar  occasions. 

August  22.  In  reply  to  the  questions  of  a  brother  in  the  minis- 
try, who  seems  to  have  been  in  England,  Eliot  gives  the  follow- 
ing *  relative  to  the  Indians.  "  How  many  churches  and  where  ? 
There  be  (through  the  grace  of  Christ)  six  churches  gathered, 
according  to  the  order  of  gathering  churches  among  the  English ; 
one  at  Natick,  one  at  Hassanamesitt,  twenty-eight  miles  to  the  west, 
one  at  Marshpege,  twenty  miles  east  of  Plymouth,  two  at  Martin's 
Vineyard,  and  one  at  Nantucket.  Are  all  furnished  with  church 
officers  ?  All  are,  saving  the  church  at  Natick,  and  in  modesty  they 
stand  off,  because  so  long  as  I  live,  they  say,  there  is  no  need ;  but 
we  propose  (God  willing)  not  always  to  rest  in  this  manner.  Do 
the  English  commune  with  Indians  at  the  Lord's  supper  ?  On  two 
occasions  at  the  Vineyard,  I  administered  the  elements  where  such 
communion  took  place." 

27.  The  Commissioners!  of  the  Confederation,  being  assured 
that  the  Dutch  Fleet,  which  captured  New  York,  July  30,  from 
the  English,  intended  to  do  all  the  damage  they  could  to  other 
Colonies,  "are  therefore  firmly  resolved,  in  confidence  of  Divine 
Assistance,  accordingly  to  demean  themselves,"  and  do  commend 
to  the  several  General  Courts  to  make  all  due  preparation  for 
defense. 

October  15.  The  Legislature  meet.  They  make  an  addition  J  to 
the  law  about  freemen,  requiring  that  each  application  for  any 
person  who  is  not  a  church  member  in  full  communion,  shall  be 
handed  to  the  Secretary  at  the  Court  of  Election,  and  be  read  by 
this  officer  during  the  session,  before  the  whole  Court,  and  not  be 
put  to  vote  until  the  Court  of  Election,  the  following  year. 

A  paper  handed  to  the  Commissioners  §  for  Plantations  this 
year,  states  that  "  a  freeman  must  be  orthodox,  above  twenty  years 
old,  and  worth  £200."  It  also  represents  that  among  the  most 
popular  of  the  ministers  here  are  Thomas  Thacher,  John  Oxen- 
bridge  and  John  Higginson.  It  further  says  that  "  there  are  no 
musicians  by  trade  ;  a  dancing  school  was  set  up,  but  put  down  ; 
a  fencing  school  is  allowed." 

The  Court  appoint  November  20,  for  Thanksgiving,  because  of 
a  good  harvest  and  preservation  from  enemies  on  neighboring 
coasts.  This  has  reference  to  the  Dutch  Fleet  at  New  York. 
They  speak  of  "  uncomfortable  debates   at  the   College."     They 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  CoU.  1  s.  vol.  x.  p.  124.  f  Hutch,  vol.  i.  3  ed.  p.  261. 

%  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Chalmers'  Pol.  Ann.  p.  435. 


CABS   FOB  NEGLECTED  CHILDREN.  500 

recommend  this  institution   to  the  inspection  of  the  ( » 

u  that  it  may,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  answer  the  OOSt  and  expec- 
tation of  Buch  whose  hearts  the  Lord  hath  or  shall  move  to  bring 
up  their    children   in    those    studies."      It   was    supposed    that    the 

students  preferred  Mr.  Oakes,  of  Cambridge,  for  the  preside 

to  Mr.  Boar,  and  therefore  promoted  discontent  among  themselves, 
and  abroad  among  others,  so  as  to  render  the  situation  of  the 
incumbent  very  unpleasant. 

£6.  Thomas  Gilbert  dies  at  Charlestown,*  aged  sixty-three. 
The  inscription  on  his  tomb  says,  "  Sometime  pastor  of  the  church 
of  Christ  at  Chcdlie,  in  Cheshire  :  also  of  the  church  at  Eling,  in 
old  England."  His  decease  was  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Mr.  Symmes. 
He  is  supposed,  after  leaving  Topsfield  and  residing  in  Charles- 
town,  to  have  assisted  Mr.  Shepard  in  pulpit  duties.  Among  the 
events  of  his  life  while  at  Topsfield,  was  his  being  complained  of 
in  166(5,  "  for  praying  that  the  King  and  royal  family  might  be 
converted  from  idolatry ;  that  cabals  and  flatteries  might  be  re- 
moved from  him,  and  because  he  had  said  that  his  Majesty  had 
broken  his  covenant  with  Scotland."  The  idolatry  here  spoken  of 
was  Romanism,  which  the  King  was  strongly  suspected  to  have 
embraced.  Mr.  Gilbert  had  felt  the  opposition  of  Charles  II.  to 
non-conformists  in  his  own  ejection  from  the  ministry.  For  being 
the  first  among  those  so  cast  out  of  office,  he  was  called  proto- 
martyr.  His  epitaph  says  of  him,  a  "  sincere,  zealous,  devout  and 
faithful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ." 

30.  Deeply  affected  with  the  ruinous  power  of  intemperance, 
and  alike  impressed  with  his  obligation  to  attempt  the  arrest  of  its 
progress,  Increase  Mather  edits  his  "  Woe  to  Drunkards." 

December.  The  selectmen  of  Salem,f  knowing  that  several 
parents  neglected  the  education  of  their  children,  advertise  the 
latter  as  ready  for  being  bound  to  fit  persons,  who  will  take  better 
care  of  them. 

This  year  Captain  Wvborn,+  of  the  ship  Garland,  states  to  the 
Commissioners  for  the  Plantations,  that  having  visited  Boston,  he 
found  there  "  very  many  of  the  better  sort "  for  the  Church  of 
England,  had  the  common  prayer  books  in  their  houses,  and  would 
not  have  their  children  baptized  after  any  other  form  than  the 
Episcopal.     This  seems  to  have  been  a  strong  representation. 

An  unprincipled  measure  is  adopted  to  increase  prejudice 
against  the  Anabaptists  of  New  and  Old  England. §  A  pamphlet 
is  published  in  London  with  the  following  title  :  "  Mr.  Baxter 
baptized  in  blood ;  or  a  sad  history  of  the  unparalleled  cruelty  of 
the  Anabaptists   in  New  England ;  faithfully  relating  the   cruel, 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  o97.  t  Annals  of  Salem.  %  Chalmers  calls  him 

Cleyborne.  §  Xeal's  History  of  N.  E.  vol.  i.  p.  374,  5.      Backus,  vol.  i. 

p.  410. 


510  PUBLIC  FALSEHOOD  PRINTED. 

[Mass. 

barbarous  and  bloody  murder  of  Mr.  Josiah  Baxter,  an  orthodox 
minister,  who  was  killed  by  the  Anabaptists,  and  his  skin  most 
cruelly  flayed  off  from  his  body.  Published  by  his  mournful 
brother,  Benjamin  Baxter,  liviug  in  Ten-church  street,  London." 
This  pamphlet  was  licensed  by  Dr.  Parker,  the  Archbishop's 
chaplain,  and  cried  about  the  streets  by  hawkers.  The  author 
represents  his  brother  as  worsting  the  Anabaptists  in  a  public 
disputation  at  Boston  ;  for  which,  by  way  of  revenge,  they  sent 
four  ruffians  in  vizors  to  his  house,  a  little  way  out  of  town,  who, 
after  they  had  bound  his  wife  and  three  children,  first  whipped 
and  then  flayed  him  alive.  The  author  concludes  :  "  I  have  pub- 
lished this  narrative  in  perpetuam  rei  memoriam,  that  the  world 
may  see  the  spirit  and  temper  of  those  men,  and  that  it  may  stand 
as  an  eternal  memorial  of  their  hatred  to  all  orthodox  ministers." 
But  search  being  made  by  authority  into  the  contents  of  this  pub- 
lication, they  were  found  to  be  a  total  falsehood.  Passengers  who 
first  arrived  in  London  after  the  work  was  published,  deposed 
that  it  had  no  foundation.  The  King's  Council  made  declaration 
in*  the  Gazette,  to  the  like  import. 

1674.  January  5.  The  religious  society  at  Wenham*  offer 
Joseph  Gerrish,  as  their  preacher,  the  following  salary:  £50, 
twenty  cords  of  wood,  and  use  of  the  parsonage,  with  the  condi- 
tion that  he  should  receive  two  pounds  of  butter  for  every  milch 
cow  in  his  parish,  as  part  payment  of  the  said  money.  He  began 
his  ministerial  labors,  May  25,  1673,  and  was  ordained  there, 
January  13,  1675. 

•9.  William  Hamlet,  of  the  Baptist  church,f  writes  to  Samuel 
Hubbard,  of  Newport :  "  The  church  of  the  baptized  do  peaceably 
enjoy  their  liberty."  He  refers  to  the  toleration  which  they  had 
experienced  under  the  government  of  Leverett,  as  chief  magistrate, 
and  Samuel  Symonds,  his  deputy. 

February  9.  Peace  takes  place  between  England  and  Holland, 
whereby  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  had  obstructions  to  their 
temporal  and  spiritual  interests  removed.  The  duke  of  York 
received,}  on  June  1,  another  patent  of  his  territory  in  New  York 
and  Maine,  at  Nantucket  and  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  thus,  being 
a  decided  papist,  renewedly  sets  up  the  barriers  of  Episcopacy 
against  the  order  of  the  adjacent  non-conformists. 

11.  It  is  remarked  by  Hull,§  "Divisions  at  Salem,  between  Mr. 
Nicholet,  who  came  from  Virginia,  and  supposed,  in  part,  invited 
by  Mr.  Higginson,  but  now  an  affliction  to  him.  He  went  out  of 
the  church  in  sermon  time  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  drew  others 
after  him.  Yet  he  seems  to  be  a  zealous  preacher  and  full  of 
affection,  though  peradventure  less  fully  fixed  in  some  truths." 

*  Wenham  Ch.  Rec.  f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  414. 

t  Salmon's  Chronology,  vol.  i.  p.  2~02.     Smith's  New  York,  p.  41. 
§  Hull's  MS.  Diary. 


TROUBLE   in   SALEM  cm  RCH,  511 

ir,7i.] 

li).   Mi-.  Higginson,  knowing  that  a  majority  of  his  people  r 
about  to  invite  Mr.  Nicholel   to  preach  a  third  year,  which  would 

begin   Juno    1  Ith,    Called4    a  church   meeting,   and   stated    that    he 

waa  decidedly  opposed  to  Mr.  Nicholet'a  staying  any  longer.  The 
reasons  of  his  objection  were,  that  his  colleague  did  not  preach 

sound  doctrine  ;  that  his  continuance  was  calculated  to  increase 
difficulty  ;  and  that  he  was  less  beneficial,  than  otherwise,  to  him. 
Mr.  Higginson  •  laid  these  reasons  before  the  church,  that  Mr. 
Nicholet  might  have  suitable  notice  to  provide  lor  himself  else- 
where. Much  debate  ensued.  Mr.  Higginson  was  inclined  to 
take  a  vote  on  the  subject,  but  the  principal  of  the  brethren 
advised  him  to  delay,  lest  a  minority  of  them  would  join  the  town 
and  have  Mr.  Nicholet  at  all  events.  He  complied,  and  observed 
that  he  felt  satisfied  with  having  done  his  duty.  At  the  beginning 
of  March,  the  town  desired  him  to  attend  their  meeting,  and 
asked  his  reasons  for  objecting  to  Mr.  Nicholet's  preaching.  He 
answered,  "You  know."  When  they  stated  that  they  wished 
for  his  assistant  to  abide  with  them  another  year,  he  said  that  he 
should  be  passive  but  not  concur.  ± 

March  3.  Benanuel  Bowers,  on  an  appeal  from  Middlesex  Court 
to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  has  his  sentence  confirmed,f  to  pay  £5 
and  costs,  and  stand  committed  to  Cambridge  prison  until  he 
discharge  the  same. 

7.  A  constable  of  Boston  discovered,  last  Lord's  day,  in  time 
of  public  worship,  in  the  house  of  Nicholas  Moulder,  certain 
Quakers,  as  George  Cole,  speaking  to  those  present,  the  said 
Moulder  and  wife  Christian,  Stephen  Hussey,  David  Fogg,  John 
Somes,  Joshua  BufFum,  Ann  Gillam,  Martha  Almy,  Eliphaz  Strat- 
ton  and  Hester  Drue.  Being  arraigned,  they  were  admonished 
and  told  that  "  the  law  would  be  too  hard  for  them,  and  they 
must,  if  they  fell  into  the  like  transgression,  expect  the  execution 
thereof." 

16.  Moses  Paine,  constable,  reports {  that,  by  a  warrant  from 
the  Deputy  Governor,  Samuel  Symonds,  dated  the  13th,  to  pre- 
vent a  meeting  of  Quakers  in  Boston,  he  took  two  men  with  him, 
on  the  Sabbath,  the  15th,  to  the  house  of  Nicholas  Moulder  ;  that 
he  found  him,  John  Somes,  Stephen  Hussey,  William  Mumford, 
David  Fogg,  John  Hollaway,  Nathaniel  Drue,  John  Sempsted, 
Ann   Gillam,   Martha   Almy,   Eliphalet  Stratton,  Patience   Drue, 

and   Isaac  F ,  assembled  there,  near  the  last  bell  ringing,  in 

the  afternoon  ;  that  he  warned  them  to  disperse,  but  they  refused, 
"  replying  we  had  nothing  to  do  to  disturb  them." 

April  7.  Samuel  Dunton§  and  wife,  of  Heading,  who  neg- 
lected to  attend  public  worship,   are  charged    with    bringing  up 

*  Annals  of  Salem.  f  Court  of  Assistants  Rec. 

X  MS.  Papers  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Library.         $  MS.  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec. 


512  TEMPLE  DIES  OF  GRIEF. 

[Mass. 

their  children  in  an  irreligious  manner,  and  the  selectmen  are 
authorized  to  dispose  of  the  children  to  "  service  or  apprentice- 
ship," where  better  care  will  be  taken  of  them. 

Edmund  Parker,  of  Lancaster,  accused  of  a  similar  offense,  is 
admonished,  and  the  selectmen  are  required  to  inspect  him  and  his 
family. 

10.  Rev.  John  Collins,  of  London,*  writes  to  Governor  John 
Leverett.  "  New  York  being  restored  by  the  peace,  one  Mr. 
Andrews  (Andros)  is  appointed  Governor,  a  man  I  know  not. 
Some  rumor  is  maliciously  spread  at  Court,  that  you  have  made 
peace  with  the  Dutch  there,  which  is  obviated  by  the  readiness  of 
some  persons  to  show  the  falsehood  of  it.  I  hope  nothing  will 
for  this  year  disturb  you,  and  if  anything  do  arise,  it  will  be  from 
New  York  and  the  government  there.  I  have,  therefore,  greatly 
encouraged  some  gentlemen,  your  friends,  who  would  purchase  it 
of  his  Royal  Highness,  as  thinking  it  will  be  much  for  your  peace, 
who  are  about  it.  How  it  will  issue,  I  know  not."  The  writer, 
being  a  graduate  from  Harvard  and  a  strong  advocate  for  New 
England  Puritanism,  seems  to  have  been  apprehensive,  that,  as 
the  Duke  of  York  was  openly  the  supporter  of  Papacy,  his  gov- 
ernment, administered  by  a  Deputy  supposed  to  be  like  him  in 
religion,  would  be  adverse  and  give  the  English  colonists  much 
trouble  at  New  York  and  Maine.  It  is  likely,  also,  that  he  knew 
that  the  Duke's  charter  gave  him  a  claim  to  the  country  imme- 
diately west  of  the  Connecticut,  which,  if  enforced,  would  produce  a 
collision  between  the  authorities  on  that  river  and  those  empowered 
by  his  Highness.  The  movement  to  purchase  him  out  of  such 
territory,  was,  therefore,  very  judicious. 

The  correspondent  proceeds  :  "  I  hear  the  King  is  offended, 
that  some  of  your  ships  take  in  their  loading  from  Virginia  and 
go  to  France  and  defraud  his  customs,  as  also  from  other  planta- 
tions." This  complaint  was  often  made  in  England,  because  part 
of  the  colonial  vessels,  instead  of  going  directly  thither  in  order 
to  pay  duties,  as  the  act  of  trade  demanded,  though  bound  to 
other  European  ports,  sailed  directly  for  these  places.  He  remarks 
as  to  the  "  presaging  of  men's  minds,  of  some  dangers  of  papists 
and  popery."  He  mentions  the  death  of  Sir  Thomas  Temple,  in 
London,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Boston  church,  and  deceased 
the  preceding  27th  of  March.  He  says  that  "  melancholy  and 
grief"  was  the  cause  of  his  departure,  in  consequence  of  being 
slandered.  "  I  saw  neither  disease  nor  pain,  that  would  hasten 
his  end,  but  his  spirit  broken,  his  inward  estate  dark,  wherein 
God  did  enable  me  to  do  him  some  small  service.  I  hope  he 
had  the  root  of  the  matter  in  him  and  is  gone  home  to  rest." 

Mr.    Collins   continues :    "  Your   concussions  you  have  at  the 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  442-6. 


DEPENDENCE  OF  CHURCH  on   COLLEGE.  5W 

1674.] 

College,  do  greatly  grieve  me  ;  and  so  much  the  more,  that  no 
friend  hath  been  pleased  to  give  me  a  true  state  of  it,  but  all,  I 
gather  from  them,  1  see,  are  wholly  of  one  side.  It  causeth  a 
great  rumor  here,  and  is  greatly  aggravated  to  the  1 'resident's 
reproach,  in  whom  I  am  concerned,  for  he  was  a  member  with 
us,  bat  it  seems  has  joined  himself  with  the  Third  church  of 
Boston,  which  surpriseth  me,  although  I  do  judge  his  relation 
thereby  to  us  is  erased ;  all  that  I  would  say  is,  that  it  hath  by  our 
New  England  friends  here  been  laid  as  a  reproach  upon  all  the 
elders,  yet  I  think  without  cause  ;  for  if  our  letter  be  viewed,  you 
will  not  find  that  we  did  recommend  him  to  be  your  President ; 
we  judged  that  too  much  for  us  to  undertake,  nor  did  we  excite 
him  to  come  or  urge  him  upon  such  hopes.  It  was  his  own  eager 
desire  after  it,  and  his  thinking  that  he  might  be  serviceable  there. 
All  we  said  was,  that  since  he  was  prepared  to  come,  we  thought 
him  one  that  might  be  helpful  in  your  college  work,  and  left  it 
with  you  to  judge  how."  He  then  observes  that  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Leverett  had  just  come  to  his  hand,  on  this  very  subject,  and 
adds,  "  I  hope  God  will  please  to  heal  that  breach,  or  to  direct 
you  to  what  may  be  most  for  the  good  of  the  College." 

16.  The  Rev.  John  Knowles  addresses*  a  letter  from  London  to 
Governor  Leverett.  "  It  is  very  grievous  to  your  friends  here,  not 
only  to  us  ministers,  but  your  Commissioners  for  the  College,  to 
hear  of  the  great  breach  that  is  made  in  it.  We  wonder  at  the 
occasion  of  it ;  that  they  do  not  either  strengthen  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Hoar,  that  so  the  work  may  go  on,  or  else  some  other  able  man 
may  be  put  into  the  place.  For  the  wound  will  widen  by  delays  ; 
and  if  the  College  die,  the  churches  (as  some  judge)  will  not  live 
long  after  it.  Let  me  assure  you  that  here  is  at  present  a  great 
design  of  foot  for  the  regulation  of  New  England,  but  you  have  no 
man  here  to  prevent  your  trouble  or  speak  a  word  for  you.  Your 
country  ought  to  be  at  some  charge  here  to  answer  for  it,  or  else  I 
clearly  see  you  never  shall  be  long  quiet.  I  pray  you  conceal  my 
acquainting  of  yourself  with  it ;  the  thing  is  true."  The  writer 
probably  refers  to  the  endeavors  for  taking  from  Massachusetts  the 
jurisdiction  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  and  especially  to  the 
long  and  repeated  project  of  nullifying  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
privileges  of  New  England,  by  the  imposition  of  a  general  Gov- 
ernor over  them. 

Thomas  Gould  diesf  between  the  25th  and  30th  of  this  month. 
He  was  a  founder  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Massachusetts, 
which  was  gathered  in  Charlestown,  and  worshiped  at  Noddle's 
Island  and  afterwards  in  Boston.  He  was  among  those  who  offi- 
ciated in  its  ministerial  duties.  Though  called  to  endure  hardness 
for  aiding  to  introduce  a  new  form  of  baptism  which  seemed  to  his 

*  Hutchinson's  MS.  Papers,  p.  267.  t  Suffolk  Prob.  Rec. 

65 


514  RELIGION  THE  DESIGN  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

[Mass. 

opponents  as  a  useless  disturbance  of  the  peace,  yet  he  appeared 
strongly  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  of  being  correct,  and  did 
much  to  promote  the  advancement  of  his  denomination.  Elder 
Russell  observed  of  him :  "  He  proved  an  eminent  instrument  in 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  for  carrying  on  this  good  work  of  God  in  its 
low  and  weak  beginnings."  He  left  wife,  Mary,  and  children, 
Samuel,  not  of  age,  Mary  Skinner,  Mehitable  Goodin,  Hannah 
Gould,  Nathaniel  Hayward  and  two  children,  Mary  Buncar,  and 
Abihail  Shapley. 

May  27.  The  General  Court  assemble  at  Boston.  Samuel 
Torrey,  of  "Weymouth,  preaches  the  Election  Sermon.  The 
subject  was  Reformation.  The  text  was  Revelation  ii.  5. — 
"  Remember  therefore  from  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent, 
and  do  the  first  works."  A  preface  to  it  by  Increase  Mather,  has 
the  subsequent  passages.  "  We  may  conclude  that  the  Lord  in- 
tended some  great  thing,  when  he  planted  these  heavens  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  this  earth,  and  said  unto  New  England,  (as  some- 
times to  Zion,)  Thou  art  my  people.  And  what  should  that  be, 
if  not  that  so  a  Scripture  pattern  of  Reformation  as  to  civil,  but 
especially  in  ecclesiastical  respects,  might  be  here  erected,  as  a 
first-fruits  of  that  which  shall  in  due  time  be  accomplished  the 
whole  world  throughout,  in  that  day  when  there  shall  be  one  Lord, 
and  his  name  one  over  all  the  earth.  The  first  design  of  New 
England  was  purely  religious,  but  now  we  begin  to  espouse  and  are 
eagerly  pursuing  another,  even  a  worldly  interest." 

The  author  of  the  discourse  shows  his  views  with  regard  to  the 
Baptists  and  the  Quakers  of  his  day.  "  Such  I  take  to  be  the 
transgression  of  those  who  do  grossly  and  scandalously  profane  any 
of  the  holy  ordinances  of  Christ,  in  the  administration  ;  but  much 
more  of  those  who  do  both  professedly  and  practically  deny  most, 
if  not  all  fundamentals,  both  of  faith  and  order,  and  are  known 
and  acknowledged  so  to  do  by  all  the  reformed  churches  in  the 
world."  With  such  impressions  he  supposed  that  these  denomi- 
nations should  not  be  tolerated  by  law  in  their  principal  deviations 
from  the  Congregational  order. 

He  urges  as  a  means  of  reformation,  "  the  full  and  faithful  dis- 
charge of  duty  to  the  children  of  the  Covenant." 

In  the  connection  he  observes:  "The  corruption  of  churches 
doth  begin  in  families,  and  if  there  be  no  hope  of  family  reforma- 
tion, there  is  no  hope  of  church  reformation."  As  to  the  children 
of  the  church,  he  remarks :  "  If  we  unchurch  them,  either  doc- 
trinally  or  practically,  by  the  general  and  total  neglect  of  them,  and 
our  duty  toward  them,  we  do  hereby  lay  the  foundation  of  the 
apostasy  both  of  these  churches  and  of  the  whole  generation."  He 
proceeds :  "  We  must  labor  to  recover  our  first  New  England  in- 
terest ;  that  is,  that  interest  upon  which  this  people  and  these 
churches  were  first  founded,  as  to  their  religious  constitution,  which 


LICENSERS   OF   PRESS   INCREASED.  518 

1..7I.] 

ia  God  and  religion.     'This  is  the  only  uniting  interest;  our  very 

hearts  ami  BOulfl  Will  cleave  and  unite  most  entirely  in  love,  with 
peace  ami  union,  in  our  God  and  our  religion.  This  interest  will 
make  a  people  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul." 

Addressing  the  magistrates  who  are  about  to  be  elected,  he  says : 
"  It  is  your  concernment  to  uphold  this  Government  in  the  fall  and 
whole  interest  and  influence  of  it,  unto  all  the  ends  of  it;  espe- 
cially this  great  and  main  end  of  it,  the  preservation  and  propaga- 
tion of  religion." 

Mr.  Torrey  and  Joshua  Moody  are  thanked  by  the  Court,  for 
the  great  and  very  acceptable  pains  wThich  they  took  in  their  late 
Election  Sermons,  and  that  they  be  desired  to  print  them  "with  as 
much  speed  as  may  be." 

It  is  ordered,*  that  no  single  woman,  and  no  wife  in  the  absence 
of  her  husband,  shall  "  entertain  or  lodge  any  inmate  or  sojourner, 
with  the  dislike  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town,  or  magistrate,  or 
commissioner,  who  may  have  cognizance  thereof,"  on  penalty  of 
£5  a  week,  or  whipping,  not  above  ten  stripes. 

As  leave  is  now  granted  to  have  a  printing  press  in  some  other 
town  besides  Cambridge,  an  addition  of  Rev.  Thomas  Thacher 
and  Rev.  Increase  Mather,  is  made  to  the  licensers  for  its  proper 
regulation. 

One  committee  of  the  Court  had  visited  Marlborough  to  settle 
serious  divisions  there,  and  another  are  appointed  for  a  similar 
purpose  writh  regard  to  Mendon.  The  troubles  of  this  place, 
being  of  a  municipal  and  ecclesiastical  kind,  were  adjusted  by  the 
Fall  session. 

June  4.  Robert  Thomson,  of  London,  writes  to  Governor 
Leverett.f  He  observes  :  "  Being  at  the  Corporation  for  the  Prop- 
agating the  Gospel  among  the  Indians,  I  found  the  commissioners' 
letter  did  not  encourage  the  sending  any  stock  into  the  country, 
but,  upon  consideration  amongst  themselves,  have  at  last  resolved 
to  send  some,  remitting  it  to  the  hands  of  Mr.  John  Richards  and 
Mr.  Peter  Sergeant,  to  be  improved  for  that  work.  I  wish  I  may 
not  be  a  prophet  (as  I  have  been  twice  some  amongst  you)  in  this, 
that  I  fear  another  wrar." 

15.  A  member  of  Harvard  College,*  "  being  convicted  of  speak- 
ing blasphemous  words  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  sentenced 
to  be  publicly  whipped  before  all  the  scholars ;  suspended  as  to 
taking  his  degree  of  Bachelor ;  sit  alone  by  himself  in  the  hall, 
uncovered,  at  meals,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  president  and 
fellows,  and  be  in  all  things  obedient,  doing  what  exercise  is 
appointed  him  by  the  president,  or  else  be  finally  expelled  the 
College." 

*  General  Court  Records.  t  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  449,  50. 

X  Sewall's  MS.  Diary. 


516  BAPTISTS  MEET  IN  BOSTON. 

[Mass. 

30.  An  individual,  for  slandering  Rev.  Mr.  Higginson,*  of 
Salem,  is  sentenced  to  apologize  for  it  before  the  assembly  on 
lecture  day,  and  audibly  crave  his  pardon,  or  be  whipped  fifteen 
stripes,  and  imprisoned  till  a  bond  be  given  for  £5  to  keep  the 
peace. 

July.  Robert  Boyle,  in  writing  to  some  one  in  the  Colony, 
makes  the  subsequent  request.f  "  When  you  see  any  of  the  prin- 
cipal magistrates  of  New  England,  you  will  oblige  me  to  take  an 
occasion  to  let  them  know,  that  whereas,  some  months  ago,  I 
received  from  several  of  them  a  letter  apologistical,  concerning 
answers  to  misrepresentations  that  they  feared  had  been  made  of 
their  affections  and  actions,  I  had  a  just  sense  of  the  honor  they 
were  pleased  to  do  me,  and  used  my  endeavors,  perhaps  not  alto- 
gether unsuccesfully,  to  have  the  particulars  they  allege  for  them- 
selves taken  notice  of  by  those  two  or  three  persons  of  our  courts 
on  whose  good  opinion  it  most  concerns  them  to  stand  right." 
He  adds,  that  he  thinks  it  would  be  greatly  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Colony  to  have  some  accredited  agent  in  London  to  look  out  for 
their  interests. 

28.  A  letter  from  John  Collins, J  of  London,  is  addressed  to 
Governor  Leverett.  He  remarks  :  "  Some  stirs  are  in  Scotland 
about  the  late  impositions ;  what  they  will  produce,  time  will  show. 
Referring  to  the  Government  here,  he  observes  :  "  I  am  sorry  they 
should  not  yet  have  their  eyes  opened  to  see  the  vanity  and  fruit- 
lessness  of  persecuting  Quakers,  or  any  others,  who  are  otherwise 
peaceable." 

August  24.  A  reply  §  from  Governor  Leverett  is  made,  with 
reference  to  Mr.  Hoar,  President  of  the  College.  He  observes  : 
"The  doctor's  opposers  lose  ground,  and  I  hope  the  work  will 
yet  be  carried  to  an  end."  He  indicates  a  dislike  that  the  President 
had  united  with  the  Third  church  of  Boston,  and  that  he  had  not 
taken  a  regular  dismission  from  Mr.  Collins's  church.  He  pro- 
ceeds :  "  Your  brother  Moody  hath  been  lately  here  with  us,  a 
very  sorrowful  widower  by  death  of  his  wife,  your  sister ;  so  the 
Lord  hath  been  pleased  to  bereave  your  good  father  and  mother 
of  their  daughter,  who  are  helped  to  carry  it  like  old  disciples  in 
the  school  of  Christ." 

"  This  summer,"  as  Mr.  Hull  informs  us,||  "  the  Anabaptists, 
that  were  wont  to  meet  at  Noddle's  Island,  meet  at  Boston  on  the 
Lord's  day.  One  Mr.  Symond  Lynde  letteth  them  a  house, 
which  formerly  was  Mr.  Rusk's.  Some  Quakers  are  also  come 
and  seated  in  Boston.  Some  of  the  magistrates  will  not  permit 
any  punishment  to  be  inflicted  on  heretics,  as  such." 

According  to  a  letter  from  Thomas  Mayhew,  under  September 

*  Annals  of  Salem.        f  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  450,  1.        J  Ibid,  p.  451-3. 
§  Ibid.  p.  463-5.  ||  MS.  Diary. 


mission   CONCERNS   OP   INDIANS.  511 

1(171.] 

1st,  to  Gookin,  we  hare  the  following  account.  There  arc  three 
hundred  families  at  leas!  on  the  Vineyard;  two  hundred  and 
forty  of  them  arc  praying  families.  There  are  two  churches, 
haying  fifty  members  in  full  communion,  and  each  a  pastor  and 

elder.  There  are  seven  jurisdictions  and  ten  Indian  preachers,  and 
six  assemblies  every  Lord's  day. 

Nantucket  has  three  hundred  Indian  families,  many  of  whom 
have  prayers  ;  and  one  church.  With  regard  to  missionary  labor 
in  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  Gookin's  statements 
are  placed  among  the  accounts  of  these  jurisdictions. 

Gookin  relates  that  while  he  held  a  Court  at  Pakachoog,  he  gave 
a  letter  having  the  force  of  a  commission,  dated  September  17,  to 
Jethro,  of  Natick,  to  proceed  and  preach  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  fam- 
ilies of  Indians  at  Weshakim  or  Nashaway,  near  Lancaster.  He 
observes  that  he  shall  furnish  other  ministers  of  the  new  praying 
towns,  with  similar  documents.  He  mentions  another  collection  of 
Indians  at  Waetung,  or  Uxbridge,  who  heard  the  gospel  from 
James  and  Sasoment,  of  Hassanamesitt.  He  states  that  Indians 
at  Quabaug,  or  south-east  part  of  Brookfield,  "  are  coming  on  to 
receive  the  gospel."  He  estimates  that  there  are  fourteen  towns 
and  two  churches  of  Indians,  who  have  renounced  heathenism  and 
embraced  Christianity,  and  number  eleven  hundred  souls. 

On  November  16,  Daniel  Gookin  dates  at  Cambridge,  his  ad- 
dress to  the  reader  of  his  Collections,  relative  to  the  numbers, 
customs,  manners,  religion,  government  and  condition  of  the  In- 
dians of  New  England.  He  dedicates  this  work  to  Charles  II. 
and  to  the  Corporation  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  America,  the 
7th  of  December.  In  the  address,  he  says :  "  I  am  not  ignorant 
that  there  are  some  persons,  both  in  Old  and  New  England,  that 
have  low  thoughts  of  this  work,  and  are  very  prone  to  speak 
diminutively  thereof;  but  I  entreat  it  may  be  considered  that  this 
frame  of  spirit  is  no  new  thing  ;  for  the  servants  of  God  heretofore 
have  complained  of  it,  and  with  reference  to  the  greatest  and  best 
tidings,  that  ever  were  declared  unto  men."  He  desires  the 
particular  attention  of  the  King  to  the  proposal  for  having  a  free 
school  for  Indian  children  at  Marlborough,  and  another  in  Plymouth 
Colony,  as  conducive  to  the  advancement  of  the  mission. 

He  speaks  of  the  different  settlements  for  Indians  who  have 
embraced  Christianity.  In  Natick  they  have  twenty-nine  families 
and  one  hundred  forty-five  population  ;  numbering  fifty  communi- 
cants, besides  others  who  pray.  They  have  a  lecture  once  a  fort- 
night, in  logic  and  theology,  which  succeeds  well.  They  have  a 
large  house  after  the  English  style,  the  lower  part  for  a  school  and 
worship.  They  assemble  forenoon  and  afternoon,  on  the  Sabbath  ; 
forenoon  on  Lecture  and  Fast-days,  "  at  the  sound  of  a  drum." 
Each  sex  sit  by  themselves.  A  teacher  offers  a  prayer ;  after  a 
short  pause,  he  or  some  other  reads  a  chapter  from  the  Bible ; 


518  PROFESSION    OF  WANNALANCET. 

[Mass. 

a  psalm  is  sung  ;  the  preacher  "  catechises  and  prays,"  and  pro- 
ceeds to  remark  on  some  text  of  Scripture ;  prayer  is  offered,  a 
psalm  sung  and  benediction  pronounced.  Occasionally,  instead  of 
reading  the  chapter,  questions  and  answers  of  the  Catechism  are 
substituted.     The  chief  of  this  place  is  Waban. 

Pakemitt,  or  Punkapoag,  has  about  sixty  souls,  who  moved 
from  Neponset  Mill.     Their  teacher  is  William  Ahawton. 

Hassanamesitt  has  twelve  families,  whose  teacher  is  Tackuppa- 
willin,  and  ruling  elder,  Piambow.  Among  them  are  sixteen  men 
and  women  in  full  communion,  and  about  thirty  baptized  persons. 
There  are  several  more  members  of  the  church,  who  live  in  other 
places. 

Okommakamesit,  or  Marlborough,  has  about  fifty  souls.  Their 
ruler,  Onomog,  the  very  soul  of  the  place,  died  two  months  ago. 

Wamesit,  or  Tewksbury  Indians,  suffered  much  in  the  late  war 
with  the  Mohawks.  Their  teacher  is  Samuel,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated at  the  charge  of  the  Corporation  in  England.  He  was  son  of 
their  ruler,  Numphow.  They  were  visited  by  Messrs.  Eliot, 
Gookin  and  others,  the  5th  of  May,  according  to  custom,  when 
many  Indians  assembled  there  to  catch  fish.  They  put  up  at  the 
wigwam  of  Wannalancet,  the  eldest  son  of  Pasaconaway.  Though 
the  former  of  these  two  had  heard  the  gospel,  he  did  not  turn 
Christian  for  fear  of  some  among  his  chiefs.  But  the  next  day 
after  their  arrival,  he  took  a  decided  stand  on  the  side  of  Christian- 
ity. He  said,  "  Now  I  yield  myself  to  your  advice  and  enter  into 
a  new  canoe,  and  do  engage  to  pray  to  God  hereafter." 

Nashobah,  afterwards  Littleton,  has  about  fifty  persons.  John 
Thomas  is  their  teacher.  The  place  was  deserted  when  the  Mo- 
hawks were  at  war  with  them,  and  secretly  killed  Thomas's  father, 
who  was  a  pious  and  useful  man. 

Magunkaquog,  subsequently  Hopkinton,  has  fifty-five  souls. 
Eight  males  and  females  compose  the  church,  and  fifteen  are  bap- 
tized.    Their  teacher's  name  is  Job. 

Besides  these,  called  old  praying  towns,  Gookin  proceeds  to 
speak  of  six  others,  designated  new  praying  towns,  in  the  Nipmuck 
country.  These  Indians  began  to  hear  the  gospel,  1671.  He 
states  that  Mr.  Eliot  and  himself  visited  them,  July,  1673,  and 
September  of  the  present  year,  to  confirm  them  in  the  Christian 
religion.  At  the  last  date,  they  took  several  "  godly  persons  "  for 
their  ministers. 

Manchage,  or  Oxford,  has  sixty  souls,  and  Waabesktamin  is 
appointed  their  minister. 

Chabanakongkoman,  or  Dudley,  has  nine  families,  and  Joseph,  a 
member  of  the  Hassanamesitt  church,  instructs  them  in  the  gospel. 

Maanexit,  or  the  north-east  part  of  Woodstock,  has  twenty  fam- 
ilies who  hear  Christian  doctrine  from  John  Moqua. 


RESULT  Of  INDIAN    EDUCATION.  519 

llwl.] 

Quantissett,  or  the  south-east  part  of  Woodstock,  lias  one  hun- 
dred souls,  who  attend  the  ministry  of  Daniel,  from  Natick. 

Wabquiasit,  or  the  south-west  corner  of  Woodstock,  has  thirty 
families,  who  have  Sampson  for  their  teacher,  brother  to  Joseph, 
and  from  J  [asaanamesitt 

Pakachoog,  partly  in  Ward  and  partly  in  Worcester,  has  twenty 
families,  and  James  Spear  preaches  to  them.  In  each  of  the  set- 
tlements, ( Jookin  "  gave  the  rulers,  teachers,  constables  and  people 
their  respective  charges,  to  be  diligent  and  faithful  for  God,  zealous 
against  sin,  and  careful  in  sanctifying  the  Sabbath.'' 

Gookin,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  current  year,  thus  spoke  of 
Waban,  a  Christian  Indian,  who  lived  at  Xatick :  "In  this  town 
they  have  residing  some  of  their  principal  rulers,  the  chief  whereof 
is  named  Waban,  who  is  now  seventy  years  of  age.  He  is  a  per- 
son of  great  prudence  and  piety.  I  do  not  know  any  Indian  that 
excels  him."  Though  his  decease  has  been  represented  as  in 
1670 — 167-i,  he  was  among  the  witnesses  in  April,  and  afterwards 
of  167o,  against  the  conspiracy  of  Philip.  He  probably  died  in 
the  course  of  the  year  last  mentioned. 

Under  December  7,  Gookin,  as  to  the  result  of  educating  the 
Indians,  observes  as  follows :  *  "  Several  of  the  youth  died  after 
they  had  been  sundry  years  at  learning  and  made  good  proficiency 
therein.  Others  were  disheartened  and  left  learning,  to  live  among 
their  countrymen,  where  some  are  improved  for  schoolmasters  and 
teachers,  unto  which  they  are  advantaged  by  their  education. 
Some  others  of  them  have  entered  upon  other  callings ;  as  one  is  a 
mariner  ;  another  a  carpenter ;  another  went  for  England  with  a 
gentleman  that  lived  sometimes  at  Cambridge  in  New  England, 
named  Drake,  which  Indian,  as  I  heard,  died  not  many  months 
after  his  arrival.  I  remember  only  two  of  them  all,  who  lived  in 
the  College  at  Cambridge  ;  the  one  named  Joel,  the  other  Caleb, 
both  natives  of  Martha's  Vineyard.  These  were  hopeful  young 
men.  Joel  was  within  a  few  months  of  taking  his  first  degree. 
He  took  a  voyage  to  see  his  father,  Hiacoomes,  and  other  relatives. 
He  was  cast  away  with  others  on  his  return,  at  Nantucket,  where 
they  appeared  to  have  been  murdered  by  Indians  for  the  sake  of 
plunder  in  the  vessel.  Thus  perished  a  good  scholar  and  a  pious 
youth.  The  other,  Caleb,  took  the  first  degree,  1665,  and  died  of 
a  consumption,  <  not  long  after,  at  Charlestown,  where  he  was 
placed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Danforth,  under  the  care  of  a  physician.'  " 

The  Indian  College  of  brick,  at  Cambridge,  accommodates  twenty 
scholars,  cost  three  or  four  hundred  pounds,  with  lodgings  and 
studies.  It  has  not  been  much  improved.  It  has  been  consid- 
erably improved  by  English  scholars,  and  for  the  printing  press  of 
the  College.f 

*  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  141-226.         f  Ibid.  172,  3. 


520  LEGISLATURE  AS  TO   COLLEGE  TROUBLES. 

[Mass. 

October.  The  preceding  month,  Mr.  Nicholet  preached  fare- 
well sermons,*  as  if  he  were  about  leaving  Salem.  Now  the 
town,  to  prevent  his  departure,  give  him  a  call  to  continue  with 
them  for  life.  The  lecture  day  following,  he  accepted  their  invita- 
tion. This  affair  seems  not  to  have  been  regularly  conducted, 
because  the  church  and  Mr.  Higginson  did  not  take  the  lead. 

6.  The  Middlesex  Court  arraign  Thomas  Wilkinson  and  family, 
admonish  and  fine  them  for  neglect  of  public  worship.f 

7.  The  General  Court,  being  informed  that  the  measures  taken 
to  heal  the  difficulties  which  existed  in  the  College,  were  ineffec- 
tual, require  all  persons  concerned  to  appear  before  them.  The 
record  states  that  President  Hoar  gives  up  £50  of  his  salary,  "  in 
consideration  of  the  paucity  of  scholars,"  and  agrees  to  receive 
£100.  The  Court,  for  a  similar  reason,  dismiss  all  officers  of  the 
College,  who  have  salaries,  until  further  order.  They  desire  the 
Overseers  to  use  their  "  utmost  endeavors  for  the  removal  of  all 
obstructions  therein "  against  the  Court's  next  session,  when,  if 
the  institution  be  in  no  better  condition,  the  President  shall  be 
dismissed  without  any  further  inquiry. 

November  14.  Matthew  Mayhew  and  Thomas  Doggett  repre- 
sent J  to  Governor  Edmund  Andros,  of  New  York,  that  when  the 
news  of  the  capture  of  that  place  by  the  Dutch,  reached  Martha's 
Vineyard,  about  one  half  of  the  people  opposed  the  settled  govern- 
ment here,  and  that,  some  time  after,  they  sent  messengers  to 
Boston,  with  the  petition  to  come  under  Massachusetts.  They 
informed  Mr.  Mayhew  of  this  step,  and  he  sent  a  statement  to  the 
Bay,  which  prevented  the  purpose  of  his  opponents.  These  then 
forcibly  set  up  a  government,  which  they  have  continued.  A 
similar  revolution  took  place  at  Nantucket.  Andros  commanded 
that  both  governments  be  restored  as  they  were  before  the  Dutch 
came. 

26.  Thomas  Thacher,  of  Boston,  preaches  a  sermon  "  on  a 
Fast  called  by  public  authority."  The  subject  of  it  was,  "  A 
Fast  of  God's  choosing,  plainly  opened  for  the  help  of  those  poor 
in  spirit,  whose  hearts  are  set  to  seek  the  Lord  their  God,  in 
New  England."  It  was  printed  1678,  with  a  preface  by  Increase 
Mather. 

November  19.  Samuel  Danforth,  minister  of  Roxbury,  dies  in 
his  48th  year.§  He  was  son  of  Nicholas,  who  came  from  Fram- 
ingham,  in  Suffolk,  England,  1634,  and  settled  at  Cambridge.  He 
was  born  September,  1626  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1643  ; 
accepted  as  freeman  of  the  Colony,  1648,  and  ordained  colleague 
with  John  Eliot,  September  24,  1650.  When  three  years  old,  his 
mother  died,  and  earnestly  dedicated  him  to   "  the  school  of  the 

*  Annals  of  Salem.  t  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec. 

J  Nantucket  Papers,  p.  66-8.  >j  Mather's  Magnalia. 


INSTRUCTION   OF  SICKNESS.  5ft] 

Itwl.] 

prophets."     His  father  dying  in  1638,  left  him,  as  a  hopeful  son 

of  many  cares  and  prayers,  to  the  paternal  oversight  of  his  devout 
ptttOIj  Mr.  Shepard.  Such  carefulness  bore  much  and  precious 
fruit.  When  reciting  to  his  tutor  out  of  the  "heathen  poets," 
who  ascribed  works  to  false  gods,  which  were  done  by  none  but 
"the  Holy  One  of  Israel,"  he  added  such  a  truth  by  way  of 
remark.  The  tutor  rebuked  him  as  though  it  were  impertinent. 
He  replied  :  M  Sir,  I  can't  in  conscience  "  recite  such  passages, 
"  without  washing  my  mouth  upon  it."  At  another  time  he 
repeated  a  similar  comment,  and  his  teacher  a  like  reproof,  when 
the  latter  was  immediately  seized  with  a  convulsive  fit.  On  recov- 
ing,  he  acknowledged  his  illness  as  a  punishment  for  his  harshness 
to  his  pupil,  and  approved  his  conscientiousness.  After  graduation, 
he  became  tutor,  and  was  the  second  fellow  of  his  Alma  Mater.  His 
diary  shows  that  though  he  was  young  in  years,  he  was  old  in 
Christian  knowledge  and  life.  He  was  vigilant  to  avoid  not  only 
sins  of  commission,  but  also  those  of  omission. 

Having  entered  on  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  he  married,  the 
year  after  this,  a  daughter  of  John  Wilson.  She  proved  to  him  a 
help-meet  indeed. 

While  careful  to  increase  his  large  stock  of  worldly  wisdom,  he 
was  still  more  so  to  abound  in  heavenly  understanding  and  in  the 
usefulness  of  his  office.  His  sermons  were  "  elaborate  and  substan- 
tial." He  used  forty  or  fifty  texts  of  the  Bible  in  each  discourse, 
and  kept  strictly  to  its  niain  subject.  A  poem  of  Mr.  Weld  upon 
him  has  the  words, 

"  Mighty  in  Scripture,  he  lived  each  truth." 

His  prominent  object  in  preaching  was  to  win  souls  to  the  Re- 
deemer. He  seldom  addressed  them  but  that  his  earnest  desire 
for  their  eternal  good  brought  tears  to  his  eyes.  Thus  was  he 
instrumental  in  awaking  the  sympathy  of  the  hardened,  and  in 
sending  those  away  from  the  sanctuary  with  a  spirit  of  supplication, 
who  came  to  criticise  and  be  amused.  Besides  his  Sabbath  labors, 
he  preached  a  monthly  lecture,  and  on  many  occasions  at  the 
houses  of  Christians.  He  was  exemplary  in  visiting  and  watching 
his  flock.  When  meeting  any  of  them  who  had  been  restored  to 
health,  he  would  say,  "  Well,  you  have  been  in  God's  school ;  but 
what  have  you  learnt  ?  And  what  good  have  you  got  ?  "  Remark- 
ably beneficial  were  these  applications  of  true  friendship.  One 
of  various  means  which  he  employed  to  hinder  the  inroads  of  im- 
morality into  his  parish,  was  to  see  that  the  public  house  standing 
in  sight  of  his  study,  was  kept  orderly  according  to  the  law.  In  his 
public  elocution  he  was  eloquent  and  impressive.  His  intellectual 
powers  were  of  high  order.  He  felt  himself  bought  with  a  price, 
and  bound  to  serve  his  Redeemer  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability, 
natural  and  acquired. 

66 


522  GLORIOUS  END   OF  LIFE. 

[Mass. 

Called  to  part  with  three  children  suddenly,  by  a  violent  disease 
termed  "bladders  in  the  windpipe,"  in  December,  1659,  the 
eldest  of  whom,  being  five  years  and  a  half  old,  was  remarkable  for 
her  piety,  he  bowed  to  the  Supreme  will  with  holy  submission.  In 
addressing  the  concourse  who  assembled  to  bury  the  dead,  he 
remarked  :  "  Blessed  be  God,  that  doth  not  despise  the  affliction  of 
the  afflicted,  nor  hide  his  face  from  him." 

About  to  finish  his  probation,  he  said  to  his  wife  with  regard  to 
her  and  their  children,  having  had  twelve  in  all,  if  he  should  be 
taken  from  providing  for  their  necessities, — "  At  times  I  have  been 
anxious  on  this  subject,  but  now  I  feel  assured  that  divine  Provi- 
dence will  fulfill  to  you  the  covenant  promises,  and  that  your  wants 
will  be  well  supplied."     This  was  strikingly  accomplished. 

The  next  day  after  this  expression  of  his  trust  in  God,  he  was 
taken  sick  of  a  putrid  fever,  and  at  the  end  of  six  days,  breathed 
his  last.  His  colleague,  the  apostle  Eliot,  used  to.  say,  "My 
brother  Danforth  made  the  most  glorious  end  I  ever  saw."  Such 
is  the  experience  of  a  philosophy  springing  from  revealed  doctrines, 
nurtured  in  the  heart  and  honored  by  the  ministry  of  Christ's 
devoted  servants. 

Of  Mr.  Danforth's  productions,  a  few  are  still  extant.  As  the 
fruits  of  his  taste  for  astronomical  science,  he  published  several 
Almanacs,  and  a  Treatise  on  the  Comet,  which  appeared  in  1664, 
and  greatly  alarmed  the  world.  He,  like  the  rest  of  scientific  men 
in  his  day,  believed  that  this  body  appeared  to  forewarn  the  earth 
of  impending  judgments.  Besides  these,  there  were  two  discourses. 
One,  "  The  Cry  of  Sodom  inquired  into,  or  a  Testimony  against 
the  Sins  of  Uncleanness."  Another,  delivered  before  the  Legisla- 
ture at  their  Election,  1671,  entitled,  "A  Recognition  of  New 
England's  Errand  into  the  Wilderness." 

Among  his  children  who  survived  him,  were  John  and  Samuel, 
who  followed  his  instructions  and  became  "  worthy  ministers  of  the 
gospel."*  Here  we  close  our  interview  with  him,  and  feel  that  its 
influence  tends  to  quicken  our  reposing  energies,  and  engage  them 
more  faithfully  in  preparation  for  the  summons  of  judgment. 

December  6.  John  Richardson  unites f  with  the  Newbury 
church.  He  was  ordained  the  pastor  thereof,  October  20th,  in 
the  following  year.  His  salary  was  £100;  one  half  payable  in 
merchantable  barley,  and  the  other  in  pork,  wheat,  butter,  or 
Indian  corn. 

8.  The  party  in  Salem, J  who  wished  to  retain  the  ministry  of 
Mr.  Nicholet  there,  assemble  at  Lynn  for  the  purpose  of  having  a 
church  formed.  On  the  30th  ultimo,  Mr.  Higginson  informed 
his  church,  that  they  had  applied  for  permission  so  to  do,  from  the 
Deputy  Governor  and  the  Major  General,  as  magistrates,  but  that 

*  Magnalia.     f  Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  1H-16.      J  First  Ch.  Rec.  of  Salem. 


RULING   BLDBB8   LB88   POPULAR,  523 

1G74.] 

it  was  not  granted  them*  He  and  two  of  bit  brethren  appear  at 
Lynn,  with  other  delegates  from  Ipswich,  Rowley  and  Beverly,  to 
prevent  bucd  an  organisation,  Messengers  from  other  churches 
thought,  on  examination  of  the  persons  proposed  for  becoming  a 
church,  that  they  had  better  delay.  The  First  Boston  church 
records  say :  "  Upon  the  request  of  certain  friends  of  Salem,  in- 
tending to  gather  a  church  at  Lynn,  8th  instant,  their  elders  and 
deacons  were  chosen  to  go  messengers  and  give  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship.      But  upon  the  appointed  day,  it  did  not  succeed." 

On  this  occurrence,  Hull  made  the  subsequent  note.*  "  Some 
endeavors  to  gather  a  church  of  some  non-members  of  Salem,  to 
■whom  Mr.  Nicholet  should  officiate,  who  met  at  Lynn,  and  pro- 
ceeded so  far  that  they  had  seven  messengers  from  Boston  Old 
church  ;  but  four  of  them,  having  declared  God's  gracious  work- 
ings on  them,  showed  so  much  ignorance  that  their  proceedings 
were  hindered." 

On  the  22d,  Sewall  remarks  in  his  diary :  "  Lieut.  Way,  Mr. 
Weaver  and  Thomas  Norman  came  to  our  house.  The  lieutenant 
related  several  things  about  Mr.  Nicholet's  church  gathering  at 
Lynn." 

~»).  Nehemiah  Hobart  is  ordained f  at  Cambridge  village,  as  suc- 
cessor to  John  Eliot,  Jr.  He  began  to  preach  there  in  1672.  He 
was  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Hobart,  of  Hingham,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  1667. 

28.  The  records  of  the  churchy  under  John  Oxenbridge,  pastor, 
say  of  him  :  "  As  he  was  preaching  his  lecture,  (on  the  23d,)  he 
was  found  to  break  off  by  reason  of  sickness,  was  carried  home  in 
a  sedan,  died  the  28th,  and  was  interred  31st  with  great  solemnity." 
This  devoted  servant  of  Christ  was  born  in  Daventry,  Northamp- 
tonshire, Eng.,  January  30,  1609.  He  was  among  the  most  able, 
learned,  and  useful  Puritans  of  his  age.  His  daughter,  Theodora, 
married  the  Rev.  Peter  Thacher.  His  published  works  were  : 
"A  Double  Watch  Word,  1661  ;  A  Proposition  for  Propagating 
the  Gospel  by  Christian  Colonies  in  the  Continent  of  Guiana ;  Elec- 
tion Sermon,  1671 ;  Seasonable  Seeking  of  God."  He  had  trials 
to  purify  him  for  a  perfect  world,  and  mercies  to  encourage  him  in 
seeking  for  its  incorruptible  joys.  As  he  lived,  so  he  died,  submis- 
sive to  the  will  of  the  Most  High. 

31.  As  an  indication  that  the  office  §  of  ruling  elder  was  not 
universally  acceptable,  Wenham  church  vote  that  they  will  dis- 
pense with  such  an  officer. 

This  year,  Benjamin,  son  of  the  Rev.  Adam  Blackman,  of 
Stratford,  Ct.,-  is  settled   at   Maiden. [|     He  continued   to   preach 

*  Hull's  MS.  Diary.     Transactions  of  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  vol.  iii.  p.  239. 

f  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  v.  p.  267. 

t  First  Ch.  Rec.  of  Boston.  §  Wenham  Ch.  Bee. 

f|  Farmer's  Genealogy.     Greenleaf  s  Ecc.  Sketches,  p.  44. 


524  HOSTILE  PURPOSE  OF  PHILIP. 

[Plym. 

here  four  years,  and  then  went  to  perform  similar  labor  at  Scar- 
borough, Me. 

Sundry  Sermons  on  Conversion,  from  the  ready  and  eloquent 
pen  of  Increase  Mather,  are  published. 


PLYMOUTH. 


1671.  March  8.  William  Hedge,*  John  Gray  and  Edward 
Sturgis,  for  sailing  from  Yarmouth  to  Boston,  on  the  Lord's  day, 
are  each  fined  30/.  John  and  Samuel  Matthews  and  Samuel  Gray 
are  summoned  to  answer  for  a  like  profanation. 

April  12.  Philip,  sachem  of  Pokanoket,  renews  a  treaty  with 
Plymouth  f  at  Taunton.  He  confesses  in  this  document,  his  treachery 
to  the  English,  and  promises  to  deal  with  them,  in  future,  fairly  and 
amicably.  All  the  endeavors  to  prevail  on  him  to  join  the  Chris- 
tian Indians,  had  failed.  What  he  said  to  Eliot,  who  once  preached 
before  him,  after  taking  hold  of  a  button  on  the  missionary's  coat, 
"  I  do  not  value  the  gospel  any  more  than  that,"  was  too  true  an 
indication  of  his  prejudice  against  the  gospel.  But  he  neglected 
to  send  in  the  guns  of  his  men  as  he  promised,  and  gave  other 
proofs  that  his  heart  was  bent  on  mischief. 

May  5.  Lovelace,  Governor  of  New  York,  writes  J  to  Prince,  of 
Plymouth :  "  As  to  your  Indian  affairs,  I  am  heartily  glad  that  your 
courage  and  wisdom  has  met  with  that  success  as  to  compel  him 
(Philip)  to  a  complacency  to  your  desires.  I  verily  believe,  and  by 
what  relations  I  have  met  with,  even  of  our  own  Indians,  the  defec- 
tion seemed  almost  universal.  The  confession  of  the  Sagamore 
seems  clear  enough,  which,  if  his  compunction  be  so  too,  it  then 
may  prove  in  the  politic  body  a$  sometimes  it  happens  in  the 
natural,  that  a  bone  once  broken  and  well  set,  strengthens  the 
limb,  which  good  effect  I  heartily  wish  it  may  have." 

June  5.  Nathaniel  Woodward,§  for  speaking  abusively  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Shove,  of  Taunton,  is  sentenced  to  sit  in  the  stocks  during  the 
Court's  pleasure ;  John  Gray,  of  Yarmouth,  is  fined  5/.  for  swear- 
ing ;  Nathaniel  Soule,  for  several  lies,  £5  ;  James  Cole,  for  drunk- 
enness, 10/.  ;  Walter  Winsor,  for  selling  liquors  to  Indians,  30/.  ; 
William  Walker,  for  stealing  cloth  from  Thomas  Clark,  of  Boston, 
is  to  pay  said  Clark  double,  and  for  a  falsehood,  10/. 

The  Court  decide  that  the  arms  of  Philip,  in  their  hands,  are 
forfeited.  To  meet  the  perils  which  seem  to  arise  from  the  conduct 
of  him  and  his  subjects,  the  Council  of  War  are  called  up  and 
additions  made  to  them.  In  the  oath  administered  to  the  latter, 
is  the  passage,  "  You  shall  faithfully,  with  respect  to  the  glory  of 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  f  Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  3,  20,  1. 

X  Easton's  Philip's  War,  p.  38.  $  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 


VIGILANCE  AGAINST   DESTRUCTIVE   ERRORS.  525 

KI71.) 

God  and  the  welfare  of  this  jurisdiction,  afford  your  best  adrice  In 
all  matters  of  importance.'1 

6.  "The  Laws  of  the  Colony,  lately  revised,  with  sonic  emen- 
dations and  additions/' are  published  by  authority  of  the  Genera] 
Court.     They  were  printed  the  next  year  at  Cambridge,  by  Samuel 

Green.  'The  Court,  in  their  introduction,  say  :  "Although  we  do 
hold  and  do  affirm,  that  both  courts  of  justice  and  magistrates, 
who  are  the  ministers  of  the  law,  are  essentially  civil,  notwithstand- 
ing we  conceive  that,  as  the  magistrate  hath  his  power  from  God, 
so  undoubtedly  he  is  to  improve  it  for  the  honor  of  God,  and  that 
in  the  upholding  of  his  worship  and  service,  and  against  the  con- 
trarv  with  due  respect  also  to  be  had  unto  those  that  are  really 
conscientious,  though  differing  and  dissenting  in  smaller  matters  ; 
but  if  any  really  or  in  pretence  of  conscience,  shall  profess  that 
which  eminently  tendeth  to  the  inundation  of  civil  state,  and  vio- 
lating of  natural  bonds,  or  the  overthrow  of  the  churches  of  God 
or  of  his  worship,  that  herein  prudence  is  to  be  improved  in  a 
special  manner,  in  the  enacting  and  execution  of  such  laws  as 
may  be  useful  for  the  upholding  of  the  same  against  such  destruc- 
tive errors." 

The  Court,  after  stating  that  the  great  end  of  their  coming  to 
this  country  was,  that  they  "might  with  the  liberty  of  a  good  con- 
science, enjoy  the  pure  scriptural  worship  of  God,  without  the 
mixture  of  human  inventions  and  impositions ;  and  that  their  chil- 
dren after  them  might  walk  in  the  holy  ways  of  the  Lord  ; "  and 
"  whereas,  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  have  now  had  near  about  fifty 
years'  experience  of  the  good  consistency  of  these  churches,  with 
civil  peace  and  order,  and  also  with  spiritual  edification,  together 
with  the  welfare  and  tranquillity  of  this  Government;" — "It  is 
therefore,  for  the  honor  of  God  and  the  propagation  of  religion," 
ordered,  that  the  churches  shall  be  protected  by  the  Government 
and  encouraged  "  in  their  peaceable  and  orderly  walking,  and  the 
faithful,  able,  orthodox  teaching  ministry  thereof  duly  encouraged 
and  provided  for,  together  with  such  other  orthodox,  able  dis- 
pensers of  the  gospel,  which  shall  or  may  be  placed  in  any  town- 
ship of  this  Government,  where  there  is  or  may  be  defect  of  church 
order." 

"  Although  no  creature  be  Lord,  or  have  power  over  the  faith 
and  consciences  of  men,  yet  it  being  a  duty  to  restrain  or  provide 
against  such  as  bring  in  dangerous  errors  or  heresies  tending  to 
corrupt  and  destroy  the  souls  of  men,"  whoever  is  convicted  of  this 
offense  and  continues  obstinate  therein,  shall  be  fined,  banished  or 
otherwise  severely  punished  as  the  Court  of  magistrates  shall  judge 
meet. 

They  who  vilify  the  Scriptures  and  the  holy  penmen  of  them, 
shall  be  fined  or  receive  corporal  punishment,  as  the  Court  shall 
see  fit,  so  that  it  do  not  extend  to   "  life  or  limb  ; "  those  who 


526  NO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP  BUT  ORTHODOX. 

[Pltm. 

reproach  the  word  preached,  or  the  ministers  thereof,  or  the  ways 
of  churches  or  ordinances  thereof,  shall  pay  for  the  first  offense 
20/.,  or  be  put  in  the  stocks  not  above  four  hours  ;  for  the  second, 
40/.,  or  whipped.  No  one  is  to  be  deprived  of  lawful  liberty  "  to 
propose  his  scruple  for  further  satisfaction." 

"  No  public  meeting  shall  be  set  up  but  such  as  the  Court  ap- 
prove of,  wherein  they  shall  have  special  care  that  they  allow  such 
only  as  are  orthodox  in  the  fundamentals  of  religion." 

The  property  of  non-residents,  as  well  as  others,  in  every  village 
or  township,  shall  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  ministry,  unless 
they  do  it  by  contribution ;  and  if  the  rateable  inhabitants  of  any 
such  place  neglect  to  build  a  meeting-house  and  obtain  a  preacher, 
the  General  Court  shall  tax  them  to  a  just  amount,  which  shall  be 
applied  for  these  two  purposes. 

This  year  the  people  of  Rehoboth  vote,*  that,  "as  Mr.  Newman's 
salary  had  not  been  paid,  there  shall  be  a  trial  made  by  contribu- 
tion every  Sabbath  day." 

Among  their  capital  laws  punishable  with  death,  are  idolatry, 
blasphemy,  witchcraft,  cursing  or  smiting  parents,  rebellion  of  a 
son  and  presumptuous  violation  of  the  Sabbath.  The  last  has 
added  to  it,  or  "  grievously  punished  at  the  judgment  of  the 
Court."  Profanity,  drunkenness,  and  neglect  of  public  worship, 
still  treated  as  violations  of  law. 

Playing  "  at  cards,  dice,  cross  and  pile,  or  any  such  unlawful 
game,  wherein  there  is  lottery,"  shall  be  on  penalty  of  10/.  to  the 
player,  and  20/.  to  the  master  of  the  house,  wherein  the  gaming  is. 
Whatever  person  wears  a  "  vizard,  or  disguise  by  strange  apparel," 
for  evil  purposes,  shall  be  fined  50/.,  or  publicly  whipped  or  bound 
to  good  behavior,  as  the  Court  may  determine. 

All  persons  who  smoke  tobacco  in  the  streets,  or  where  there  is 
danger  of  setting  fire,  shall  pay  2/.  for  each  offense.  If  they  cause 
damage  by  such  a  practice,  they  shall  pay  for  it  or  "  serve  it  out." 
Smoking  on  the  Sabbath,  within  two  miles  of  the  meeting-house, 
to  and  from  worship,  shall  be  fined  in  the  sum  last  named. 

None  shall  take  up  his  residence  in  any  town  or  settlement 
without  leave  from  the  Governor,  and  two  of  the  Assistants  at  least. 

Men,  twenty-one  years  of  age  at  least,  having  the  testimony  of 
their  neighbors  that  they  are  of  orderly  deportment,  "  orthodox  in 
the  fundamentals  of  religion,"  and  have  not  less  than  £20  rateable 
estate  in  the  Colony,  may  be  admitted  freemen.  They  are  to  stand 
propounded  one  year,  except  those  "  generally  known  and  approv- 
ed," or  whom  the  Court  wish  to  employ  immediately  in  public 
service.  They  shall  be  received  only  at  the  Election  Courts  and 
in  open  Court.  If  any  freeman  be  discovered  as  being  "  noto- 
riously vicious,  as  liars,  drunkards,  swearers,   apostates  from  the 

*  Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  215. 


WORSHIP  of  FALSE  QOD8.  527 

HIT  I.] 

fundamentals  of  religion  or  the  like,  or  manifestly  appear  to  be 
disaffected  to  this  Government,"  be  shall,  on  due  conviction,  be 
disfranchised  by  the  Court,  if  they  think  tit,  "from  the  privilege 

of  a  freeman." 

No  Indian  to  DOWOW  or  "  perform  outward  worship  to  the  devil 
or  other  false  god,  under  penalty  of  five  pounds,  or  severe  corporal 
punishment"  All  who  abet  such  a  person  shall  be  alike  punished. 
No  Indian  shall  resort  to  houses  of  the  English  on  the  Sabbath, 
especially  when  they  are  at  public  worship,  except  on  extraordinary 
occasions  ;  nor  "  profane  the  Lord's  day  by  hunting,  fishing,  fowl- 
ing, traveling  with  burthens  or  doing  any  servile  work  thereon," — 
"  under  penalty  of  10/.,  or  corporal  punishment  by  whipping." 

The  Legislature  require  that  the  names  of  all  persons  who  live 
idly,  and  of  those  single  persons  who  will  not  be  under  family 
government,  be  handed  to  them  by  the  selectmen  of  the  several 
towns,  so  that  such  delinquents  may  be  proceeded  with  as  the  case 
demands. 

The  selectmen  of  every  town  "  shall  have  a  vigilant  eye  over 
their  brethren  and  neighbors,"  that  they  "  by  themselves  or  others 
teach  their  children  and  servants  so  much  learning  as  through  the 
blessing  of  God  they  may  attain,  at  least,  to  be  able  to  read  the 
Scriptures  and  other  good  profitable  books,  printed  in  the  English 
tongue,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Capital  Laws,  and  in  some  com- 
petent measure  to  understand  the  main  grounds  and  principles  of 
the  Christian  Religion,  necessary  to  salvation,  by  causing  them  to 
learn  some  short  orthodox  catechism,  without  book,  or  otherwise 
instructing  them  as  they  may  be  able  to  give  a  due  answer  to  such 
plain  questions,  as  may  by  them  or  others  be  propounded  to  them 
concerning  the  same." 

If  parents  do  not  have  their  children  and  servants  properly 
educated,  the  selectmen  are  authorized  to  bind  out  such  children 
and  servants  where  they  may  be  fitly  instructed.  Each  county 
town  is  to  have  a  Latin  school  for  preparing  youth  to  enter  college, 
entitled,  for  their  encouragement,  to  one  third  part  of  the  money 
annually  accruing  from  the  Cape  Fishery. 

June  7.  Fifteen  or  more  Indian  tribes  of  the  Colony,  engage  to 
act  as  friends  towards  them.  Those  of  Paomet  say  in  their  contract, 
that  they  were  once  in  bondage  to  Satan,  but  through  the  word  of 
God,  they  had  been  brought  to  trust  in  him.  So  it  was  substantially 
with  the  others.  The  language  of  these  is,  "  We  hope  some  of  us 
have  received  the  faith  of  the  gospel  of  Christ." 

Representatives  of  Indians  from  six  places  engage  friendship  to 
the  Colony, — as  the  Paomets'  paper  does. 

On  July  5,  delegates  from  eight  more  Indian  places,  sign  a 
similar  contract.  They  say  :  "  We  poor  Indians  were  a  people  de- 
lighting in  war  and  the  confusion  of  one  another,  but  now,  having 
found  the  benefit  of  peace  by  your  protection,  we  hope  some  of  us 


528  CONVICTION   OF  PHILIP. 

[Pltm. 

have  received  the  faith  of  the  gospel."  On  the  24th,  Awasunks, 
the  Squaw  sachem  of  Saconett,  and  widow  of  Alexander,  brother 
to  Philip,  makes  a  treaty  with  Plymouth,  that  her  people  shall  give 
up  their  arms  and  yield  submission  to  this  Colony  in  ten  days. 
On  August  31,  her  subjects  engage  that  they  will  be  faithful  to  the 
same  Commonwealth.  On  September  4th,  the  Dartmouth  Indians 
promise  that  their  conduct  towards  the  Colony  shall  be  in  all  good 
faith. 

September  4.  A  letter  of  John  Eliot*  to  the  Commissioners 
gives  the  following :  He  desires  that  they  would  take  measures, 
that  the  Christian  Indians  near  Plymouth  "  may  have  land  of  then- 
own,  competent  to  live  upon." 

13.  The  Council  of  War  convene  at  Plymouth,  but  Philip  fails 
to  appear  as  they  expected.  He  had  gone  to  Massachusetts  and 
represented  his  case  to  the  chief  men  there.  These  wrote  to  the 
Governor  here,  desiring  him  to  persuade  the  said  Council  to  allow 
Philip's  terms  of  reconciliation,  supposing  that  neither  he  nor  his 
predecessor  owed  the  Colony,  by  their  treaties  with  it,  any  thing 
more  than  neighborly  and  friendly  correspondence,  and  therefore, 
had  not  given  it  so  much  offense  as  is  charged  upon  him.  Those 
gentlemen,  also,  offered  to  come  hither  and  help  settle  the  con- 
troversy. Considering  these  things,  the  Council  send  an  invitation 
to  Boston  for  these  persons  and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union, 
then  in  session  there,  to  come  and  advise  with  them. 

Accordingly,  on  the  24th,  John  Winthrop,  Governor  of  Con- 
necticut, John  Leverett,  Thomas  Dan  forth,  William  Davis,  and 
others,  arrive  at  Plymouth.  Thus  come,  they  gave  a  deliberate 
hearing  to  the  complaints  of  both  parties,  there  being  "  competent 
interpreters,  both  English  and  Indians."  "  It  was  proved  by  suffi- 
cient testimony  to  the  conviction  of  Philip,  and  satisfaction  of  all 
that  audience,  both  the  said  gentlemen  and  others,  that  he  had 
broken  his  covenant." 

The  visitors  on  this  occasion  tell  Philip,  that  his  story  to  the 
Government  of  the  Bay  was  greatly  different  from  what  he  had 
been  able  to  prove ;  "  that  he  by  his  insolence  had  in  probability 
occasioned  more  mischief  from  Indians  among  them  (Plymouth 
Colony)  than  had  fallen  out  in  many  years  before."  They  advise 
him  to  humble  himself  unto  the  magistrates  and  amend  his  ways, 
if  he  expected  peace,  and  that  if  he  went  on  in  his  refractory  way, 
he  must  expect  to  smart  for  it."  At  length,  on  the  29th,  Philip 
signs  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Plymouth.  Among  his  engagements 
are,  that  he  will  not  make  war  with  any,  nor  dispose  of  his  lands 
without  the  consent  of  the  Plymouth  authorities,  and  that  he  will 
pay  them  £100,  in  three  years'  time,  for  the  damage  he  has  caused 
them. 

*  Hazard's  Coll. 


CONTKimTIONS  FOR  THE  COLLEGE. 
1679-3.] 

Mr.  Bradstreet,  of  New  London,  remarks  in  his  Journal :  u  The 
tumult  that  king  Philip,  with  his  Indians  in  Plymouth,  made,  vraa 

quieted  by  several  gentlemen  of  the  Colony,  and  the  Bay  Colony, 
who,  meeting,  brought  Philip  to  sign  several  articles,  wherein  a 
peace  and  agreement  was  concluded." 

1672.  March  5.  Josias  Palmer,*  of  Scituate,  is  fined  10/.  for 
—filling  that  Mr.  Witherell's  church  was  a  church  of  the  devil. 

John  Loe,  of  Marshtield,  is  sentenced  40/.  or  to  be  whipped,  for 
servile  labor  or  contemptible  words  on  the  Sabbath. 

June  5.  A  Fast  appointed  "  in  concurrence  with  Massachusetts," 
to  be  observed  on  the  13th,  "with  special  respect  unto  the  sad, 
and  in  many  respects  deplorable  estate  of  our  native  country," 
taking  in  several  concerns  of  New  England. 

July  1.  Dartmouth,  having  neglected  for  two  years  to  raise  £15 
for  preaching  the  gospel  among  them,  are  now  ordered  to  comply. 

John  Williams,  of  Scituate,  is  fined  40/.  for  working  on  the 
Sabbath. 

The  Legislature  sayf  that  they  are  informed  of  the  exertions 
made  by  Massachusetts  for  Harvard  College,  "  whence  have, 
through  the  blessing  of  God,  issued  many  worthy  and  useful  per- 
sons for  public  service  in  church  and  commonwealth ; "  and  that 
beneficent  individuals  in  England  are  ready  to  assist  in  such  a 
work,  if  the  Colonies  here  help  in  the  same  direction.  They 
therefore  "  earnestly  commend  it  to  the  ministers  and  elders  in 
each  town,"  and  others  whom  they  think  fit  to  take  with  them,  to 
wait  on  those  who  are  able,  and  stir  them  up  to  assist  in  "  this 
worthy  work,  be  it  money  or  other  good  pay." 

September  6.  The  Colonies  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts  and 
Plymouth,  renew  Articles  of  Confederation  in  the  capital  of  the  last 
member.  Thomas  Prince  and  Josiah  Winslow  are  the  Commis- 
sioners for  this  Commonwealth.  They  repeat  the  idea  that  the 
great  end  for  which  New  England  was  settled,  was  to  "  advance 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  enjoy  the  liberties  of 
the  gospel  in  purity  and  peace." 

Samuel  Treat,  son  of  Robert  Treat,  who  lived  in  New  Haven 
and  was  distinguished  in  civil  life,  is  ordained  at  Eastham.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1669.  His  salary  was  £50,  suffi- 
cient wood  brought  to  his  door,  several  lots  of  land,  on  one  of 
which,  containing  twenty-three  acres,  at  the  head  of  the  cove,  he 
had  a  house  built  for  his  own  use,  by  the  town. 

1673.  February  23.  t  Among  the  prominent  promoters  and 
supporters  J  of  our  Puritan  institutions,  was  John  Howland,  who 
now  departed  this  life  and  was  buried  the  25th,  in  his  81st  year. 
His  wife  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Governor  Carver.  They  had 
four  sons  and  six  daughters.     "  He  was  a  godly  man  and  an  ancient 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  f  Plym.  Col.  Laws.  }  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 

67 


530  PROFITS  OF  FISHERY  FOR  EDUCATION. 

[Plym. 

professor  in  the  ways  of  Christ.  He  was  one  of  the  first  comers 
into  this  land,  and  proved  a  useful  instrument  of  good  in  his  place, 
and  was  the  last  man  that  was  left  of  those  that  came  over  in  the 
ship  called  the  May  Flower,  that  lived  in  Plymouth." 

March  29.  Thomas  Prince  died  in  his  73d  year,  and  was  buried 
8th  of  April.  He  came  from  Lechlade,  in  Gloucester,  England, 
to  America,  1621,  in  the  ship  Fortune,  and  settled  at  Plymouth. 
He  was  elected  assistant,  1635,  and  twenty  years  afterwards;  moved 
to  Eastham,  1644 ;  chosen  Governor,  1634-38,  1657-72 ;  in  the 
whole,  eighteen  years.  His  first  wife,  Patience,  daughter  of  Elder 
Brewster,  married  1624  ;  died,  1634.  He  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  William  Collier,  1635.  He  left  seven  daughters.  He  had  a  son, 
Thomas,  who  went  to  England,  died  young,  leaving  a  wife  and 
daughter.  "  He  was  a  worthy  gentleman,  very  pious  and  very 
able  for  his  office,  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  thereof;  studious 
of  peace  ;  a  weil-willer  to  all  that  feared  God,  and  a  terror  to  the 
wicked.  His  death  was  much  lamented,  and  his  body  honorably 
buried." 

June  3.  The  General  Court  convene.*  They  order  that  the 
profits  arising  from  the  fishery  at  the  Cape,  be  appropriated  to  the 
charges,  being  £33,  of  the  free  school  in  the  town  of  Plymouth. 

July  4.  They  enact  that  pawns  given  by  Indians  for  silver  or 
drink,  shall  be  forfeited  ;  that  no  keeper  of  an  ordinary  shall  sell 
any  beer  to  them,  on  penalty  of  5/.  for  every  quart  thus  sold. 
Capt.  James  Cudworth  is  restored  to  the  privileges  of  a  freeman. 
Mr.  Isaac  Robinson  is  alike  favored. 

October  2.  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Richard  Warren,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Plymouth,  died  in  her  91st  year.  She  "  lived  a  godly 
life,"  and  "  came  to  her  grave  as  a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe." 

This  month,  Humphrey  Johnson,  "  for  coming  into  this  govern- 
ment and  erecting  a  house  in  the  township  of  Scituate,  some  time 
in  this  summer,  and  dwelling  in  said  house  contrary  to  law,"  is 
fined  10/. 

December  19.  The  people  of  Swanzey  f  pass  the  following  vote: 
"  That  a  school  be  forthwith  set  up  in  this  town  for  the  teaching  of 
grammar,  rhetoric  and  arithmetic,  and  tongues  of  the  Latin,  Greek 
and  Hebrew  ;  also  to  read  English  and  write ;  and  that  the  salary 
of  £40  per  annum,  in  current  country  pay,  which  passeth  from  man 
to  man,  be  duly  paid  to  the  schoolmaster  thereof,  and  that  Mr. 
John  Myles,  the  present  pastor  of  the  church  here  assembling,  be 

*  Plym.  Col.  Laws.  f  Baylies'  Hist,  of  Plym.  Col.  vol.  ii.  p.  248. 

Note. — Josiah  "Winslow,  Sen.,  died  April  12,  1673.  Mrs.  Margaret  Winslow, 
was  executrix  of  his  will.  He  had  given  a  house  and  land  in  Marshfield  to  his 
son  and  heir,  Jonathan  Winslow,  "in  frank  marriage  unto  Ruth,  daughter  of 
Mr.  Wm.  Serjeant,"  but  in  his  will  had  devised  the  same  house  and  land  to  his 
son  "intaile."  The  General  Court  (1675,  March  1)  decide  that  the  latter  en- 
tailment cannot  make  the  former  free  gift  void,  but  must  be  void  itself,  while 
the  rest  of  the  will  holds  good. 


laws  ACCORDING   TO  Tin:  BCRIPTURB8.  55] 

1674.] 

■choolmaster ;  otherwise  to  have  power  to  dispose  the  same  t.»  an 
able  schoolmaster  during  the  said  pastor's  life."  When  he  died, 
his  successors  in  the  pastoral  office  were  to  assume  similar  relations 
to  the  BchooL     But  Ho  and  they  were  to  bo  paid  ms  such  instructors, 

only  so  long  as  they  were  "  contented  to  take  their  ministerial 
maintenance  by  weekly  contribution." 

1674.  •  June  3.  The  lav.  Samuel  Arnold,  of  Marshfield,  preaches 
the  Election  Sermon.  It  was  printed  at  Cambridge,  and  has  the 
imprimatur  of  John  Oxenbridge  and  Increase  Mather,  licensers  of 
the  press.  His  text  was  Acts  xiii.  oG, — and  his  subject,  "David 
serving  his  generation."  lie  calls  on  the  electors  to  "choose  such 
as  have  sincere  hearts ;  that  have  true  piety ;  as  have  skillfulness 
and  dexterity  of  hands,  as  may  be  able  to  work  the  vessel  in  storms 
as  well  as  in  calms."  To  legislators  he  says:  "Make  laws  con- 
sonant to  the  Scriptures,  such  laws  as  you  need  neither  be  afraid 
nor  ashamed  to  execute."  To  the  clergy  he  observes:  "Affect 
piety  more  than  popularity ;  study  harmony  rather  than  singularity ; 
take  heed  of  soldering  in  the  least  degree  with  persons  or  doctrine 
contrary  to  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  gospel ;  let  us,  by  all 
means,  cry  down  the  evils  and  sins  of  our  generation ;  "  there  are 
those,  whose  "  devotion  lies  in  contradicting  and  blaspheming  the 
truths  and  servants  of  God :  let  us  pray  for  those  that  prate  against 
us,  speak  truth  to  them  that  belie  us."  To  such  as  may  hold  the 
reins  of  government  the  year  to  come,  he  remarks :  "  God  hath 
delivered  the  custody  of  both  Tables  into  your  hands ;  let  the 
churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  find  protection  and  patronage  under 
the  shadow  of  your  wings ;  for  the  sake  of  the  church  the  world 
stands ;  let  the  Sabbaths  of  God  be  of  high  and  honorable  account 
in  your  eyes ;  let  no  plantation  in  this  jurisdiction,  (if  it  may  with 
your  care  be  possibly  prevented,)  be  without  a  teaching  ministry; 
tolerate  not  things  that  are  intolerable ;  when  persons  err  in  funda- 
mentals, deny  Christ  Jesus,  the  word  of  God,  eternal  election,  etc., 
such  heresies  and  heretics  had  need  be  suppressed." 

4.  The  General  Court  order*  that  the  freemen  of  each  town 
have  their  names  on  its  records ;  and  that  no  person  be  proposed 
for  a  freeman,  unless  he  be  approved  by  a  major  part  of  the  free- 
men where  he  lives.  They  enact  that  no  keeper  of  an  ordinary 
shall  give  or  sell  any  kind  of  drink  to  the  people  of  the  place 
where  he  resides,  on  the  Sabbath ;  and  every  person  of  such  occu- 
pation, shall  clear  his  premises  of  all  "  towTn  dwellers  and  strangers," 
who  are  there  for  purposes  of  drinking,  except  lodgers  in  the  house, 
"  by  the  shutting  in  of  the  daylight,  upon  the  forfeiture  of  five 
shillings."  They  decide  that  the  profits  of  the  Cape  Cod  fishery 
shall  be  continued  to  the  school,  "  if  a  competent  number  of 
scholars  shall  appear  to  be  devoted  hereunto,  not  less  than  eight 
or  ten." 

*  Plym.  Col.  Laws. 


532  DECEASE   OF  THOMAS  WILLET. 

[Pltm. 

July  7.  William  Maycomber,*  for  "  breach  of  the  Sabbath  in  a 
high  degree,"  is  sentenced  to  pay  40/.,  or  be  publicly  whipped.  An 
Indian,  called  Hoken,  a  notorious  thief,  is  "  to  be  apprehended  and 
sold  or  sent  to  Barbadoes  to  satisfy  his  debts,  and  free  the  Colony 
from  so  ill  a  member."  In  October,  George  Dausen,  for  Sabbath 
breaking,  is  fined  £2. 

August  4.  Thomas  Willet,  who  had  been  an  efficient  promoter 
of  the  Colony's  civil  and  religious  interests,  dies  at  Barrington,f 
R.  I.,  aged  sixty-four.  He  came  from  Leyden  as  early  as  1630 ; 
was  an  Assistant  from  1651  to  1664,  and  the  first  mayor  of  New 
York,  after  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  He  married 
Mary,  daughter  of  John  Brown,  and  had  a  large  family.  He 
left  a  widow,  Joannah,  who  was  of  Milford,  Ct,  in  October,  the 
year  of  his  decease.  The  exigencies  of  the  time  and  country  in 
which  he  lived,  required  the  temperament  and  experience  that  he 
possessed,  and  he  dutifully  met  them. 

September  1.  Richard  Bourne  writes  to  Daniel  GookinJ  con- 
cerning the  Indians  who  had  come  under  gospel  instruction,  within 
the  Colony  of  Plymouth.  He  leaves  out  of  his  computation,  chil- 
dren, and  takes  into  it  only  those  whom  he  denominates  "  men  and 
women,  young  men  and  maidens."  The  locations  are  ancient. 
At  Meeshawn,  or  near  the  head  of  Cape  Cod  and  Billingsgate, 
the  praying  Indians  are  12  ;  at  Potanumaquut,  or  Nausett,  or 
Eastham,  44 ;  at  Manamoyik,  or  Chatham,  71  ;  at  Sawkattukett, 
west  section  of  Harwich,  Nobsquassit,  or  north-east  section  of  Yar- 
mouth, Metakees,  principally  in  the  west  part  of  the  same  town, 
and  Weequakut,  or  south-west  part  of  the  east  precinct  in  Barn- 
stable, 122;  at  Satuit,  Pawpoesit,  Coatuit,  Mashpee  and  Wako- 
quet,  the  first,  second  and  fifth  of  these  places  being  within  and 
near  Mashpee,  and  Coatuit  in  the  south-west  part  of  Barnstable, 
95;  at  Codtanmut,  probably  a  neck  in  Mashpee,  Ashimuit,  on 
the  west  line  of  this  place,  and  Weesquobs  in  Sandwich,  22;  at 
Pispogutt,  Wawayontat  or  Wareham,  Sokones  or  part  of  Falmouth, 
36 ;  Cotuhtikut  and  Assoowamsoo,  both  in  Middleborough,  35. 
Mr.  Bourne  wrote,  that  within  these  bounds  there  was  one  church 
of  27  members  in  full  communion,  and  90  baptized  persons,  and 
that  it  was  formed  four  years  past.  He  stated  that  he  had  four 
Indians  as  assistant  preachers,  and  that  he  had  employed  four 
others,  but  who  had  not  received  any  compensation  yet  from  the 
missionary  corporation.  He  mentions  several  locations  which 
wanted  the  gospel,  and  that  books  were  needed  to  carry  on  the 
work. 

14.  John  Cotton  addresses  Mr.  Gookin  relative  to  Indians  under 
his  care.     He  remarks  that  he  had  preached  to  some  of  them  at 

*  Plym.  Col.  and  Treasury  Rec.  f  Potter's  Narragansett,  p.  313. 

J  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  196-9. 


koman   CATHOLICS. 
n;7i.] 

Kitteanmut,  in  Sandwich,  among  whom  were  forty  mule  and  female 

"praying  Indians,"  and  who,  on  Sabbaths,   <;o   to  hear  one  of  .Mr. 

Bourne's  assistants.  He  relates  that  he  had  preached  sometimes 
at  different  places  on  Cape  Cod;  that  Indian  primers  and   Bibles 

are  much  needed  ;  that  when  the  Courts  sit  at  Plymouth,  many 
Indians  from  various  portions  of  the  Colony  assemble  there,  and 
that  he  then  gave  them  Christian  instruction,  which  had  led  some 
to  embrace  the  gospel.  He  says  that  several  principal  Indians,  at 
a  distance  from  him,  desire  further  religious  privileges. 


MAINE. 

1671.  May.  Situated  as  Maine  was  with  relation  to  the  claims 
of  the  French,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  order  another 
survey,  to  ascertain  more  fully  the  extent  of  its  boundaries.  They 
appointed  Thomas  Clark  for  this  purpose.  He  employed  George 
Mountjoy,  of  Falmouth,  a  skillful  surveyor,  as  his  assistant.  This 
person,  by  his  report  of  the  next  year,  found  that  the  northernmost 
source  of  the  Merrimack  river,  with  three  miles  added  to  it,  as  the 
Charter  proposed,  was  43°  49'  12",  and  that  a  line  from  this  point 
due  east,  crossed  the  Sagadahock,  near  the  present  Bath,  and 
reached  White  Head  Island,  in  Penobscot  Bay.  Through  such 
enlargement  of  their  jurisdiction,  the  Massachusetts  rulers  hoped 
to  keep  at  a  greater  distance  influences  of  a  church  and  state,  which 
they  believed  less  beneficial  than  their  own. 

31.  John  Oxenbridge,  of  Boston,  in  his  Election  Sermon  there, 
refers  to  the  watchfulness  of  the  French,  as  Roman  Catholics,  and 
neighbors  to  the  English  of  Maine,  as  a  reason  why  the  freemen  of 
Massachusetts  should  seek  for  union  in  sentiment  and  action. 

July.  Thomas  Withers  is  complained  of  for  "  endeavoring  to 
prevent  the  providence  of  God  and  privileges  of  others,  by  putting 
several  votes  for  himself  to  be  an  officer  at  a  town  meeting.  He  is 
fined  £5,  and  fees  5/.,  or  "stand  in  the  pillory  at  York  the  next 
training  day,  two  hours."     He  was  also  disfranchised. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Morgan,  for  striking  her  husband,  is  "  to  stand  with 
a  gag  in  her  mouth  half  an  hour,  at  Kittery,  at  a  public  town 
meeting,  .and  the  cause  of  her  offense  written  and  put  on  her  fore- 
head, or  pay  50/.  to  the  Treasurer." 

Withers,  aforenamed,  charged  with  contributing  "  money  to  lead 
on  others  to  do  the  like,  and  taking  of  his  own  money,  if  not  more, 
out  again,"  gives  a  bond  of  £10  to  answer. 

Thomas  Cloyes  is  fined  5/.  for  playing  cards.* 

*  York  Records.     Willis's  Portland,  vol.  i.  p.  280,  3. 


534  EMIGRATION   OF  THE  LOUPS. 

[Me. 

1672.  December  3.  Shubal  Dummer,*  son  of  Richard  Dummer, 
of  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  born  February  17,  1636,  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  1656  ;  began  to  preach  at  York,  as  early  as  1662  ; 
is  ordained  there  over  those  who  had,  for  a  considerable  period, 
already  heard  the  dispensations  of  the  gospel  from  his  lips. 

About  this  year  the  Scahkook  Indians,  or  the  Loups,  as  the 
French  called  them,  left  and  settled  above  Albany,f  on  a  branch  of 
the  Hudson  river,  which  runs  towards  Canada.  Whether  influ- 
enced by  Roman  Catholic  priests  to  take  this  course,  though  it  is 
probable,  there  is  no  positive  proof.  They  were  afterwards  sus- 
pected by  New  Englanders,  as  accessory  to  aggressions  made  by 
Indians  who  were  their  neighbors. 

The  war  declared  by  England  against  the  Dutch,  was  probably 
one  means  £  of  so  engrossing  the  public  attention  in  that  kingdom, 
as  that  the  Duke  of  York  did  not  take  particular  notice  of  the  new 
survey  ordered  by  Massachusetts,  and  trenching  on  territory  of  his 
Patent.  It  is  true  that  his  acquiescence  in  the  re-occupation  of  his 
domain  below  Penobscot,  by  the  French,  seemed  to  indicate  that 
he  was  not  very  deeply  interested  in  his  title  to  what  still  remained 
under  his  control.  But  such  yielding  to  that  people  was  supected, 
in  part,  to  come  from  his  sympathy  for  their  papacy  more  than  from 
lack  of  concern  for  the  soil  he  consented  they  should  again  control. 

1673.  February  16.  Governor  Lovelace  writes  §  from  New 
York  to  Pemaquid  and  dependencies,  known  as  Cornwall  County, 
extending  from  St.  Croix  river  to  Kennebec  river.  "  I  shall  desire 
that  you  would  transmit  to  me  a  model  of  such  a  government  as 
shall  be  most  conducive  to  the  happiness  of  that  Colony,  both  to  its 
safety,  traffic  and  increase  of  inhabitants,  promising,  upon  the  recep- 
tion of  that  scheme,  not  only  to  invest  you  with  ample  power  to 
exercise  your  authority,  both  to  ecclesiastick  as  civil  affairs,  but 
will  be  ready  on  all  occasions  to  be  assisting  to  you  in  the  pres- 
ervation of  all  your  rights  and  interests  against  any  sinister  ob- 
structions." 

October  15.  The  Bay  authorities,  ||  sanctioning  Mountjoy's  sirr- 
vev,  and  knowing  that  Governor  Lovelace,  on  the  surrender  of 
New  York  to  the  Dutch,  had  left  Sagadahock,  which  belonged  to 
his  jurisdiction,  unprotected,  appoint  Commissioners  to  form  a  new 
County  below  such  territory,  "  that  so  the  ways  of  godliness  may 
be  encouraged  and  vice  arrested." 

1674.  March  20.  As  bearing  on  the  Puritan  interests  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, William,  Earl  of  Sterling,  Ferdinando  Gorges  and 
Robert  Mason,  proprietors  of  three  Provinces  in  New  England, 
propose  to  surrender  their  claims,  so  that  His  Majesty  may  send 

*  Coffin's  Xewbury,  p.  353.     Greenleaf  s  Ecc.  Sketches,  p.  9,  10. 

f  Holmes'  Annals,  vol.  i.  p.  368.     Colden's  Five  Nations,  p.  95. 

J  Williamson's  Maine,  vol.  i.  p.  412.         §  Me.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  vol.  v.  p.  7,  8. 

||  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


PROPOSALS  JOB   PURfcHASE  OP  MAINE.  535 

1074] 

otw  ;i  General  GoTemor,  "which  will  be  a  means  not  only  of 
hindering  the  further  encroachments  of  the  corporation  of  .Boston, 
but  in  a  short  time  reduce  them  also  under  your  Majesty's  imme- 
diate government,  and  very  much  to  the  profit  of  your  Majesty  and 
people  there."* 

M ay  27.  Thomas  Clark,  Humphrey  Davy,  Richard  Callicot  and 
Thomas  Gardner,  are  appointed  by  the  Legislaturef  of  Massachu- 
setts, according  to  order  of  the  preceding  October  session,  to  keep 
a  Court  at  Kennebeck,  Capenawaggen,  or  some  other  suitable 
place.  These  Commissioners  reported,  under  date  of  October  7, 
to  the  body  who  appointed  them,  concerning  their  transactions. 
They  formed  the  population  and  territory,  as  Williamson  says, 
"  from  Sagadahock  to  Georges'  River  inclusive,"  into  a  County, 
stvlcd  Devonshire.  They  proceeded  to  take  the  oath  of  allegi- 
ance from  eighty-four  persons,  and  appoint  the  needed  officers. 
Such  an  arrangement  brought  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts 
upon  the  line  of  that  included  in  the  Patent  of  the  Duke  of  York, 
a  juxtaposition  not  desirable  in  view  of  his  anti-Puritan  prejudices, 
and  high  price  for  his  territory.  Beyond  his  boundary,  eastward, 
were  the  French,  of  the  Romish  faith,  wTho  had  a  fort  on  the  east 
side  of  Penobscot  Bay. 

July  28.  A  letter  from  the  Rev.  John  Collins,+  in  London,  is 
addressed  to  Governor  Leverett.  He  mentions  a  proposition  by 
the  proprietors  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  to  alienate  their 
claims  to  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  so  that  he  might  send  over  a 
Governor,  and  thus  obtain  a  revenue  of  £5,000  a  year.  Collins 
remarks  that  he  had  used  means  to  cool  down  so  mad  a  project, 
and  that  he  thought  it  was  laid  aside. 

August  24:.  Governor  Leverett  addressed  Robert  Thompson,  of 
London. $  He  mentions  the  complaints  about  the  Gorges  claim  ; 
states  that  should  the  claimants  have  it  restored  to  them,  they  would 
suffer  loss;  that  Massachusetts  has  done  right  in  extending  juris- 
diction over  it,  but  still,  to  quiet  the  continual  trouble  on  account 
o£  it,  they  will  give  £500  if  a  good  conveyance  of  the  premises  be 
made  to  them.     He  empowers  Thompson  to  act  accordingly. 

October  7.  At  their  session  of  this  date,  ||  the  Bay  Legislature 
confirm  the  doings  of  their  Commissioners  in  "  settling  the  eastern 
parts  at  Kennebeck  and  the  places  adjacent,  under  government,  and 
that  on  the  desire  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  places,"  the  Court  call 
them  "  the  County  of  Devonshire." 

31.  As  Edmund  Andros,H  by  commission  from  the  Duke  of 
York,  had  entered  on  his  duties  as  Governor  of  the  latter's  territory 
in  New  York  and  Maine,  this  event  was  an  important  one,  as  to 


*  Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  Col.  Me.  f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

%  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  451,  2.  §  Ibid. 

||  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  IT  Smith's  New  York. 


536 


FORMATION  OF  CHURCH. 


[N.  H. 

what  might  be  its  adverse  effects  on  the  people  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Bay. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

1671.  June  25.  Soon  after  this,  the  ordination  of  Joshua 
Moody  takes  place  *  at  Portsmouth.  Of  this  event,  he  left  a  par- 
ticular account.  Although  he  had  regularly  preached  at  Ports- 
mouth since  1658,  and  proposal  to  ordain  him  had  been  made,  yet 
this  service  had  not  been  performed  before  the  current  year.  He 
remarks  on  this  subject :  "  After  many  serious  endeavors,  which 
had  been  used  by  the  then  minister  of  the  place  in  public,  and  by 
several  of  the  inhabitants  in  private,  the  Lord,  without  whose 
presence  and  blessing  man  builds  but  in  vain,  was  pleased  at  length 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  an  house  for  himself  in  this  place."  He 
designates  that  they  had  several  meetings  to  discuss  the  subject  of 
church  fellowship  ;  appointed  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  to  seek 
divine  guidance ;  read  to  each  other  a  reason  for  the  hope  they 
cherished  ;  and  they  gave  a  unanimous  consent  to  many  discourses 
delivered  by  Mr.  Moody,  in  the  latter  part  of  1670  and  the  begin- 
ning of  1671,  from  Ezekiel  xliii.  10 — 12,  "about  the  laws,  ordi- 
nances and  forms  "  of  the  church.  They  then  appointed  a  com- 
mittee "  to  acquaint  the  civil  authority  "  with  their  purpose,  as  the 
law  required.  They  invited  the  churches  of  Cambridge,  Ipswich, 
Rowley  and  Hampton  to  attend.  The  first  of  them  sent  the  dis- 
mission of  Mr.  Moody,  he  having  been  one  of  its  members. 
"  Governor  Leverett  came,  and  several  magistrates  with  him.  For 
no  church  could  settle  a  minister  without  the  approbation  of  the 
Governor  and  rulers.  He  that  was  appointed  pastor,  preached  in 
the  morning  out  of  Ezekiel  xlviii.  ult.  After  sermon  some  inter- 
mission was  made,  and  on  their  meeting  again,  the  pastor,  with  all 
those  who  were  to  be  beginners  of  the  new  church,  made  their  rela- 
tions, and  those  who  were  members  of  other  churches  had  their 
dismissions,  and  all  made  their  relations,  whether  members  or  non- 
members,  and  they  were  approved  by  the  messengers  of  the 
churches,  and  embodied  into  a  church  by  an  explicit  covenant. 
Then  the  pastor  was  ordained,  after  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
church  for  the  choice  of  him,  and  liberty  given  to  all  the  congre- 
gation to  object,  if  they  had  ought  to  say.  He  was  ordained  by 
several  of  the  elders  at  the  desire  of  the  church ;  Mr.  Cabot  giving 
him  his  charge,  and  Mr.  Wheelwright  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship. Then  the  pastor  ordained  Samuel  Haynes,  deacon,  with 
imposition  of  hand  and  prayer.     A  psalm  was  sung,  and  the  con- 


*  Adams's  Portsmouth,  p.  51-5. 


GRANT  FOR  CLAIMS  OF  CRADOCK.  -:>.>7 

I879L] 

negation  dismissed  by  the  pastor  with  a  prayer  and  blotting." 
There  were  nine  persons  who  so  entered  into  covenant  and  formed 
the  church — Joshua  Moody,  John  Cutt,  Richard  Cutt,  Elias  Stile- 
man,  Richard  Marty  n,  Samuel  Haynes,  James  Pendleton,  John 
Fletcher  and  John  Tucker.* 

Mr.  Stileman  was  recommended  on  June  25,  1671,  by  the  First 
church  of  Salem,  as  one  of  its  members,  to  help  constitute  the 
Portsmouth  church,  which,  with  what  Mr.  Moody  says,  indicates 
that  his  ordination  must  have  been  after  this  date. 

Edward  Hilton,f  who  was  among  the  first  settlers  and  principal 
promoters  of  New  Hampshire,  dies  this  year  at  an  advanced  age. 
Hubbard  says  that  he  came  from  London  and  settled  at  Dover  with 
his  brother,  William  Hilton,  and  others,  about  1623.  Here  he 
resided  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  then  at  Exeter.  He  wras  highly 
respectable,  held  a  friendly  correspondence  with  Governor  Win- 
throp,  and  coincided  with  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  when 
they  extended  their  needed  jurisdiction  over  this  Colony. 

July  5.  John  Reyner  succeeds:}:  his  father  in  the  ministiy  at 
Dover.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1663,  and  married 
Judith,  daughter  of  Edmund  Quincy.  Farmer  says  that  he  died 
at  Braintree,§  21st  December,  1676,  aged  34  ;  and  Hull,  that  the 
occasion  of  his  decease  was  a  cold  and  fever,  which  he  took  while 
in  the  field  as  a  chaplain  to  soldiers  serving  against  the  forces  of 
Philip.  Ready  to  "  endure  hardness"  for  his  parishioners  and  his 
country  in  their  deepest  necessities,  he  fell  before  the  progress  of 
disease,  and  rested  from  his  earthly  labors  through  a  good  hope  in 
the  high  Captain  of  his  salvation. 

1672.  March  12.  The  people  of  Portsmouth  vote  ||  that  who- 
ever smokes  in  the  meeting-house,  at  any  public  meeting,  shall  be 
fined  five  shillings. 

October  8.  As  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  at  their  last 
session,K  allowed  Portsmouth  to  have  a  village  above  Dover  bounds, 
they  confirm  the  grant,  the  conditions  being  that  three  hundred 
aojres  shall  be  reserved  for  the  Colony,  and  twenty  families  be  there 
in  five  years,  who  shall  pay  rates,  as  other  towns,  and  maintain 
"  an  able  and  approved  ministry  "  among  them. 

They  allow  the  return  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land,  "  on  a 
branch  of  Piscataqua  River,  at  some  distance  above  the  head  of 
Dover  bounds,  lying  wholly  on  the  west  side  of  said  river,  and 
beginning  at  Round  Meadows."  They  granted  such  territory,  11th 
October,  1670,  to  "  Benjamin  Whitchcott,  of  London,  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  and  Rebeckah,"  his  "present  wife,  executrix  of  the  will 
of  Matthew  Cradock,"  her  "  first  husband,"  of  the  same  city,  mer- 


•  Adams's  Portsmouth,  p.  51-5.  f  Farmer's  Gen.  Reg. 

}  Hubbard's  N.  E.  p.  608.  §  Probably  at  the  house  of  his  wife's  father. 
||  Adams's  Portsmouth,  p.  55.  If  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Kec. 

68 


538  REPLY  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS. 

[R.I. 

chant,  for  demands  of  the  latter  against  the  Company  of  the  same 
Colony. 

Samuel,  son  of  Jeremy  Belcher,*  of  Ipswich,  Harvard  College, 
1659,  preaches  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals  about  the  current  year.  He 
settled  at  West  Newbury,  November  10,  1698,  resigned  1711, 
and  died  at  Ipswich,  March  10,  1716,  in  his  76th  year. 

1673.  This  year,  Portsmouth  confirms  the  agreement  f  made 
for  seven  years,  by  individuals  among  them  in  1669,  to  pay  the 
College  £60  annually. 

1674.  May  27.  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  {  still  provide 
for  the  annual  government  of  New  Hampshire,  though  aware  that 
strenuous  exertions  were  making  to  wrest  it  from  their  control. 

Nicholas  Shapleigh,  who  seems  to  have  been  of  Kittery  and  had 
taken  part  in  behalf  of  Quakers,  is  to  pay  £200,  have  the  rest 
of  his  fine  remitted  and  be  cleared  from  prison,  on  the  petition  of 
his  sister,  Catharine  Hilton. 

July  28.  A  letter  from  the  Rev.  John  Collins,  §  in  London,  is 
addressed  to  Governor  Leverett.  It  has  the  following  passage : 
"  Since  I  wrote  you  last,  there  hath  been  a  proposition  of  alienating 
by  the  proprietors,  the  Province  of  Maine  and  what  you  call  New 
Hampshire,  to  the  King,  to  make  an  interest  of  it  in  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth,  and  it  is  proposed  that  he  should  send  a  Governor  to 
raise  to  himself  a  revenue  from  it.  I  hope  it  will  come  to  nothing. 
He  that  was  all  agog  to  go  Governor  thither,  I  had  him  dealt  with 
all  by  a  friend,  and  such  discouragements  laid  before  him,  and 
ridiculousness  of  hoping  for  such  a  revenue  as  was  proposed,  of 
£5,000  a  year  or  more,  to  the  Duke,  that  I  think  is  laid  aside." 


RHODE    ISLAND. 

1671.  March  25.  Roger  Williams  writes  from  Providence  to 
John  Cotton,  of  Plymouth.  ||  He  faults  the  latter  for  severe  terms 
used  towards  him,  because  he  had  argued  in  his  book  against  his 
father,  John  Cotton,  of  Boston.  He  observes  as  to  what  occurred 
in  England :  "  'T  is  true  my  first  book,  the  Bloody  Tenet,  was 
burnt  by  the  Presbyterian  party,  then  prevailing.  But  this  book, 
whereof  we  now  speak,  being  my  reply  to  your  father's  answer,  was 
received  with  applause  and  thanks  by  the  army,  and  by  the  Par- 
liament." He  adds  as  follows  :  "  Sir,  you  tell  me  my  time  is  lost, 
etc.,  because  (as  I  conceive  you)  not  in  the  function  of  the  ministry. 
I  confess  the  offices  of  Christ  Jesus  are  the  best  callings ;  but,  gen- 

*  Farmer's  Gen.  Register.    Lawrence  (N.  H.)  Churches,  p.  54. 
t  Adams's  Annals,  p.  56,  +  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

§  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  451.  )|  Belknap  MSS. 


EXCOMMUNICATION   OF  SEVENTH-DAI    BAPTIS1  539 

1071.] 

erally  they  are  the  worst  trades  in  the  world,  as  they  are  practiced 

only  for  a  maintenance,  a  place,  a  living,  a  benefice.    God  hath 

many  employments  tor  his  servants.  God  knows  I  have  much 
and  long  and  conscientiously  and  mournfully  weighed  and  digged 
into  the  difference!  of  the  Protestants  themselves  about  the  ministry. 

He  knows  what  gains  and  preferments  1  have  refused  in  universitv, 
city,  country  and  court  in  Old  England,  and  something  in  New 
England  ;  and  to  keep  my  soul  undented  in  this  point  and  not  to 
act  with  a  doubting  conscience,  God  was  pleased  to  show  me  much 
of  this  in  Old  England.  And  in  New  England,  unanimously 
chosen  teacher  at  Boston,  (before  your  dear  father  came  divers 
years,)  I  conscientiously  refused  and  withdrew  to  Plymouth,  be- 
cause I  durst  not  officiate  to  an  unseparated  people,  as  upon  exam- 
ination and  conference  I  found  them  to  be.  At  Plymouth  I  spake 
on  the  Lord's  days  and  week-days,  and  wrought  hard  at  the  hoe  for 
my  bread,  and  so  afterward  at  Salem,  until  I  found  them  both  pro- 
fessing to  be  separated  people  in  New  England,  (not  admitting  the 
most  godly  without  a  covenant,)  and  yet  communicating  with  the 
parishes  in  Old,  by  their  members  repairing  on  frequent  occasions 
thither." 

April  11.  The  Governor  and  magistrates  of  Newport  assembled 
here,  answer*  a  letter  from  Governor  Prince,  of  Plymouth,  relative 
to  alarms  about  the  Indians.  They  write  :  "  We  heartily  desire 
that  the  Lord  will  graciously  assist  you  in  your  present  agitations." 
They  request  that  any  matter,  in  their  overtures  to  Philip,  which 
they  think  important  to  be  known,  may  be  communicated  to  them. 

May  3.  John  Crandal,  from  Newport,  a  Baptist  preacher  at 
Westerly,  arrested  by  order  of  Connecticut,  for  claiming  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  latter  town  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Rhode 
Island,  is  advised  by  this  Colony  to  give  no  bonds  for  his  appear- 
ance, but  rather  suffer  imprisonment.  They  engage  to  sustain  his 
position,  and  pay  his  charges.  Nearly  two  years  before,  they  had 
sent  a  letter  by  him  to  Connecticut  authorities,  about  such  diffi- 
culties. 

June.  Samuel  Hubbard  and  other  Seventh-day  Baptists,  of  New- 
port, were  so  offended  with  four  of  their  number  for  re-professing 
the  First-day  for  the  Sabbath,  as  to  call  them  apostates.  Mr. 
Holmes  preaches  against  such  a  position.  He  observes  that  they 
had  left  Christ  and  gone  after  Moses.  They  were  cited  by  his 
church  to  answer.  They  did  this  through  William  Hiscox,  who 
charged  the  elders  of  the  church  with  denying  the  ten  command- 
ments. They  were  excommunicated  on  the  7th  of  December,  and 
on  the  23d  of -the  same  month,  formed  themselves  into  a  separate 
church.  Their  names  were  William  Hiscox,  Samuel  Hubbard, 
Roger  Baster,  Tacy  Hubbard  and  Rachel  Langworthy.     Stephen 

*  R.  I.  Record*. 


540  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY   OF   QUAKERS. 

[R.I. 

Mumford,  and  wife  Mary,  who  came  from  England  to  Newport,  as 
Seventh-day  Baptists,  at  the  beginning  of  1665,  as  Backus  says, 
united  with  the  excommunicants.* 

On  hearing  of  such  differences,  the  Baptist  church,  who  wor- 
shiped at  Noddle's  Island,  opposite  Boston,  sent  them  a  letter. f 
They  advise  them  to  retract.  "  Your  judging  them  that  have  so 
done,  and  we  hope  have  not  unadvisedly  changed  their  minds,  to 
be  apostate,  seems  to  our  understandings,  to  savour  too  much  of  a 
censorious  disposition."  Be  not  "  so  strait  in  your  bowels  towards 
others.  Our  desire  is,  if  it  may  be  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  that 
this  breach  may  be  healed  between  you  and  the  church." 

June  7.  General  Assembly  having  ordered  Francis  Uselton 
to  depart  from  the  Island,  who  had  now  come  into  Newport  with- 
out leave,  while  they  are  in  session,  and  was  walking  through  the 
streets,  and,  brought  into  their  presence,  insults  them  with  imper- 
tinent language — order  him  to  receive  fifteen  stripes  and  leave  the 
Colony.     Uselton  seems  to  be  a  Quaker. 

This  year,  Roger  Williams,  as  he  states  in  his  book  against 
George  Fox,  went  and  attended  a  General  Assembly  of  Quakers 
at  Newport.  He  attempted  to  set  before  them  some  considera- 
tions about  the  true  and  false  Christ,  and  spirits  which  differed 
from  their  belief.  They  interrupted  him.  One  suddenly  prayed, 
another  sang  and  a  third  prayed,  and  then  the  Assembly  abruptly 
dissolved.  He  subsequently  gave  this  as  the  reason  why  he  did 
not  attempt  to  address  a  similar  collection  at  Providence  when 
Fox  was  with  them,  but  preferred  to  discuss  certain  questions 
separately  and  orderly. 

"  I  said  that  John  Burnet  delivered  many  truths,  yet  withall,  I 
then  at  the  same  time  (in  their  public  assembly  at  Newport)  told 
them  that  it  lay  upon  them  to  manifest  to  their  own  souls  and 
others, — 1.  That  their  Christ  was  true.  2.  That  their  Spirit  was 
God's,  and  the  rather  because  they  were  charged  with  denying  the 
institutions  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  with  the  setting  up  of  many  will- 
worships,  as  preaching  of  women,  etc.  I  went  on  purpose  to 
discourse  of  these  matters,  (this  being  the  time  of  their  General 
Assembly,  and  a  great  concourse.)  I  was  stopt  by  the  sudden 
praying  of  the  Governor's  wife,  who  also  told  me  of  her  asking  her 
husband  at  home,  (meaning  Christ,  which  I  had  touched  upon.) 
I  rose   up  and  said,   if  a  man  had   so  alleged,   I   would    have 

*  MSS.     Calender's  History,  p.  65.  f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  411-13. 

Note. — No  person  to  be  employed  in  the  office  of  General,  Serjeant  or 
Sheriff,  unless  he  can  read  and  write. 

Uselton  and  Thomas  had  three  pence  a  day  allowed  for  their  maintenance 
while  in  prison.  This  is  now  allowed  for  all  other  prisoners  while  in  confine- 
ment, if  demanded  towards  their  support,  from  the  Colony  treasurer. 

William  Thomas,  sentenced  to  death  for  burglary,  petitioning  the  Assembly 
for  reprieve,  had  his  sentence  confirmed,  and  to  be  executed  the  day  after  to- 
morrow.— R.  I.  Records. 


GHARGE  OF  TREASON,  541 

L671.] 

answered  him,  but  I  would  not  countenance  so  much  the  violation 
of  God's  order  in  making  a  reply  to  a  woman  in  public.  Here- 
upon J.  Nicola  stood  up  and  said :  '  In  Christ  Jesus  neither  male 
nor  female,'  etc.  I  was  replying  to  him  and  to  J.  Burnet's  speech 
also  concerning  their  spirit,  but  I  was  >topt  by  John  Burnet's  sud- 
den falling  to  prayer  and  dismissing  the  assembly. " 

August  30.  The  Governor  and  Council  send  a  letter*  to  the 
authorities  of  Plymouth.  They  observe  that  "  there  are  more  than 
ordinary  causes  to  suspect  and  believe  the  Indians  are  treacherously 
inclined  against  the  English  in  general ;  "  and  that  they  are  bound, 
"  through  the  assistance  of  the  Almighty,  to  prevent  their  perfidi- 
ous designs."  They  propose  that  Plymouth  send  men  to  meet 
several  whom  they  had  nominated,  at  Taunton,  for  conference  on 
means  of  safety. 

November  2.  They  write  to  the  Plymouth  Government  in  reply 
to  two  communications  of  the  14th  and  29th  of  September.f 
They  say :  "  The  contents  of  both  being  very  much  obliging,  doth 
indeed  move  us  to  be  thankful  unto  the  Most  High,  for  preserving 
us  yet  in  peace,  and  diverting  the  cloud  which  he  wras  pleased  to 
let  hang  over  the  country,  threatening  a  storm  of  war,  or  the  sad 
effects  that  attend  thereupon,  as  burning,  massacreing  and  destroy- 
ing persons  and  estates,  wrhich  would  inevitably  have  followed 
upon  an  absolute  breach  with  the  natives." 

December  1.  Benjamin  Sweetser,  of  Charlestown,  who  belonged 
to  the  Baptist  church,  replies  to  a  letter  of  Hubbard.  +  One  of  his 
passages  is  :  "  We  should  be  glad  to  hear  how  it  is  with  you,  and 
desire,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God,  that  love  and  peace  may  be  contin- 
ued betwixt  you  and  the  other  society ;  although  you  may  differ  in 
some  things,  yet  that  there  may  be  endeavors  to  keep  the  unity  of 
the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

1672.  Feb'ry  24.  William  Harris,  being  in  custody,  is  brought 
before  "the  Court  of  Justices"  at  Newport,  composed  of  Bene- 
dict Arnold,  Governor,  and  John  Clark,  Deputy  Governor,  and  the 
Assistants.^  The  prisoner  gave  in  his  answer  to  the  charges  of 
Koger  Williams  and  William  Tabor.  The  Court  order  the  sheriff 
to  keep  Harris  confined  in  prison  here  till  next  May  session,  on 
the  accusation  of  "speaking  and  writing  against  his  Majesty's 
charter,  granted  to  this  Colony,  very  much  to  the  dishonor  of  our 
Sovereign  Lord,  the  King,  and  subverting  the  government  there 
established."     This  injunction  was  enforced. 

April' 2.  Perceiving  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  hasten  the 
long  delayed  mission  of  Rev.  John  Clark  to  England,  for  securing 
their  charter  claim  to  Westerly  and  otherwise,  and  fearing  the 
opposition  of  William  Harris  and  others  to  their  charter  regulations, 

*  Records  of  R.  I.  f  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  2  s.  vol.  vii.  p.  109. 

J  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  405.  $  R.I.  Col.  Records. 


542  ARRIVAL   OF   GEORGE  FOX. 

[R.I. 

and  similar  disorganization,  the  Assembly  remark  as  follows  :  * 
"  Being  sensible  of  the  great  detriment  of  the  Colony  in  general, 
and  well-minded  persons  in  particular,  do  sustain  by  reason  of  a 
covetous  or  factious  and  malicious  spirit  appearing  in  sundry  towns 
and  places  of  this  Colony  ;  who  oppose  all  or  any  rates,  and  hereby 
prevailing,  by  their  deluded  adherents,  in  overpowering  the  more 
prudent  and  loyal  parties  in  such  town  and  place,  to  the  frustration 
of  the  most  necessary  and  needful  ends  for  which  such  rates  are 
levied ;  whereby  the  Colony  is  exposed  to  much  discredit,  and 
other  detainments,  great  and  dangerous,  even  tending  to  ruin  and 
subversion  thereof  in  the  issue,  and  in  mean  time  to  the  intol- 
erable burden  and  oppression  of  the  more  tractable  and  rational 
people,"  be  it  enacted,  that  all  persons,  who  in  any  "town  or 
place  within  this  jurisdiction,  shall  resist  the  assessment  of  taxes, 
or  any  acts  or  orders,"  passed  by  the  General  Assembly,  "  shall  be 
proceeded  against  for  high  contempt  and  sedition." 

May  14.  The  General  Assembly  having  been  changed  so  far 
as  to  have  a  majority  against  several  prominent  points,  sustained 
and  acted  on  the  last  year  of  its  political  existence,  now  show  their 
opinions.  They  speak  of  several  acts,  passed  the  preceding  April, 
as  "infringing  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  setting  up  an  arbi- 
trary power."  They  repeal  the  law  passed  in  view  of  resistance 
by  William  Harris  and  others  to  the  mode  of  taxation,  and  the 
order  for  John  Clark  to  repeat  his  agency  in  England,  and  the  pro- 
vision to  support  him  and  his  expenses  for  means  to  counteract  the 
endeavors  of  Connecticut  Colony  relative  to  territory  claimed  by 
Rhode  Island  Colony.  Of  course  the  trial  for  which  Harris  was 
kept  in  prison,  was  quashed.  These  sudden  changes  appear  to 
have  been  made  partly  through  the  influence  of  the  Quaker  party, 
who,  as  Judge  Staples  says  in  his  Annals  of  Providence,  had  by 
this  year  gained  an  ascendency  in  the  Legislature. 

30.  George  Fox,f  who  left  England  last  year,  reached  Barbadoes, 
October  3  ;  was  at  Jamaica,  23d  of  February,  1672  ;  then  visited 
Maryland,  West  and  East  Jersey,  and  Long  Island ;  and  arrived  at 
Rhode  Island  on  the  date  heading  this  statement.  He  soon  ex- 
hibited his  accustomed  zeal  and  activity. 

"We  were  gladly  received*  by  Friends.  We  went  to  Nicholas 
Easton's  house,  Governor  of  the  Island.  On  first  day  of  the  week 
following,  we  had  a  large  meeting,  to  which  the  Deputy  Governor 
and  several  Justices  came,  and  were  mightily  affected  with  the  truth. 
The  week  following,  the  yearly  meeting  for  all  the  Friends  of  New 
England,  and  the  other  Colonies  adjacent,  was  held  in  this  Island  ; 
to  which,  besides  very  many  Friends,  who  lived  in  those  parts, 
came  John  Stubbs,  from  Barbadoes,  and  James  Lancaster  and  John 
Cartwright,  from  another  way.     This  meeting  lasted  six  days ;  of 

*  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  t  Fox'g  Jour.  vol.  i.  p.  351.  +  Ibid.  p.  366-8. 


FOX   MEETS  WITH   RANTERS.  M4 

1071.] 

which  the  first  four  days  were  general  public  meetings  for  worship ; 
to  which  abundance  ol*  the  world's  people  came.  For  they  having 
no  priests  in  the  Island,  and  so  no  restriction  to  any  particular  way 
of  worship  ;  and  both  the  Governor,  and  Deputy  Governor,  with 
several  Justices  oi'  the  Peace  daily  frequenting  the  meetings,  this 
did  so  encourage  the  people,  that  they  flocked  from  all  parts  of  the 
Island."      Fox  remarks  that  the  "  Truth  had  a  good  reception." 

On  the  fifth  day  was  the  menVmeeting,  and  on  the  sixth,  was 
women's-meeting, — both  large  and  solemn.  At  these  meetings, 
other  similar  meetings  were  appointed  elsewhere,  to  "  take  care  of 
the  poor  and  other  affairs  of  the  church."  It  was  hard  for  those 
who  had  come  together  to  separate,  and  "  they  spent  two  days  in 
taking  leave  one  of  another." 

John  Burneyate,  with  John  Cartwright  and  George  Pattison, 
"  went  into  the  eastern  parts  of  New  England,  in  company  with 
the  Friends,  that  came  from  thence,  to  visit  the  particular  meetings 
there,  whom  John  Stubbs  and  James  Lancaster  intended  to  follow 
a  while  after,  in  the  same  service  of  truth." 

"  Robert  Widders  and  I  staid  some  time  longer  also  upon  this 
Island,  finding  service  still  here  for  the  Lord,  through  the  great 
openness  of  the  people,  and  the  daily  coming  in  of  fresh  people 
from  other  Colonies,  for  some  time  after  the  general  meeting  was 
over." 

Fox  attended  a  meeting  for  the  Ranters,  of  whom  there  were 
many,  and  thought  that  it  was  followed  with  good.  A  man  who 
had  been  a  Justice  twenty  years,  "  was  convinced,  and  spake  highly 
of  the  truth." 

Fox  went  to  Providence  and  held  a  meeting  in  a  great  barn. 
The  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  and  many  others  accompanied  him. 
Fox  says  that  the  number  present  was  very  large,  comprising  some 
who  came  to  dispute  with  him.  He  observes,  "  The  people  went 
away  mightily  satisfied,  much  desiring  another  meeting."  He  then 
held  a  large  meeting  at  Narragansett,  accompanied  by  the  Governor 
of  Rhode  Island.  He  took  his  course  through  the  Colonies  to 
Virginia,  and  thence  to  England. 

July  13.  Roger  Williams,  having  read  the  works  of  George 
Fox,  (a  leading  Quaker  of  England,  who  had  recently  arrived  at 
Rhode  Island,  attended  the  yearly  meeting  of  this  denomination  at 
the  house  of  William  Coddington,  at  Newport;  and  a  few  days 
prior  to  this  date,  had  spoken  publicly  at  Providence,)  sends  an  offer 
to  Fox,  now  at  Newport,  for  the  discussion  of  fourteen  proposi- 
tions. He  desires  that  seven  of  them  may  be  considered  at  New- 
port and  the  rest  at  Providence,  because  Fox  had  advanced  his 
opinions  in  both  of  these  places,  and  induced  many  persons  to 
become  his  followers.  After  stating  the  preliminaries  necessary  to 
regular  debate,  Williams  proceeds  to  specify  the  propositions. 


544  PROPOSITIONS  BY  WILLIAMS  TO  FOX. 

[R.I. 

"  1.  That  the  people  called  Quakers,  are  not  true  Quakers  ac- 
cording to  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"  2.  That  the  Christ  they  profess  is  not  the  true  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  3.  That  the  Spirit  by  which  they  are  acted,  is  not  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

"  4.  That  they  do  not  own  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"  5.  That  their  principles  and  professions  are  full  of  contradic- 
tions and  hypocrisies. 

"  6.  That  their  religion  is  not  only  an  heresy  in  matters  of  wor- 
ship, but  also  in  the  doctrines  of  repentance,  faith,  etc. 

"  7.  That  their  religion  is  but  a  confused  mixture  of  Popery, 
Arminianism,  Socinianism,  Judaism,  etc. 

"8.  The  people  called  Quakers  (in  effect)  hold  no  God,  no 
Christ,  no  Spirit,  no  Angel,  no  Devil,  no  Resurrection,  no  Judg- 
ment, no  Heaven,  no  Hell,  but  what  is  in  man. 

"  9.  All  that  their  religion  requires  (external  and  internal)  to 
make  converts  and  proselytes,  amounts  to  no  more  than  what  a 
reprobate  may  easily  attain  unto  and  perform. 

"  10.  That  the  Popes  of  Rome  do  not  swell  with  and  exercise  a 
greater  pride  than  the  Quakers'  spirit  hath  exprest,  and  doth  aspire 
unto,  although  many  truly  humble  souls  may  be  captivated  amongst 
them,  as  may  be  in  other  religions. 

"11.  The  Quakers'  religion  is  more  obstructive,  and  destructive 
to  the  conversion  and  salvation  of  the  souls  of  people,  than  most  of 
the  religions  this  day  extant  in  the  world. 

"  12.  The  sufferings  of  the  Quakers  are  no  true  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  their  religion. 

"13.  That  their  many  books  and  writings  are  extremely  poor, 
lame,  naked,  and  swelled  up  with  high  titles  and  words  of  boasting 
and  vapor. 

"  14.  That  the  spirit  of  their  religion  tends  mainly :  1,  To 
reduce  persons  from  civility  to  barbarism :  2,  To  an  arbitrary  gov- 
ernment, and  the  dictates  and  decrees  of  that  sudden  spirit  that 
acts  in  them :  3,  To  a  sudden  cutting  off  of  people,  yea,  kings  and 
princes  opposing  them  :  4,  To  as  fiery  persecutions  for  matters  of 
religion  and  conscience,  as  hath  been  or  can  be  practiced  by  any 
hunters  or  persecutors  in  the  world." 

Williams  proceeds  to  relate  that  he  forwarded  these  propositions 
to  his  friend,  John  Cranston,  Deputy  Governor,  so  that  he  might 
notify  Fox  ;  but  that  the  former  did  not  receive  them  until  the  26th, 
after  the  latter  left  the  country.  He  adduces  proof  that  the  friends 
of  Fox  kept  back  the  propositions,  so  that  he  might  depart  and 
be  free  from  the  debate ;  and  that  others,  whom  he  left  behind, 
might  stand  in  his  stead.  Among  his  trials  on  this  occasion,  he 
mentions  a  letter  written  in  a  bitter  style,  from  J.  T.,  who  had  been 


PREPARATIONS   FOB   DI8CUS8ION.  546 
1623,] 

his  particular  friend  for  forty  years,  hut,  very  lately,  had  embraced 

the  Quaker  belief.     Thia  .1.  T.  was  probably  John  Throgmorton, 

who  espoused  the  Cause  oi   Williams  at  Salem,  and  settled  with  him 

at  Providence.  The  said  letter  was  dated  July  18.  It  charged 
the  propositions  made  to  Fox,  as  "impudent  lies  and  slanders," 
and  calls  upon  Williams  to  renounce  his  errors  and  repent.  On 
the  Bame  day  Williams  replied  to  Throgmorton.  The  former  said: 
"  It'  I  had  not  abhorred  lies,  I  had  long,  ere  this,  fined  the  country 
about  this  barbarous  land  (as  some  in  this  Colony  have  clone. J  I 
had  murdered  the  Indians  and  English  by  the  powder  and  liquor 
trade,  to  which  you  know  I  had  temptation  as  much  as  yourself, 
or  any  others  in  New  England.  You  are  dangerously  bold  to  say 
that  you  write  from  the  Spirit  of  truth.  I  only  instance  in  that 
monstrous  act  of  your  women  and  maidens,  stripping  themselves 
stark  naked  by  your  spirit,  and  with  a  face  of  brass  coming  into 
the  open  streets  and  public  congregations  of  men  and  youth.  This 
spirit  (though  defended  by  G.  Fox  and  others)  is  such  a  piece  of 
unnatural  and  brutish  impudence,  that  I  cannot  hear  of  the  like 
amongst  Jews  or  Gentiles,  yea,  not  amongst  the  most  savage,  base 
and  barbarous  of  them  all,  (all  circumstances  considered.)  I 
observe  your  inconstancy.  How  often  have  I  heard  you  speak  of 
the  chief  of  the  Quakers  now  at  Newport.  How  lately  and  how 
much  have  you  uttered  of  John  Crosman's  cross  and  fro  ward 
spirit,  (ever  since  he  pretended  the  Spirit,;  yet  how  inhuman  and 
injurious  to  yourself,  in  the  way  of  his  calling !  Now  all  on  a  sud- 
den (for  I  heard  but  little  until  I  saw  your  lines)  you  are  got  up 
into  the  lofty  chair  of  judging,  and  ready  to  say,  '  God,  I  thank 
thee,  I  am  not  as  this  publican.' " 

On  the  23d,  he  had  a  rejoinder  from  J.  T.,  who,  after  severely 
censuring  the  observations  of  Williams,  adds  :  "  I  know  thou  hast 
undertaken  a  great  burthen  in  challenging  G.  Fox  to  answer  thy 
positions.  I  wish  thee  to  provide  thy  armor  of  proof,  as  Goliath, 
that  defied  the  army  of  Israel.  G.  Fox  is  furnished  with  that 
armor  that  thou  hast  no  skill  to  make  use  of;  having  also  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  to  cut  down  all  thy  airy  imaginations."  To 
this,  Williams  immediately  sent  an  answer.  He  refers  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  was  treated  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
Quakers  at  Newport.  He  denies  the  charge  that  he  had  treated 
William  Harris  unjustly  for  treason  against  the  laws  of  England 
and  of  this  Colony,  "  who  hath  with  all  his  power  now  kindled  and 
blown  this  fire  between  Connecticut  Colony  and  ourselves." 

Not  satisfied,  J.  T.  addresses  Williams  once  more,  in  a  reproach- 
ful manner,  as  :  "  Oh  murderous  man,  that  hath  not  any  remorse 
for  thy  long-lived  wickedness."  Williams  replies  on  the  30th  : 
"  I  heartily  wish  that  your  hands  were  washed  from  the  bloody 
trade  of  liquors  to  the  Indians,  which  even  the  Quakers  have  prac- 
ticed, telling  the  Indians  that  the  Quakers  only  know  God,  and 

69 


546  INTEMPERANCE   OF  TRADE. 

[R.I. 

therefore  would  sell  them  powder  and  liquors  cheaper,  and  they 
would  not  mix  water  with  rum,  as  others  did.  So  that  by  many 
sudden  deaths,  what  by  consumptions  and  dropsies,  the  barbarians 
have  been  murdered,  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  in  the  whole 
country ;  and  more  in  this  Colony  than  in' any  part  of  the  country 
beside,  that  I  have  heard  of,  against  which  I  have  witnessed  from 
Court  to  Court  in  vain." 

He  remarks  that  some  Quaker,  imagining  himself  actuated  by  a 
good  spirit,  though  by  an  evil  one,  may  see  fit  to  murder  him,  so 
that  the  prediction  of  J.  T.,  that  he  must  repent  in  forty  days  or 
perish,  may  be  verified. 

A  few  days  after,  the  Deputy  Governor  Cranston  delivered  the 
proposals  of  Williams,  (which  he  received  the  26th  of  July,  some 
hours  after  Fox  had  left  Newport.)  John  Stubs,  John  Burnyeat, 
and  other  Quakers,  called  on  him  at  Providence.  They  proposed 
the  9th  of  August  for  the  discussion  at  Newport,  to  which  he 
agreed. 

The  next  morning  he  wrote  to  them,  that  as  some  of  his  neigh- 
bors wished,  he  would,  according  to  his  offer,  discuss  the  first  seven 
propositions  at  Newport,  and  the  others  at  Providence.  The  letter 
was  put  into  the  hand  of  one  of  their  number.  Receiving  no  an- 
swer, he  addressed  them  again,  late  in  the  evening,  on  the  same 
subject.     They  replied  that  it  should  be  as  he  had  desired. 

August  8.  Williams  remarks:  "God  graciously  assisting  me  in 
rowing  all  day  with  my  old  bones,  so  that  I  got  to  Newport  toward 
midnight  before  the  morning  appointed.' '  He  sent  his  opponents 
a  paper  relative  to  the  way  in  which  he  thought  they  should  pro- 
ceed in  their  discussion,  and  particularly,  as  he  was  alone,  he  should 
have  but  one  of  them  speak  to  him  at  the  same  time.  He  also 
mentioned  to  them,  that  some  of  his  friends  objected  to  have  the 
debate  in  the  Quaker  meeting-house.  But  he  did  not  think  with 
them.  He  observed :  "  I  could  freely  go  into  the  Pope's  chapel 
to  dispute  against  the  Pope  and  his  worship." 

9.  Having  assembled  at  the  Quaker  meeting-house,  at  nine 
o'clock,  a  large  collection  of  people  waited  with  various  wishes  and 
anticipations,  according  to  their  creed.  Williams  observes  that  he 
found  there  three  noted  preachers  of  the  Quakers,  namely,  John 
Stubs,  John  Burnyeat  and  William  Edmundson,  "  sitting  together 
on  a  high  bench  with  some  of  the  magistrates  of  their  judgment 
with  them.  I  had  heard  that  John  Stubs  was  learned  in  the 
Hebrew  and  the  Greek,  and  I  found  him  so.  As  for  John  Burnyeat, 
I  found  him  to  be  of  a  moderate  spirit,  and  a  very  able  speaker. 
William  Edmundson  was  newly  come,  as  was  said,  from  Virginia, 
and  he  proved  the  chief  speaker,  a  man  not  so  able  nor  so  moderate 
as  the  other  two."  Williams  took  his  seat  at  the  other  end  of  the 
house  opposite  to  them.  He  began  the  debate,  by  remarking  that 
he  undertook  it,  not  out  of  prejudice  to  any  person  or  denomina- 


DOCTRINES  OP  QUAKERS    DENIED.  541 

1673.] 

tion,  but  for  the  sake  of  divine  truth.  He  closed  his  preface  thus: 
m  1  do  humbly  hope  and  beg  of  God,  the  Father  of  spirits,  so  to 

order  and  direct  OUT  spirits  in  these  our  agitations,  that,  his  holy 
name  may  receive  glorv,  and  the  souls  of  us  all  some  soul-profit 
ami  advantage."  The  first  day  was  spent  in  the  discussion  of  his 
first  proposition,  ''that  the  people,  called  Quakers,  are  not  the  true 
Quakers  according  to  the  holy  Scriptures."  While  a  few  of 
Williams's  friends  sustained  him  by  occasional  remarks,  more  did 
the  same  for  his  opponents.  He  complained  that  his  proposal  for 
having  hut  one  at  a  time  reply  to  him,  was  often,  and  sometimes 
to  himself,  vexatiously  disregarded,  especially  by  Edmundson.  He 
bore  down  on  the  Quakers  heavily,  while  they  retorted  on  him  with 
severity. 

10.  When  the  second  day  of  the  contest  appeared,  Williams  had 
a  hoarseness  and  head-ache.  He  therefore  took  his  seat  nearer  to 
Stubs  and  his  assistants,  so  that  he  might  not  strain  his  voice.  He 
began  on  the  second  proposition,  "  that  their  Christ  was  not  the  true 
Lord  Jesus."  The  day  was  spent  in  arguments  and  affirmations. 
Williams  says  that  because  of  his  inability  to  speak  with  his  usual 
clearness  and  vigor,  some  Quakers  accused  him  of  being  drunk, 
though  he  had  taken  nothing  stronger  than  milk,  as  his  daughter 
Hart,  at  whose  house  he  tarried,  could  testify.  At  the  close  of  the 
day,  the  parties  agreed  to  dispatch  the  rest  of  the  questions,  assign- 
ed to  Newport,  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  for  each  of  them. 

11.  When  the  hour  arrived  for  the  discussion  to  commence, 
Williams  received  a  letter,  which  he  supposed  was  from  his  brother, 
Kobert  Williams,  school-master  at  Newport,  and  which  he  handed 
to  his  antagonists,  but  they  declined  to  have  it  read.  Still  he  gives 
it  a  place  in  his  printed  narrative.  By  it  Robert  does  not  entirely 
coincide  with  his  brother  Roger,  thinking  that  the  latter  should 
have  dealt  privately  with  his  opponents  before  charging  them  pub- 
licly with  errors,  and  that  his  propositions  laid  too  much  on  the 
Quakers.  On  the  other  hand,  Robert  complained  of  Stubs  and  his 
two  associates,  because  they  would  not  allow  liberty  of  speech  to 
the  friends  of  Roger,  and  thus  quenched  the  Spirit  in  them,  and 
they  treated  his  brother,  "their  elder  fellow-servant  and  father, 
with  indecorum,  both  in  words  and  gestures."  He  proceeds  on  this 
point :  "  Again  your  improper  charging  the  complainant  with  mis- 
spending of  time,  when  in  truth  it  was  yourselves  in  not  suffering 
of  him  orderly  to  proceed,  by  your  often  iterations,  tautologies, 
indecorum,  behavior  and  expressions,  with  improper  preachments 
at  that  time,  and  yet  lay  the  defect  upon  the  aged,  and  would  not 
be  satisfied  with  his  substantial  proofs,  divine  reasons  and  argu- 
mental  demonstrations." 

Having  adduced  these  remarks,  referring  to  the  transactions  of 
the  two  preceding  days,  we  will  attend  to  the  acts  of  the  third  day. 
Roger  Williams  began  on  his  position,  "  That  the  spirit  by  which 


548  ODD  TERMS— BITTER  WORDS. 

[R.I. 

they  were  acted  was  not  the  true  Spirit  of  God."  He  passed 
through  the  rest  of  the  seven,  with  the  usual  rejoinders,  by  the 
time  that  the  boat  was  ready  to  sail  for  Providence,  in  which  he 
was  going  home.  Just  as  he  was  stepping  down  from  his  place  to 
depart,  amid  the  clamors  of  the  Quakers  that  he  had  proved  noth- 
ing, his  brother's  wife  Elizabeth,  of  the  Baptists  in  Newport,  "  said 
aloud,  the  man  hath  discharged  his  conscience.  He  hath  fully 
proved  what  he  undertook  to  prove  against  you,  and  the  words 
that  he  hath  spoken,  shall  judge  you  at  the  last  day."  The  reply 
to  Williams  by  John  Burnyeat  and  George  Fox,  called  "A  New 
England  Fire-brand  Quenched,"  denies,  of  course,  his  various 
positions. 

IT.  According  to  agreement,  the  opponents  of  Williams  met  him 
at  Providence.  He  offered  his  brother's  letter  to  be  read,  but  they 
objected,  particularly  Edmundson,  whose  carriage  was  so  offensive, 
that  Captain  John  Greene,  of  Warwick,  inquired  whether  Mr. 
Williams  was  there  "  as  a  delinquent  to  answer  at  the  bar,  or  as 
a  disputant  on  equal  terms."  After  other  questions,  Williams 
entered  on  the  seventh  proposition.  Having  gotten  through  the 
whole  fourteen,  he  remarked,  that  "the  conclusion  was  ordered 
by  the  Father  of  mercies  with  much  peace  and  quietness." 

To  the  question  which  he  asked  about  the  Quakers,  near  the 
close  of  his  argument :  "  Was  there  ever  any  known,  (professing 
the  fear  of  God  in  so  high  a  measure,)  so  sharp  and  cutting  in  their 
tongue  ?  "  The  Fire-brand  said,  that  such  severity  accorded  with 
the  Scripture  rule.  It  addressed  Williams :  "  If  thou  comest  not 
down  into  the  dust  and  mournest  for  these  things,  thy  day  will  be 
darkness  and  thy  end  everlasting  destruction." 

Thus  terminated  one  of  the  most  exciting  discussions  ever 
before  carried  on  in  New  England.  So  far  as  the  particulars 
of  it  have  come  to  us,  it  is  very  evident,  that  Roger  Williams 
had  thought  much  on  the  subject,  and  brought  strong  arguments 
to  substantiate  his  charges  against  the  Quakers.  Over  these  he 
had  an  advantage  in  the  order  of  his  facts  and  reasons,  and 
consequently  had  the  better  of  the  controversy.  One  cause  not 
only  of  their  failure,  but  also  most  of  their  writers,  to  confirm  what 
they  hold  as  the  truth  of  their  system,  was,  that  they  trusted  too 
much  to  the  impulse  of  present  feeling,  which  they  supposed  was 
the  instruction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  too  little  to  deliberate  con- 
sideration and  logical  arrangement,  both  entirely  consistent  with 
the  aid  of  this  Divine  Teacher.* 

About  this  date,  Roger  Williams,  in  his  "  Strictures  on  George 
Fox  and  his  followers,"  compares  the  maledictions  of  them  with 
those  of  Reeves  and  Muggleton,  who  pretended  to  be  the  two 
last  prophets  and  witnesses.  He  observes  of  these  two  persons : 
"  Thus,  about  twenty  years  ago,  did  the  poor  cheated  souls  in  Lon- 

*  George  Fox  digged  out  of  his  Burrows,  New  England  Fire-brand  Quenched. 


Till:   ru  kit.it  OP   PRTJDBNCB.  649 

i67a] 

clou,  thunder  out  their  eternal  sentence  of  damnation  upon  the 
souls  ot*  their  oppootet,  and  that  with  such  seriousness,  confidence 
and  majesty,  that  1  have  known  solid  Christians  put  into  a  fright 
by  them."  He  adds:  "A  few  years  lince,  two  .Maries  (Quakers, 
from  London,  called  on  me  and  hade  me  repent  and  receive  the 
true  light,  CUIBed  me  lor  my  admonitions,  and  hastened  to  J Jar- 
badoes.  On  their  passage,  they  promised  the  crew  that  not  a  hair 
of  their  head  should  perish,  it'  they  would  fight  a  Dutch  vessel, 
which  attacked  them."     Both  of  these  women  were  then  killed.* 

August  L&  William  Coddington  addresses  Richard  Bellingham, 
Simon  Bradstreet  and  William  Hawthorn,  as  members  of  Massa- 
chusetts Government,  relative  to  ten  pounds'  worth  of  Quaker  books, 
which  he  had,  years  before,  expected  from  Barbadoes,  but  which 
were  through  mistake  landed  at  Piscataqua,  and  thence  brought  to 
Boston.  He  also  accompanies  remarks  on  this  subject,  with  others 
of  rebuke  for  treatment  of  the  Quakers,  as  a  denomination,  which 
he  had  professed.  In  another  letter  of  next  October  20,  Codding- 
ton complains  that  Bellingham  had  burnt  up  his  first  communica- 
tion. 

November  6.  The  Assembly  nullify  the  procedure  of  Capt.  John 
Green,  one  of  the  Assistants,  who  had  authorized  a  bill  of  divorce- 
ment between  Richard  Pray  and  Mary  Pray,  and  declare  their 
abhorrence  of  all  such  transactions.  They  command  their  declara- 
tion against  liberty  of  this  kind  to  be  sent  to  all  the  towns,  "  that 
they  may  know  we  endeavor  good  law,  all  men's  peace  and  safety, 
but  no  man's  vice." 

1673.  May  7.  The  Assembly  appoint  a  committee  f  to  confer 
with  the  Indian  Sachems,  on  "  some  way  to  prevent  the  extreme 
excess  of  the  Indians'  drunkenness,  that  so,  if  possible,  such  enor- 
mities as  thereupon  ensue,  may  be  prevented." 

August  13.  The  Assembly  at  Newport,  having  been  informed 
that  the  Dutch  had  taken  New  York  on  the  30th  ult,  order  further 

*  George  Fox  Digged  out  of  his  Burrows,  p.  15,  27.  f  Rec.  of  R.  I. 

Xote. — 1672,  Nov.  6.  Block  Island,  granted  in  16-58,  by  Massachusetts,  to 
John  Endicott,  Richard  Bellingham,  Daniel  Dennison  and  William  Hawthorn, 
is  now  incorporated  by  Pchode  Island  Assembly,  under  the  name  of  Xew 
Shoreham. 

1673,  May  7.  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Portsmouth,  sentenced  to  death  for  the  mur- 
der of  his  mother,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Cornell,  had  his  estate  seized  by  the  Assembly. 
These,  for  the  sake  of  his  wife  and  children,  order  the  Town  Council  to  make  a 
will  and  divide  it  among  said  relatives  of  the  criminal,  and  supply  them  out  of 
its  amount.  Cornell  had  petitioned  the  Assembly  that  his  body  might  be  laid 
by  his  mother's  ;  but  they  refused.  They  permitted  that  his  remains  might  be 
deposited  at  the  upper  end  of  the  land  he  had  forfeited,  within  twenty  feet  of 
the  common  road,  where,  if  they  see  fit,  they  may  have  monuments  set  up,  as 
warnings.     Otherwise,  his  body  is  to  be  laid  under  or  near  the  gallows. 

Four  pounds  (£4)  are  allowed  the  "  General  Sergeant  for  the  execution  of 
Thomas  Cornell  and  the  Indian  Punean."  Under  March,  1673,  Rev.  Mr.  Brad- 
street's  journal  says:  "A  man  was  hanged  at  Rhode  Island  for  killing  his 
mother." 


550  PROMISES  MADE  FOR  QUAKERS. 

[R.I. 

preparations  to  be  made  for  defense.  They  provide  that  men 
raised  for  this  purpose  and  disabled,  shall  have  a  pension  ;  and 
those  killed,  shall  be  remembered,  so  that  relatives  who  depended  for 
support  on  them,  shall  have  assistance.  They  excuse  all  persons 
from  military  duty,  whose  conscience  is  opposed  to  training,  fight- 
ing and  killing.     This  they  do  under  a  long  argument. 

October  16.  Giles  Slocum,  Sen.,  and  his  wife  Joan,  and  their 
children,  Giles  Slocum,  Jacob  and  Joanna  Moot,  are  excommuni- 
cated from  Mr.  Clarke's  church*  at  Newport,  "for  embracing  the 
soul-endangering  error,  that  the  Man  Christ  Jesus  was  not  in 
heaven,  nor  earth,  nor  anywhere  ;  that  his  body  was  entirely  lost ; 
and  they  fell  in  with  the  sad  principles  of  Quakerism  in  the  early 
days  of  its  spreading  in  this  Colony." 

29.  John  Clark  lays  his  claim  before  the  Assembly  for  £450 
sterling  still  due  him  for  his  mission  to  England  ;  but  while  they 
desire  that  they  may  appoint  some  one  to  inquire  how  the  debt 
came  to  be  so  large,  they  do  not  think  it  is. 

1674.  May  11.  A  writer  in  Boston,f  to  whom  William  Cod- 
dington,  of  Rhode  Island,  had  addressed  a  salutation  about  "  the 
enemy's  taking  a  sloop,  etc.,"  replies  that  he  had  handed  it  to  Mr. 
Bradstreet.  He  notices  some  remarks  of  Coddington  concerning 
persecution.  This  calls  forth  the  latter  at  large,  and  he  contends 
that  persecution  has  existed  in  New  England.  He  remarks  :  "Our 
profession  in  England,  which  thou  mentionest,  about  fifty  years  ago, 
was  far  before  yours  in  the  Massachusetts.  We  stood  together  for 
the  public  good.  I  was  one  of  those  many  Lincolnshire  gentlemen, 
so  called,  that  denied  the  royal  law,  and  suffered  for  it  in  King 
Charles  the  First's  days,  and  bishops' and  ceremonies  were  denied 
by  us  and  all  evils.  Assure  thyself  I  am  supported  by  that  Power, 
that  I  shall  never  dishonor  my  grey  hairs  to  come  to  you,  for  I 
am  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  that  worship  him  in  spirit,  rejoice  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  your  fleshly  wisdom." 
With  respect*  to  his  belief  that  the  world  would  embrace  Quaker- 
ism, he  says  :  "  Blessed  be  God,  that  so  many  have  come  to  the 
sun-rising,  which  shall  rise  more  and  more,  until  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  Behold,  ye 
despisers,  and  wonder !  "     This  prediction  has  not  proved  correct. 

At  the  close  of  this  year,+  the  family  of  James  Rogers,  of  New 
London,  desire  Mr.  Crandal  to  come  from  Westerly  and  preach  for 

*  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc.  MSS.     f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  265-70.     J  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  473. 

Note. — 1673,  Oct.  23.  For  the  trial  of  the  Indian  Iankesick,  in  prison  for 
the  murder  of  Ossawan,  an  Indian,  the  Assembly  order  a  jury  of  six  English- 
men and  six  Indians  to  try  him.  They  order  that  in  this  and  all  other  cases, 
Indians  may  give  testimony. 

1674,  May  18.  The  Assembly,  being  desired  by  Canonicus,  chief  sachem  of  the 
Xarragansets,  that  he  may  have  the  body  of  "  the  Indian  called  the  Old  Man, 
alias  Poagnett,"  when  he  is  hanged  and  dead,  grant  the  request. 


INDIAN    PREJUDICE  TO  THE  QOSFEL.  551 

107]. j 

them.  I  Ce  complied!  and  baptized  John  and  James  Rogers,  Bona  of 
the  former,  and  an  Indian  called  Japheth,  as  Seventh-da)  Baptists. 

Giving  an  account,  this  year,  of  missions  among  the  Indians  of 
New  England,*  Geokin  makes  the  subsequent  statements.  Several 
of  the  English  in  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  "  arc 
skillful  in  the  Indian  tongue,  especially  Mr.  Williams."  The  last 
has  preached  to  some  of  the  Indians  in  his  neighborhood,  but  it  is 
not  known  that  any  of  them  have  become  Christians.  Such  natives 
are  uncommonly  averse  to  embracing  the  gospel.  For  this,  Geokin 
assigns  the  following  reasons:  "First,  the  averseness  of  their 
sachems.  Secondly,  the  bad  example  of  the  English  in  those 
parts,  where  civil  government  and  religion  among  the  English, 
run  very  low.  Those  two  orders  of  magistracy  and  ministry,  are 
as  Jachin  and  Boaz,  strength  and  stability,  upon  which  the  happi- 
ness and  prosperity  of  any  people  doth,  under  God,  depend ;  and 
where  these  are  wanting  in  splendor  and  beauty,  I  never  promise 
myself  to  see  any  great  honor  or  good  to  such  people." 

The  communication  made  by  Coddington  to  Bellingham,  Brad- 
street  and  Hawthorn,  in  1672,  about  Quaker  books  and  punish- 
ment, is  issued  from  the  press.  It  composes  twenty  pages,  small 
quarto.  Its  title-page  is,  "  A  Demonstration  of  True  Love  unto 
you,  the  Rulers  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts,  in  New  England." 
It  contains  some  valuable  items  of  history,  and  the  discursive 
severity  of  style  then  usual  for  writers  of  his  sect. 


CONNECTICUT. 

1671.  May  1 1 .  The  Assembly  appoint  the  third  Wednesday  of 
June  for  a  public  Fast,f  because  of  divisions  and  decay  of  religion, 
growth  of  impiety  and  profaneness ;  and  to  implore  the  remission 
of  sins  from  the  Lord,  and  that  he  would  "  pour  forth  a  spirit  of 
conversion  upon  the  present  and  rising  generation,"  and  "  prosper 
the  work  now  begun  among  the  Indians  in  this  Colony,  that  if  it 
be  his  holy  will  they  may  become  subjects  to  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus." 

They  express  their  pleasure  in  being  assured  that  Uncas  and 
Ovvanecoe,  with  some  of  their  people,  have  been  persuaded  to  hear 
the  gospel  from  Rev.  James  Fitch  and  others.  They  "  declare  to 
all  these  people,  both  Sachems  and  others,"  who  are  ready  to 
attend  on  Christian  instruction,  that  they  will  encourage  them 
therein.  They  conclude  to  request t  the  Commissioners,  that  they 
would  employ  Mr.  Fitch  for  such  a  purpose.  It  must  have  been 
very  gratifying  to  them  to  perceive  such  indications  in  those  chiefs, 

*  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  210.  f  Conn.  Col.  Rec. 


552  CHARITY  TO   MINISTERS'   FAMILIES. 

[Conn. 

while  Philip  was  giving  much  trouble  to  Plymouth  by  his  anti- 
Christian  policy. 

They  appoint  a  committee  to  visit  Rye,  and  endeavor  to  settle 
difficulties  there.  They  also  instruct  them  to  give  their  assistance 
for  obtaining  "an  able  and  orthodox  minister  "  to  settle  there;  and 
if  the  people  of  the  town  will  not  co-operate  with  them,  they  are 
authorized  to  agree  with  such  a  preacher,  so  that  he  may  dispense 
the  gospel  for  £40  a  year  to  the  inhabitants,  and  this  sum  shall  be 
assessed  upon  them  with  their  colonial  rate.  This  was  plainly 
telling  the  people,  that  if  they  would  not  maintain  religious  institu- 
tions, as  their  best  safeguard,  the  rulers  would  interpose  and  com- 
pel them  to  perform  the  duty.* 

For  the  encouragement  of  Daniel  Porter,  the  Assembly  increase 
his  salary  from  £6  to  £12,  for  service  to  the  Colony  in  setting 
bones,  etc.,  and  they  "  advise  him  to  instruct  some  meet  person  in 
his  art.f 

September  4.  John  Eliot  states  to  the  Commissioners,  that  Mr. 
Pitch  "  holds  a  lecture  at  his  own  house  every  fortnight,"  to  in- 
struct "  Monohegan  "  Indians.  " Uncas  and  his  son  have  promised 
to  attend  it.  This,  Mr.  Fitch  by  his  letters  of  Uncas5  coming  in, 
is  a  great  matter.  I  desire  the  work  may  be  countenanced  and 
supported  in  that  end  of  the  country.  It  may  by  God's  blessing 
have  influence  upon  the  Manquags.  Touching  the  state  of  the 
work  at  Long  Island,  in  the  hand  of  Mr.  James,  I  have  nothing  as 
yet  this  year." 

This  year  Mr.  Fitch  delivered  the  following  discourse  :  +  " { Peace, 
the  end  of  the  perfect  and  upright,'  preached  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  decease  of  that  piously  affected  and  truly  religious  matron,  Mrs. 
Anne  Mason ;  sometime  wife  to  Major  Mason,  who  not  long  after 
finished  his  course  and  is  now  at  rest." 

John  Sherman,  one  of  the  licensers  for  the  press,  gives  an  intro- 
duction to  the  discourse,  and  speaks  of  Mrs.  Mason's  "life  and 
death"  as  "exemplary  and  instructive." 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Hooker  to  the  New  Haven  church, §  says: 
"Mr.  Caryl,  Mr.  Newman  and  myself,  have  received  sugars  from 
Barbadoes,  to  the  value  of  about  £90,  and  have  disposed  of  it  to  the 
several  poor  ministers,  and  ministers'  widows.  And  this  fruit  of 
your  bounty  is  very  thankfully  received  and  acknowledged  by  us. 
And  the  good  Lord  make  all  grace  to  abound  towards  you."  This 
charity  was  contributed  on  the  annual  Thanksgiving  of  1665,  in 
grain  and  other  commodities,  for  ejected  ministers  and  their  families 
in  England.  The  donations  so  collected,  were  exchanged  at  Bar- 
badoes for  sugar,  which  was  disposed  of  as  already  described. 
Thus  the  benefaction  was  completed  after  the  lapse  of  several  years. 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.         f  Ibid.         J  It  was  printed  at  Cambridge,  Ms.,  1672. 
§  Town  Records.     Bacon's  Discourses,  p.  157,  8. 


DECEASE  OP  John    liASON. 
1678.] 

1672.      January  80.    John    Mason,   as   the   journal    of    low    Mr. 

Bradstreet  states,  having  greatly  suffered  the  two  or  three  last 
his  life,  with  the  strangury,  dies  with  much  Spiritual 
"comfort,  anil  assured  it  would  he  well  with  him."  Bradstreet 
puts  the  age  of  Ma>on  at  ahout  seventy,  others  seventy-two.  Casting 
in  his  lot  with  those  who  desired  and  endeavored  to  found  a  reli- 
gious Commonwealth  in  Massachusetts,  he  came  to  this  country,* 
and  settled  at  Dorchester.  There  he  was  admitted  freeman,  1635, 
and  the  s.tnie  year  and  the  next,  was  a  deputy  of  the  General  Court. 
When  the  Rev.  Mr.  Warham  left  that  place  for  Windsor,  1(530, 
Mason  accompanied  him.  Well  for  the  Colonists  of  Connecticut, 
that  he  was  with  them.  The  Pequods  had  assumed  so  bold  and 
murderous  a  stand,  that  the  English  were  compelled  to  war  against 
them,  or  perish  themselves.  In  1637,  Mason,  with  a  small  but 
intrepid  band,  gained  a  signal  victory  over  these  enemies.  After 
recounting  the  events  of  this  campaign,  he  says :  "  Thus  was  God 
in  the  mount,  crushing  his  proud  enemies  and  the  enemies  of  his 
people.  It  is  He  that  hath  made  this  work  wonderful,  and  there- 
fore ought  to  be  remembered."  He  continued  to  be  one  of  the 
main  stays  of  the  Colony  for  a  long  period.  He  removed  to  Say- 
brook,  1647,  and  to  Norwich,  1659.  He  was  chosen  magistrate 
from  1642  to  1659,  and  Deputy  Governor,  1660  to  1669,  inclusive. 
He  was  also  a  Major  General.  He  left  sons  Samuel,  John  and 
Daniel.  He  appears  to  have  been  providentially  raised  up  to  meet 
the  perilous  necessities  of  Connecticut. 

Prince  observed :  "I  have  often  thought  what  a  special  favor  it 
was,  that  there  came  over  with  the  first  settlers  of  Plymouth  and 
Connecticut  Colonies,  which  in  those  times  were  especially  exposed 
to  the  superior  power  of  the  barbarians  round  them,  two  brave 
Englishmen,  bred  to  arms  in  the  Dutch  Netherlands,  viz.,  Capt. 
Miles  Standish,  of  Plymouth,  and  Capt.  John  Mason,  of  Connec- 
ticut ;  gentlemen  of  tried  valor,  military  skill  and  conduct,  great 
activity  and  warm  zeal  for  that  noble  cause  of  pure  Scriptural  Reli- 
gion and  Religious  Liberty,  which  were  the  chief  original  design 
and  interest  of  the  Fathers  of  these  Plantations,  and  who  were  acted 
with  such  eminent  degrees  of  faith  and  piety,  as  excited  them  to 
the  most  daring  enterprises  in  the  cause  of  God  and  of  his  people, 
and  went  a  great  way  to  their  wonderful  successes." 

March  4.  Abraham  Pierson,  Jr.,  Harvard  College,  1668,  is  set- 
tled at  Newark,f  N.  J.,  as  colleague  with  his  father,  whom  he  began 
to  assist  in  preaching,  July  26,  1669.  In  1673,  Messrs.  Jasper 
Crane,  John  Ogden,  Robert  Bond,  Obadiah  Brewen,  and  Abraham 
Pierson,  "  with'  many  loving  neighbors  and  friends,"  are  recom- 
mended by  Messrs.  Samuel  Willis  and  John  Winthrop,  to  Sir 
George  Cartaret,  as  emigrants  to  his  Province. 

*  Prince's  Introduction  to  Mason's  Pequod  War. 

t  Lambert's  New  Haven,  p.  150.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  3  s.  vol.  x.  p.  84. 
70 


554  WIFE   OF  COL.   GOFFE. 

[Conn. 

April  27.  The  wife  of  Colonel  Goffe,  called  by  his  political  op- 
ponents a  regicide,  writes  from  London  to  him  as  at  Hadley. 
She  speaks  of  her  sorrows  through  his  absence,  but  of  her  consola- 
tion from  the  religion  of  Christ.  She  states  as  a  fact  of  spiritual 
and  mutual  joy,  that  their  daughter  had  recently  united  with  a 
church.  She  mentions  that  supplies  had  been  sent  to  him,  and 
desires  that  when  he  and  her  father,  Whalley,  wished  for  more, 
she  may  be  informed.  Referring  to  the  late  allowance  from  the 
Crown  for  the  silenced  Congregational  ministers  to  preach,  she 
observes :  "  The  people  of  God  enjoy  much  liberty  at  present,  but 
what  the  issue  of  it  may  be,  the  Lord  knows."  She  cautions  him 
about  the  contents  of  his  letters  directed  to  her,  lest  they  may 
betray  him.  She  observes  :  "  I  shall  not  cease  to  pray  for  you  and 
all  the  people  of  the  Lord  with  you,  especially  for  those  that  show 
kindness  to  you,  to  whom  I  desire  to  be  remembered,  and  return 
hearty  thanks  for  all  their  great  love." 

September  6.  The  Commissioners*  of  the  Confederation  had 
paid  James  Fitch,  of  Norwich,  £31  10s.  for  labors  among  the  Mo- 
hegan  Indians,  being  the  amount  of  income  from  Mr.  Mouthe's 
donation  the  past  year,  for  so  beneficent  a  purpose.  They  had 
appropriated  £10  to  well-deserving  Indians,  who  assisted  him  in 
his  missionary  labors,  and  £10  to  worthy  Pequods  and  others  near 
them.  Gookin  says  of  Fitch  :  "  I  heard  that  this  good  man  doth 
put  forth  his  utmost  endeavors,"  so  far  as  the  duties  of  his  congre- 
gation will  allow,  "  to  teach  the  Indians,  and  that  some  are  hope- 
fully coming  on." 

October  10.  The  General  Court  order  a  copy  of  their  laws,  being 
viewed  and  approved,  to  be  printed.f  Trumbull  says  that  such 
acts  had  been  kept  hitherto  in  manuscript,  and  were  made  known 
by  being  publicly  read  in  the  respective  towns.  They  were  printed 
at  Cambridge,  early  the  next  year,  by  Samuel  Green.  The  Court, 
in  their  introduction  to  such  a  code,  observe :  "  We  have  endeav- 
ored not  only  to  ground  our  capital  laws  upon  the  Word  of  God, 
but  also  all  our  other  laws  upon  due  justice  and  equity,  held  forth 
in  that  Word  which  is  a  most  perfect  rule."  They  add  :  "  Our 
whole  aim  in  all,  being  to  please  and  glorify  God,  to  approve  our- 
selves loyal  subjects  to  our  sovereign,  and  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  his  people  in  all  godliness  and  honesty,  in  peace,  which  will  be 
the  more  establishing  to  his  Majesty's  crown  and  dignity,  and  best 
answer  his  religious  direction  in  our  Charter.  And  that  pure 
religion  and  undefiled  before  God,  according  to  the  Gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus,  may  be  maintained  amongst  us,  which  was  the  end 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  432.  f  Hazard's  Coll.  vol.  ii.  p.  530,  1. 

Note. — May  9.  The  Legislature  grant  to  each  County  town  in  the  Counties 
of  Fairfield  and  New  London,  of  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  six  hundred  acres 
of  land  for  the  sole  use  of  a  grammar-school  forever. 


NKW    EDITION    OP    LAWS.  565 

1679L] 

of  the  first  planters  who  settled  these  foundations  ;  and  ought  to 
be  the  endeavor  of  those  that  shall  suceeed  to  uphold  and  encour- 
age unto  all  generations." 

Under  capital  laws,  idolatry,  blasphemy,  witchcraft,  cursing  or 
smiting  a  parent,  and  rebellion  against  father  or  mother,  are  pun- 
ishable with  death. 

The  laws  against  the  Quakers  and  their  books  or  manuscripts, 
u  Ranters,  Adamites  or  such  like,"  are  continued. 

Those  as  to  "embodying  into  church  estate  with  consent  of  the 
General  Court  and  neighboring  churches,"  and  allowance  of  "  no 
ministry  or  church  separate  from  and  in  opposition "  to  these, 
established  in  any  town,  except  by  the  like  approval,  "on  the 
penalty  of  five  pounds  for  every  breach  of  this  order,"  are  renewed. 
An  exception  to  the  last  clause  is,  that  orderly  religious  meetings 
may  be  held  for  fasts,  conferences,  etc.,  and  particularly  by  such  as 
are  hindered  from  attending  "  the  public  assembly,  by  weather  or 
water." 

The  Congregational  mode  of  worship  is  approved,  as  heretofore. 
u  But  as  sundry  persons  of  worth  for  prudence  and  piety  amongst 
us  are  otherwise  persuaded,"  they  "  being  approved  according  to 
law,  as  orthodox  and  sound  in  the  fundamentals  of  Christian 
religion,  may  have  allowance  in  their  persuasion  and  profession  in 
church  ways  or  assemblies  without  disturbance." 

For  the  first  contempt  shown  to  regular  preachers  and  their  doc- 
trine, the  offender  shall  be  reproved  and  bound  to  good  behavior  ; 
for  the  second,  he  shall  "pay  five  pounds,  or  stand  two  hours 
openly  upon  a  block  or  stool  four  feet  high,  upon  a  public  meeting- 
day,  with  a  paper  fixed  on  his  breast,  written  with  capital  letters, 
An  open  and  obstinate  contemner  of  God's  holy  ordinances." 

In  any  place  of  one  hundred  soldiers,  twenty  of  them,  in  full 
armor,  shall  guard  the  meeting-house  in  all  times  of  public  worship, 
and  in  no  place  shall  such  a  guard  be  less  than  eight  soldiers  and  a 
sergeant. 

Gaming  with  the  "  shuffle-board,  cards,  dice  or  tables,"  is  pro- 
hibited on  certain  penalties.  Whoever  is  found  drunk  in  a  private 
family  shall  pay  20/.,  and  the  head  of  the  family  where  he  is  so 
discovered,  shall  pay  10/.  Profanity  shall  be  on  penalty  of  10/., 
or  sitting  in  the  stocks  not  less  than  an  hour. 

All  persons  who  are  able  are  required,  as  previously,  to  attend 
public  worship  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  days, 
and  to  cease  from  play  and  unnecessary  work  on  the  Sabbath,  on 
penalty  of  5/.  for  each  trespass. 

The  civil  authorities  are  empowered  "to  see  the  peace,  ordi- 
nances and  rules  of  Christ  observed  in  every  church  according  to 
his  Word."  They  may  deal  with  church  members  for  offenses,  in 
a  legal  manner,  and  churches  may  deal  with  them,  as  members 
thereof,  for  a  like  cause^  in  an  ecclesiastical  way. 


556  NO   WORSHIP  TO  FALSE  GODS. 

[Conn. 

With  regard  to  the  original  proprietors  of  the  soil,  the  authorities 
take  the  following  action.  "  This  Court,  judging  it  meet  that  some 
means  should  be  used  to  convey  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  his 
Word  to  the  Indians  and  natives  amongst  us,  do  order  that  one  or 
more  of  the  teaching  elders  of  the  churches  in  this  jurisdiction, 
with  the  help  of  an  able  interpreter,  shall  be  desired  as  often  as  he 
may,  in  every  year,  to  go  amongst  the  neighboring  Indians  and 
endeavor  to  make  known  to  them  the  counsels  of  the  Lord,  thereby 
to  draw  and  stir  them  up  to  direct  and  order  all  their  ways  and 
conversations  according  to  the  rule  of  his  Word ;  and  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Deputy  Governor,  and  other  magistrates,  are  desired  to 
take  care  to  see  the  thing  attended,  and  with  their  own  presence,  so 
far  as  may  be  convenient,  to  encourage  the  same." 

All  Indians  who  labor  or  play  on  the  Sabbath  within  the  Colony, 
"  shall  pay  5/.,  or  sit  in  the  stocks  one  hour."  "  No  Indian  shall 
at  any  time  powow  or  perform  outward  worship  to  false  gods  or 
to  the  devil,  within  this  jurisdiction,  upon  the  penalty  of  five 
pounds  by  every  such  powow,  and  20 j.  by  every  person  of  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  that  shall  countenance  the  same  by  his 
presence." 

17.  That  the  people  might  have  the  laws  enacted  for  their  ben- 
efit continually  before  them,  the  Court  order  that  every  family 
shall  purchase  a  book  containing  them,  and  pay  for  it  in  silver  or 
wheat.  The  constables  of  the  several  towns  are  required  to  see 
that  this  rule  is  observed.  They  set  the  price  of  the  book  at  12d. 
in  silver,  or  one  and  a  half  pecks  of  wheat,  or  two-thirds  of  a  bushel 
of  peas,  at  Ss.  a  bushel.* 

This  year  John  Youngs,  who  became  the  minister  of  Southold, 
Long  Island,  under  the  protection  of  New  Haven  Colony,  1640, 
dies  in  that  town,  aged  seventy-four  years.  He  left  wife,  Mary, 
and  sons,  John,  Thomas  and  Benjamin,  and  daughters.  He  came 
from  Hingham,  England,  to  help  plant  and  spread  the  gospel  in  a 
new  world,  and  he  ever  remained  faithful  to  his  sacred  purpose. 

Soon  after  his  decease,  his  people  sent  messengers  to  Boston  for 
a  preacher,  and  returned  with  Joshua  Hobart,  who  became  their 
pastor.  He  was  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Hobart,  settled  at  Hingham, 
Massachusetts,  born  1628,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1650, 
and  had  preached  at  Beverly  and  other  places.f 

1673.  June  7.  The  following  J  is  the  contract  of  Uncas  to 
hear  the  Gospel :  "  Be  it  known  to  all  men,  and  in  special  to  the 
authority  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  That  I,  Uncas,  Sachem  of 
the  Munheags,  now  resident  in  Pamechaug,  doe  by  these  presents 
firmly  engage  and  binde  myselfe,  that  I  will  from  time  to  time  and 
at  all  times  hereafter,  in  a  constant  way  and  manner,  attend  upon 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.  f  Thompson's  Long  Island,  vol.  i.  p.  395. 

%  Coit  Oilman's  Discourse,  p.  12,  13. 


IHK   ENGAGEMENT  OF   im 
1674.] 

Mr,  James  Fitch,  Minister  of  Norwich,  at  all  sueh  seasons  as  he 
shall  appoint  for  preaching  to  and  praying  with  the  Indians,  either 
at  niv  now  residence,  or  H  heresover  els  he  shall  appoint  for  that 
holy  service  ;  and  further,  I  doe  faithfully  promis  to  command  all 
my  people  to  attend  the  same,  in  a  constant  way  and  solemn  manner, 
at  all  sueh  times  as  shall  be  sett  by  the  sayd  Mr.  James  Fitch,  Min- 
ister ;  alsoe  I  promis,  that  I  will  not  by  any  wayes  or  meanes  what 
soe  ever,  either  privatly  or  openly,  use  any  plots  or  contriveances, 
by  words  or  actions,  to  affright  or  discourage  any  of  my  people  or 
others,  from  attending  the  good  work  aforesayd,  upon  penalty  of 
suffering  the  most  grevious  punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  upon 
me ;  and  lastly,  I  promis  to  encourage  all  my  people,  by  all  good 
wayes  and  meanes  I  can,  in  the  due  observance  of  such  directions 
and  instructions,  as  shall  be  presented  to  them  by  the  sayd  Mr. 
James  Fitch,  aforesayd.  And  to  the  truth  hereof,  this  seventh  day 
of  June,  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  seventy  and  three, 
I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  or  mark. 

"Witnessed  by  us,  Mark 

John  Tallcott,  The      ><!      of  Uncas, 

Ths  :  Stanton,  Ser.  of  Uncas." 

Samuell  Mason. 

August  27.  The  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies*  approve 
of  the  communication  made  by  the  Assembly  to  the  Dutch  on  the 
7th  instant.  They  declare  that  according  to  their  articles  of  con- 
federation, they  shall  always  "  account  the  damage  or  spoil,  done 
to  any  one  member,  as  done  to  the  whole,  and  are  therefore  firmly 
resolved,  in  confidence  of  divine  assistance,  accordingly  to  demean 
themselves." 

October  18.  The  Assembly  recommend  to  the  churches  and  con- 
gregations "  most  seriously  to  bear  on  their  hearts  the  troublesome 
and  hazardous  affairs  and  interests  of  the  people  of  God  throughout 
the  world  in  general,  and  in  particular  our  own  nation,  and  to  ob- 
serve some  day  or  days  of  humiliation  and  prayer  this  winter  season." 

In  this  year,  the  Rogereens,  or  followers  of  John  Rogers,  of 
New  London,  who  worshiped  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but 
worked  on  it  as  other  days,  gave  evidence  of  their  persistency  in 
such  a  persuasion. f  James  Rogers,  Jr.,  for  sailing  in  a  vessel; 
Edward  Stallion,  for  similar  action,  from  New  London  to  Norwich; 
and  Steven  Chalker,  for  driving  cattle  on  the  Lord's  day,  are  fined, 
the  first -20/.,  the  second  40/.,  and  the  third  20/. 

1674.  April  22.  Nicholas  Street,  who  came  from  Taunton  to 
New  Haven,  and  after  preaching  as  a  candidate,  was  installed  col- 
league to  John  Davenport,  26th  of  November,  1659,  is  summoned 
to  close  his  life.     His  first  wife  was  sister  to  Elizabeth  Poole,  one 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.     Appendix,  p.  563.       f  Caulkins's  New  London,  p.  251. 


558  DEATH  OF  NICHOLAS  STREET. 

[Conn. 

of  the  principal  founders  of  Taunton.  His  second  wife  was  the 
widow  of  Governor  Newman.  Of  his  children  were  one  son  and 
four  daughters,  all  married.  His  "  Considerations  upon  the  Seven 
Propositions  concluded  by  the  Synod,"  and  published  as  an  appen- 
dix to  Davenport's  work  on  the  same  subject,  "  shows  great  clear- 
ness of  thought."  With  reference  to  such  a  publication,  Mr.  Street 
wrote  a  letter,  in  the  Mather  papers,  to  Samuel  Bache,  of  Boston, 
dated  15th  of  May,  1666,  and  expressed  himself  as  follows :  "  I 
had  never  a  stronger  bent  in  my  spirit  to  any  undertaking  and  had 
a  great  conflict  upon  some  account,  too  large  to  write,  which  did 
drive  me  to  God  to  seek  direction,  guidance  and  help  of  Him, 
without  which  I  can  do  nothing,  being  nothing  in  and  of  myself, 
and  He  hath  graciously  answered  me. — If  I  could  call  any  thing 
that  came  from  me,  the  child  of  my  prayers  and  tears,  I  can  this." 
Mr.  Street  being  chosen  by  the  New  Haven  church  successor  to 
Mr.  Hooke  and  colleague  to  Mr.  Davenport,  strongly  indicated 
that  he  was  accounted  as  of  more  than  ordinary  talents,  knowledge 
and  piety.  From  his  composition,  he  evidently  cherished  the 
motives  commended  by  Christ,  and  which  led  him  to  a  faithful 
compliance  with  his  commission  to  preach  the  gospel. 

May  14.  The  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  begin  their 
session.  James  Fitch,  of  Norwich,  preaches  the  Election  Sermon. 
The  text  was  Zechariah  ii.  5, — and  the  doctrine,  "  When  the  Lord 
is  the  glory  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  then  he  will  be  a  wall  of 
fire  round  about  them."  An  address  to  the  reader  is  signed  by 
John  Whiting  and  Joseph  Haines,  "  The  great  work  still  remains, 
that  we  believe  in  earnest,  and  demean  ourselves  as  believing,  that 
our  all  is  in  the  hand  of  God.  In  respect  of  glory  and  defense,  we 
stand  and  fall  therein,  as  his  pleasure  is  to  deal  with  us."  The 
preacher  remarks  :  "  We  live  in  perilous  days.  Are  some  storms 
blown  over  ?  Worse  than  those  may  soon  come  upon  New  Eng- 
land. Will  the  Lord  be  a  pillar  of  fire  round  about  New  England  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  depends  upon  an  answer  to  another 
question,  Whether  the  Lord  be  the  glory  in  the  midst  of  his 
churches  in  New  England  ?  Let  us  call  to  mind  the  first  glory  in 
the  first  planting  of  New  England,  and  of  the  churches  here.  Let 
me  say  multitudes,  multitudes  were  converted  to  thee,  even  to  thee, 
O  Hartford,  to  thee,  O  New  Haven,  and  to  thee,  0  Windsor,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  many  churches  of  Christ  in  New  England. 
The  Lord  will  not  be  engaged  to  defend  us,  if  we  do  not  keep  his 
glory  in  the  midst  of  us.  He  will  not  account  it  honorable  to  keep 
house,  if  the  house  be  filled  only  or  principally  with  vessels  of 
dishonor  and  reproach.  Let  us  consider,  by  way  of  comfort  to 
those  who  are  faithful  in  this  matter  of  holding  up  his  glory  among 
them,  according  to  the  measure  of  their  abilities  and  opportunities, 
in  public  or  private  occasions  or  concernments  :  the  Lord  knows 


MISSIONARY    VISIT. 

1674.] 

vou  have  a  hard  work  in  hand,  ami  much   opposition  from  without 

and  within,  hut  this  is  your  comfort,  the  Lord  ia  your  defei 

Lb  a  matter  Buited  to  diminish  their  anxiety,  and  increase  their 
hope  for  the  church,  the  Assembly4  had  oewa  from  Massachusetts, 

that  peace  had  taken  place  between  the  English  and  Dutch. 

li>.  Southampton,  Easthampton  and  Southold,  on  the  East  end 
of  Long  Island,  who  had  been  assisted  by  Connecticut  against  the 
attacks  of  the  Dutch,  desire  to  remain  under  their  jurisdiction,  and 
are  allowed  ;  and  twenty  Commissioners  are  appointed  to  keep  a 
County  Court  among  them. 

££.  The  Court  request  Eliphalet  Joanes  to  dispense  the  gospel 
to  the  people  of  Rye,  once  a  fortnight,  on  the  Lord's  day,  till  their 
session  in  October,  when  they  will  make  further  provision.f  He 
wa^  presented  for  a  freeman  of  Fairfield,  May  13,  1669. 

According  to  a  petition  of  Wickford,+  the  Assembly  order  that 
government  be  settled  there  and  other  places  where  needed,  and 
"  throughout  New  London  County  and  the  Narragansett  "  territory, 
that  the  people  there  "  might  not  live  in  dissolute  practice,  to  the 
dishonor  of  God,  of  the  king  and  nation,  and  to  the  scandalizing  of 
the  very  heathen." 

In  this  month,  Zachariah  Walker  and  his  supporters  move  §  from 
Stratford  and  settle  at  Paumperaug,  called  Woodbury,  and  are 
released  from  rates  four  years,  as  they  had  been  already  two. 
Thus  a  quietus  is  given  to  the  protracted  troubles  in  the  former 
town.  He  and  Mr.  Chauncy  afterwards  apologized  to  each  other 
for  faults  in  their  controversy,  and  so  far  as  brought  to  act  in  con- 
cert, they  did  it  with  brotherly  affection. 

September.  Robert  Fordham  dies.  ||  He  was  the  second  minister 
of  Southampton,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut  and  situated 
on  Long  Island.  His  wife's  name  was  Elizabeth.  He  left  several 
children,  of  whom  was  Jonah,  minister  awhile  at  Hempstead. 
"  Traditions,"  as  Thompson  observes,  "  prove  that  he  possessed  an 
amiable  disposition,  a  character  unexceptionable,  and  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  pastoral  duties,  gave  general  satisfaction." 

September  15.  Messrs.  John  Eliot  and  Daniel  Gookin,  on  a 
visit  to  Indian  settlements,  under  Christian  instruction,  reach  one 
of  two  such  places  in  Woodstock,  then  in  Massachusetts,  but  sub- 
sequently in  Connecticut.  One  of  them  had  one  hundred,  and  the 
other  one  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants.  For  the  former,  they 
appoint  Daniel,  a  young  man  from  Natick,  as  a  minister.  At  the 
latter,  Sampson,  from  Hassanamesitt,  preached  the  gospel.^i  The 
visitors  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  night  at  the  Sagamore's  wig- 
wam, where  some  of  the  principal  people  assembled  in   prayer, 


*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.         f  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  J  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  341. 

§  Conn.  Col.  Rec.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  490,  1.  ||  Thompson's  L.  I.  vol. 

i.  p.  337,  8.  If  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  i.  p.  190,  2. 


560  SACHEMS   JEALOUS   OF  MISSIONARIES. 

[Co>->\ 

singing  psalms  and  exhortation.  A  person  present,  who  had  said 
nothing,  broke  silence  and  remarked  that  he  was  a  messenger  from 
Uncas,  sachem  of  Mohegan,  who  claimed  jurisdiction  over  Wab- 
quissit,  where  they  were,  and  who  was  "  not  well  pleased  that  the 
English  should  pass  over  Mohegan  river,  to  call  his  Indians  to 
pray  to  God."  Mr.  Eliot  replied  that  his  duty  was  to  preach  the 
gospel  wherever  he  had  opportunity,  especially  to  Indians ;  that  he 
had  no  design  to  meddle  with  civil  jurisdiction.  Mr.  Gookin  ob- 
served that  Massachusetts  included  the  place,  but  had  neither 
taxed  the  people,  nor  purposed  to  prevent  the  payment  of  tribute, 
which  they  might  justly  owe  any  sachem;  and  that  their  chief  ob- 
ject was  to  have  them  taught  in  gospel  doctrines,  forsake  their 
iniquities,  and  become  the  followers  of  Christ.  On  the  16th,  as 
soon  as  the  Indians  assembled,  Sampson  read  from  the  Bible,  and 
then  set  a  Psalm,  which  was  sung.  Mr.  Eliot  preached  from  Mat. 
vi.  33  :  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  the  righteousness 
thereof,  and  all  other  \hings  shall  be  added  unto  you."  The 
services  were  closed  with  prayer. 

Immediately  after  this,  Mr.  Gookin  opened  a  court,  confirmed 
Sampson  as  their  teacher,  and  Black  James  as  their  constable,  and 
exhorted  them  to  be  faithful  in  their  offices.  He  addressed  the 
people  on  the  importance  of  obeying  the  gospel.  He  read  a  war- 
rant for  the  constable  to  "  suppress  drunkenness,  Sabbath-breaking, 
po  wo  wing  and  idolatry."     Then  Messrs.  Eliot  and  Gookin  left. 

October  8.  The  General  Court  allow*  Joshua,  sachem  of  Ny- 
antick,  to  buy  two  horses,  one  for  himself  and  another  for  his  inter- 
preter, so  that  he  may  attend  the  meetings  of  Mr.  Fitch. 

A  Committee  of  the  Court  are  to  try  for  an  adjustment  of  diffi- 
culties between  Samuel  AVakeman  and  his  people  of  Fairfield,  and 
obtainment  of  a  minister  for  Eye. 

In  the  close  of  this  year,  James  Rogers,  of  New  London,f  in- 
vited Mr.  Crandal,  a  Seventh-day  Baptist,  to  come  from  Westerly 
and  preach,  which  he  did,  and  baptized  John  and  James,  sons  of 
the  former,  and  Japheth,  an  Indian.  Mr.  Bradstreet,  minister  of 
Newport,  used  endeavors  to  counteract  such  a  procedure. 

31.  Commissioned  by  the  Duke  of  York  as  Governor  of  his 
territory  bordering  on  Connecticut,  and,  by  claim  of  his  Patent, 
running  upon  it,  Edmund  Andros  enters  +  on  the  duties  of  his 
office.  Here  was  occasion  of  fear  and  dread  lest  the  circumstances 
under  which  Andros  became  such  a  neighbor,  would  result,  as 
thev  subsequently  did,  in  very  perilous  difficulties. 

November  20.  Daniel  Gookin  introduces  a  letter  from  the  Rev. 
James  Fitch,  Senior,  to  him,§  concerning  missionary  labors.  The 
writer  observes  that  the  Indians  of  Connecticut  and  Long  Island 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.        f  Backus,  i.  475.        i  Wood's  Long  Island,  p.  98,  9. 
§  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  Is.  vol.  i.  p.  208,  9. 


SACHEMS    OPPOSE   CIIKISTIAMTY    OF   SUBJECTS.         561 

1074] 

have  no  "inclination  to  hear  the  knowledge  of  God,"  and  thai 

Mr.  Pienon  formerly,  utter  frequent  trials,  met  with  similar  dis- 
couragement. He  states,  with  regard  to  himself,  that  his  first 
attempt  to  evangelize  some  of  them  was  at  Moheek,  "where 
Uncas,  his  son,  ami  Wanuho,  are  sachems;"  and  that  these  chiefs 
attended  on  his  instructions  until  they  perceived  that  Christianity 
was  something  more  than  mere  form,  and  required  the  surrender 
of  their  idols  and  tyrannical  powers ;  and  that  they  then  became 
the  violent  persecutors  of  those  among  them  who  met  to  hear  the 
teachings  of  Christianity.  He  further  relates  that  notwithstanding 
such  opposition,  a  few  had  waited  on  his  ministrations,  "  about  one 
year  and  a  half,"  and  that  they  had  increased  to  above  thirty  adults ; 
and  that  he  had  begun  to  teach  their  children.* 

Samuel,  son  of  Nicholas  Street,  H.  C,  1664,  who  began  to 
preach  at  Wallingford,  1674,  is  ordained  here.  He  married  Anna 
Miles,  Nov.  3,  1664,  and  subsequently,  Mardlin  Daniels  and  Hannah 
Glover,  by  all  of  whom  he  had  eleven  children.  In  connection 
with  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Street,  Trumbull  remarks  :  *  "  The 
Committee  of  New  Haven  for  settling  the  Town  of  Wallingford, 
wThich  wras  settled  1669,  for  the  safety  of  the  church  obliged  the 
undertakers  and  all  the  successive  planters  to  subscribe  the  follow- 
ing engagement,  viz.  :  " — "  He  or  they  shall  not  by  any  means 
disturb  the  church,  when  settled  there,  in  their  choice  of  minister 
or  ministers  or  other  church  officers  ;  or  in  any  other  church  rights, 
liberties  or  administrations  ;  nor  shall  withdraw  due  maintenance 
from  such  ministry." — "  This  shows  how  strongly  the  churches  in 
this  part  of  the  Colony  were  at  that  time  opposed  to  towns  and 
parishes'  having  anything  to  do  in  the  choice  of  a  minister,  or  in 
any  church  affairs." f 

*  Gookin's  Coll.     Mass.  His..  Soc.  Coll.  1  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  208,  9. 
f  Rev.  Dr.  Dana's  Centennial  Sermon.     Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  521. 

71 


CHAPTER    X. 

Massachusetts.  Nicholet  Troubles.  —  Sausaman  murdered.  —  College  Diffi- 
culties. —  Patent  in  Peril.  —  Papacy  in  England.  —  Publications.  —  Waban's 
Suspicion.  —  Oakes.  —  Election  Sermon.  —  Prelatical  Principles.  —  Witch- 
craft. —  Philip  begins  Hostilities.  —  Artillery  Election  Sermon.  —  Baptists.  — 
Christian  Indians.  —  Quakers.  —  Captive  Indians  as  Slaves.  — Reformation. 

—  Fast.  —  Praying  Indians.  —  Public  Sins.  —  Death  of  Hoar.  —  Andros.  — 
Extent  of  Indian  Conspiracy. — Eliot  to  Boyle.  —  Different  Colonists. — 
Jesuits. — Designs  of  Philip. — Mary  Rowlandson  captured.  —  Military 
Power  against  Civil  Power. — Renewal  of  Covenant.  —  Samuel  Willard. — 
Samuel  Nowell.  —  Edward  Taylor.  —  Impression  of  Piety.  —  Peter  Folger.  — 
Hubbard's  Election  Sermon.  — Prejudice  against  Christian  Indians  lessened. 

—  Insanity.  —  The  French  help  Hostile  Indians.  —  William  Turner.  —  Hope 
Atherton.  — Women  build  a  Fortification.  —  Enemy  discouraged.  —  Women 
kill  Two  Indians.  —  Quakers.  —  Randolph.  —  Reply  of  Elders.  —  Christian 
Indians  murdered.  —  Philip  killed. — Losses  in  the  War. — Address  to  the 
King.  —  Captives  to  be  transported.  —  Randolph's  Statement.  —  Account  of 
Praying  Indians.  —  Provisions  from  Ireland.  —  Publication.  —  Baptists.  — 
Indian  Preacher.  —  Christian  Indians  at  the  Vineyard.  —  Mohawks.  —  Irish 
Charity.  —  Mission.  —  Thomas  Parker.  —  Sympathy  for  New  England  —  John 
Fisk.  —  Settlement  of  Indian  Children. — Tythingmen. — Andros's  Rule  of 
Nantucket.  —  Edmund  Brown.  —  Committee  in  London  for  Harvard  College. 

—  Quakers.  —  Patent  imperiled.  —  Letters.  —  Election  Discourse.  —  Church 
Matters.  —  Indians.  —  History.  —  Mohawks.  —  Difficulty  with  the  Crown.  — 
Irregular  Church.  —  Waban.  —  Boyle  addressed.  —  Branch  Church. —  Thomas 
Shepard  dies.  —  Papal  Plot.  —  Question.  —  Regal  Interrogatories.  —  Joseph 
Brown  dies.  —  Captives.  —  Council.  — Oath.  —  Address  to  the  King.  — 
Thomas  Thacher  dies.  —  Church  Relation.  —  Publications.  Plymouth.  Di- 
vorce. —  Baptism.  —  Blackstone.  —  Sausamon.  —  Hicks.  —  Letters  of  Wins- 
low.' —  Report  on  Hostilities.  —  Cudworth  restored. — John  Holmes  and 
Thomas  Tupper  die. — Hospitality.  —  Right  as  to  Indian  land.  —  Renewal 
of  Covenants.  —  General  Governor.  —  Indian  Captives.  —  Squaw  Weetamore. 

—  Philip.  —  His  Son.  —  Quakers.  —  Irish  Charity.  —  Witchcraft.  —  Election 
Sermon.  —  Toleration.  —  Violation  of  Sabbath.  —  Baptists.  —  Railing.  — 
Temperance.  —  Support  of  Ministers.  —  Grammar  School.  —  Death  of  Samuel 
Newman.  —  Quakers'  Memorial.  —  Colony  to  help  pay  Salary  of  Ministers. — 
Oath  of  Fidelity.  —  Profanity.  —  Self-marriage.  —  Death  of  Nicholas  Baker. 

—  Baptism.  —  Thomas  Thornton.  Maine.  Gorges'  Claim.  —  Court.  — 
Plantation.  —  Catechism.  —  Indians  sold.  —  Disaster.  —  Language  to  the 
King.  —  Mugg.  —  Peace.  —  Enemy.  —  False  Accusation.  —  Andros.  —  Pur- 
chase of  Maine.  —  St.  Castine.  New  Hampshire.  Indians  to  be  shipped 
off. — Episcopalians. — Randolph  rebuked. — Protection  to  the  Colony. — 
Decision   of   Mason's  Claim.  —  Peace.  —  Mis-statement.      Rhode   Island. 


Ml  KM'.K    OP    SAISAMAN. 
1(575.] 

Philip's  People.  —  Oppoeed  to  Christianity.  —  Hostilities.  —  Habbakuk  Glo- 
\t  r.  —  Quakers.  —  Defense.  —  John  Clark  dies.  —  Cojitrihutions.  —  Bearing 
Arms.  —  Captives  sold.  — Fox  Controversy.  — Trouble  with  Connecticut.  — 
Market-day.  —  Arbitration.  —  Military  Duty.  —  Reply  of  Court.  —  Codding- 
ton  to  Fox.  —  Samuel  (iorton's  Death Quakers.  —  Rogerenes  imprisoned. 

—  Divorce.  —  Smith's  Petition.  —  Holden  and  Green's  Communication. — 
Publication.  Connecticut.  Rogers  Family. — Renewal  of  Covenants. — 
Plantation.  —  Church  granted.  —  Pequods.  —  Insurgents.  —  Andros  resisted. 

—  Fast. —  Religion  for  Troops.  —  Thomas  James. — Montauk  Indians. — 
Negligent  Families.  —  Indian  Confederacy.  —  Chaplains.  —  Convention.  — 
Army  Rules.  —  Maquas.  —  Thanksgiving.  —  Gov.  Winthrop  dies.  —  Collec- 
tions. —  Fast.  —  Covenant.  —  Captives.  —  Saturday  and  Sunday  Nights.  — 
Irreligious  Families.  —  Contributions.  — Divorce.  —  Indians  sold.  —  Irish 
Charity.  —  Mohawks.  —  Parish  Taxes  for  Salary.  —  Election  Sermon.  — 
Schools.  —  Fast.  —  Missionaries  for  New  York.  —  Noadiah  Russell.  —  Law 
of  Divorcement.  —  Families  settled  together.  —  Rogerenes.  —  Uncas.  —  Sev- 
enth-day Baptists.  —  Joseph  Rowlandson  dies. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

1675.  January  18.  A  letter  from  the  Governor  and  Council  is 
read  to  the  Salem  church.*  It  proposes  to  ask  advice  of  churches 
concerning  the  difficulties  occasioned  by  the  continuance  of  Air. 
Nicholet.  Most  of  the  brethren  thought  it  bes*t  to  comply.  The 
church  agreed  on  the  18th  of  February,  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  to 
seek  divine  guidance,  when  Messrs.  Higginson  and  Nicholet  per- 
formed the  services. 

February.  "  A  report  is  come  f  as  if  John  Sausaman  was  mur- 
dered. He  was  one  of  the  Indian  preachers,  of  excellent  parts, 
and  as  Mr.  Eliot  thinks,  a  sincere  convert." 

13.  There  was  a  fast+  at  Samuel  Moody's,  of  Newbury,  princi- 
pally on  occasion  of  his  sickness.  Whereat  were  present  Messrs. 
VVoodbridge,  Phillips,  Moody,  Remor  and  Richardson.  "  The 
three  first  seemed  to  be  very  sensible  of  the  state  of  things,  and 
of  the  plots  of  papists,  atheists,  etc." 

February  19.  Mr.  Higginson  excepts  against  the  doctrine  and 
practice  of  Mr.  Nicholet,  his  colleague,  who  makes  some  explana- 
tion and  concessions,  which  are  accepted  as  satisfactory. 

March  19.  John  Collins,  of  London,  §  writes  to  Governor  Lev- 
erett  He  mentions  the  different  reports  which  have  reached  him 
as  to  President  Hoar,  of  the  College,  and  that  he  had  chosen  the 
medium-  of  them  as  his  opinion.  He  says  :  "  My  only  concern  in 
this  business  is  to  sympathize  with  the  broken  state  of  that  once 
flourishing  house,  to  beg  God  a  revival  of  the  work,  and  all  else 
in  which  his  glory  is  concerned,  in  the  midst  of  the  years,  and  to 
mourn   over   that  disunited   spirit   amongst  God's  people,   which 

*  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec.  f  Increase  Mather's  Diary. 

I  Sewall's  Diary.  .         §  Hutchinson's  Coll. 


564  PAPACY  IN  ENGLAND. 

[Mass. 

appears  in  this  matter  and  all  others."  He  again  mentions,  that  a 
petition  is  before  the  King  to  buy  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  for 
the  Duke  of  Monmouth.  He  says  that  there  had  been  a  determin- 
ation to  send  a  Commissioner  over  to  Massachusetts,  backed  "  with 
some  force,"  but  the  lack  of  money  will  hinder  the  project,  as  he 
thinks,  for  the  next  summer ;  that  the  King  will  send  the  author- 
ities here  a  letter,  requiring  them  to  answer  complaints.  He  re- 
marks :  n  I  fear  that  which  is  aimed  at  is  to  call  your  Patent  to  a 
strict  account,  upon  what  terms  you  hold  it ;  you  would  do  well 
to  be  in  preparation  for  it,  especially  to  make  good  your  title  to 
that  part  of  your  government."  By  the  last  clause  the  writer  evi- 
dently means  Maine  and  New  Hampshire.  He  states  that  money, 
by  way  of  presents,  would  help  their  cause  at  Court  in  London. 
He  designates  Major  Robert  Thomson,  concerned  in  the  East  India 
Company,  as  having  access  there,  and  able  to  dispose  of  the  money, 
in  his  hands,  to  the  benefit  of  the  Colony.  He  observes  that  he 
has  been  to  Whitehall  but  twice  in  two  years,  and  adds,  "  Persecu- 
tion is  pretty  hot,  and  if  it  goes  on  I  may  expect  a  prison  for  my 
living  in  town."  As  to  an  invitation  from  Governor  Leverett,  to 
renew  his  abode  in  New  England,  he  suggests  that  it  is  all  uncer- 
tain. He  relates  that  the  King,  through  the  persuasion  of  Bishops, 
had  withdrawn  tu\toleration,  by  licenses,  from  the  non-conformists, 
"  and  together  with  hot  persecution  of  the  Papists,  left  us  also  a 
very  troublesome  persecution,  wherein  many  are  spoiled  of  their 
goods,  several  imprisoned;  several  returned  upon  20/.  a  month 
into  the  exchequer,  to  their  utter  undoing.  All  things  here  threaten 
a  storm  a-coming  upon  us.  Holland's  condition  yet  distracted. 
The  Protestants  every  where  sufferers,  and  yet  the  Popish  swords 
drawn  one  against  another." 

With  regard  to  the  Romanists  of  England,  the  life  of  Bishop 
Hen  has  the  ensuing  passages,  under  the  date  of  1675.  Charles  II. 
would  have  conformed  to  Rome,  "  could  he  have  dared.  To  save 
appearances,  he  was  often  compelled  to  proclaim  severe  penalties 
against  Romanists ;  but  they  were  negligently  enforced.  He  had 
long  been  a  pensioner  of  Louis  XIV.,  to  whom  he  had  bound 
himself  by  secret  Treaty,  for  the  restoration  of  Popery  in  England. 
Whenever  his  personal  necessities  were  most  urgent,  he  applied  to 
Louis  for  fresh  advances,  under  plea  that  the  interests  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  required  such  aid."  At  the  same  time,  a  letter  from 
Coleman,  a  Jesuit  in  London,  to  M.  La  Chaise,  holds  the  subse- 
quent language  :  "  We  have  here  a  mighty  work  on  our  hands  ;  no 
less  than  the  conversion  of  three  Kingdoms  ;  and  by  that,  perhaps, 
the  subduing  a  pestilent  heresy,  which  has  domineered  over  part  of 
this  Northern  world  a  long  time.  There  were  never  such  hopes 
of  success,  since  the  death  of  our  Queen  Mary,  as  now  in  our  days, 
when  God  has  given  us  a  Prince,  who  is  become  zealous  of  being 
the  author  and  instrument  of  so  glorious  a  work." 


0AXE8  BU0GEBKD8  SOAR  as   PRESIDENT.  MM 

1675.] 

April  1.  This  is  thfl  date  of  I  preface,  by  his  son  Cotton,  to  the 
discourse  of  Increase  Mather,  M  concerning  the  Bubject  of  baptism, 
wherein  the  present  controversies  in  New  England  are  inquired 
into."  He  also  pabliahed  this  year,  with  its  preface,  another  dis- 
course, dated  May  1,  1671,  entitled,  "The  first  principles  of  New 
England  concerning  the  subject  of  baptism  and  communion  of 
churches."  These  productions  show  his  strong  belief  in  favor  of 
the  half- way  Covenant,  though  at  first  he  was  among  its  strenuous 
opposers.  In  a  postscript  of  the  latter  work  is  a  suggestion  of  the 
Rev.  John  Allin,  of  Dedham,  that  it  be  published  as  a  means  of 
waking  up  attention  to  the  children  of  the  church,  and  to  the  defi- 
ciency of  ecclesiastical  consociation. 

In  the  fore  part  of  this  month,  Waban,  the  chief  ruler  among 
the  praying  Indians  of  Natick,  came  and  told  one  of  the  magistrates, 
that  he  had  reason  to  apprehend  that  Philip,  Sachem  of  the  Wam- 
panoags,  and  others,  his  confederates,  would  again  soon  exhibit 
their  resentments,  and  commence  hostilities  upon  the  English  and 
Christian  Indians.  Such  caution  he  and  other  praying  Indians 
repeated  a  few  weeks  afterwards. 

May  12.  The  Legislature  observe*  as  to  the  election  of  Urian 
Oakes,  as  successor  to  Dr.  Hoar,  which  took  place  on  the  day  of 
the  latter's  resignation,  that  they  declare  their  hearty  consent  and 
"  earnestly  desire  his  acceptance  thereof,  and  continuance  therein, 
that  there  may  be  a  revival  of  that  Society  unto  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  public  weal  of  these  churches  so  much  concerned  therein." 
The  President  of  the  College  is  allowed  £100  a  year  for  his  ser- 
vices. Mr.  Oakes,  however,  did  not  accept  the  Presidency,  but 
agreed  to  superintend  the  College,  which  he  did  four  years. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Torrey  is  granted  £5  for  the  charge  of  printing 
his  Election  sermon. 

Deacon  John  Cooper  and  Mr.  William  Manning  "  are  betrusted 
for  the  College  work  or  edifice  at  Cambridge."  The  towns  behind 
in  payment  of  their  subscriptions  for  this  building,  are  desired  to 
bring  them  in,  and  the  towns  which  have  not  subscribed,  should  be 
stirred  up  to  "  so  pious  and  necessary  a  work."  For  this  object, 
letters  are  ordered  for  all  the  ministers. 

The  Rev.  James  Allen,  teacher  of  the  First  church  in  Boston,  is 
appointed  to  succeed  his  colleague,  John  Oxenbridge,  as  a  licenser 
of  the  press. 

The  Court  desire  a  copy  of  "  the  elaborate  and  seasonable  dis- 
course of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Moody,"  on  Election  day,  for  the  press. 

Petitions  and  remonstrances  from  the  parties  in  Salem,  one  sus- 
taining Mr.  Higginson,  and  the  other  Mr.  Nicholet,  are  considered, 
and  a  committee  of  Governor  Leverett,  Deputy  Governor  Symonds 
and  others,  chosen  to  visit  that  place  and  endeavor  to  reconcile 
differences. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


566  HOSTILITIES  COMMENCED   BY  PHILIP. 

[Mass. 

•Mr.  Graves  appears  as  deputy  in  General  Court*  from  Charels- 
town,  but  they  refuse  to  allow  him  a  seat  with  them,  because  they 
suspect  that  he  is  "  prelatical  in  his  principles."  He  will  not  satisfy 
them  on  this  point.     His  constituents  petition  for  him,  but  in  vain. 

13.  Arraigned  before  the  Court  of  Assistants  in  Boston,  on  the 
charge  of  witchcraft,!  Mary,  the  wife  of  Joseph  Parsons,  having 
been  before  the  County  Court,  sitting  at  Northampton,  is  cleared 
by  the  Jury  and  discharged. 

June  8.  The  Legislative  Committee  visit  Salem.  J  Their  report 
is  dated  the  10th.  They  regret  the  contention  which  existed. 
They  declare  the  manner  of  calling  and  settling  Mr.  Nicholet,  by  a 
promiscuous  vote  of  the  town,  very  irregular  and  contrary  to  all 
known,  wholesome  laws  of  the  Colony,  and  of  a  tendency  danger- 
ous to  both  church  and  state.  They  advise  that  the  church  and 
town  observe  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  settle  their  differences ; 
that  the  ministry  be  carried  on  by  Messrs.  Higginson  and  Nicholet 
together ;  and  that  when  another  society  shall  be  formed,  it  should 
be  done  with  harmony.  "  x\t  the  same  time  the  committee  were  in 
session,  news  came  that  Philip  and  the  Indians  had  begun  war  with 
the  English." 

Thus  Philip  embarks  in  a  contest  of  prospective  extermination 
to  the  national  relations  either  of  himself  and  allies,  or  of  his  oppo- 
nents. Of  the  chief  inducements  which  led  him  and  other  Sachems 
to  favor  such  a  purpose,  wras  their  dread  lest  Christianity  should 
spread  through  their  territories  and  draw  their  own  subjects  over 
to  English  influence,  and  thus  destroy  their  existence  as  heathen 
tribes. 

It  appears  from  the  acknowledgment  of  Indians  about  Hadley, 
that  from  1671  to  1674,  Philip,  who  had  previously  broken  his 
covenant  with  Plymouth,  was  exerting  himself  to  unite  all  the  In- 
dians of  such  territory,  to  overthrow  the  English.  The  Narragan- 
setts  had  engaged  to  supply  four  thousand  men  for  this  purpose. 
The  project  was  not  to  commence  the  insurrection  till  the  spring  of 
1676.  But  Philip  prematurely  began  it  by  his  causing  the  death 
of  John  Sausaman.  Had  we  time,  we  might  narrate  the  interesting, 
though  very  sad  events  of  the  warfare  in  particular  detail,  as  col- 
lected. But  the  need  of  room  and  the  nature  of  our  subject,  allow 
nothing  more  than  general  notices.  The  assault  upon  Hehoboth, 
on  fhe  24th  of  June,  immediately  brought  the  forces  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Plymouth  to  the  scene  of  carnage.  By  the  28th, 
they  made  their  head-quarters  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Miles,  the  min- 
ister of  Swanzey.  They  sent  a  small  detachment  of  horsemen 
across  the  bridge,  who  were  immediately  met  with  ambush  volleys 
of  shot.  The  next  morning  they  drove  the  Indians  to  a  swamp, 
whither   Philip  and  the  residents  at  Mount  Hope  sought  refuge 

*  Inc.  Mather's  Diary.         f  Ct.  of  Ass'ts  Rec.         I  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec. 


&BTILLER!    BLECIION    BERHON. 
when  night  came.     These  two  ikirmiahei  wen  attended  with  some 

loss  of  lite  on  both  sid<  B. 

While  in  this  expedition,  the  praying  Indians  employed  in  it, 
behaved  valiantly  and  faithfully.  Thomas  Quannapohutt,  John 
Hunter  and  Felix,  were  rewarded  by  Governor  Leverett  for  slaying 
four  of  the  enemy,  and  Nesutan,  a  good  linguist,  who  was  of  great 
help  to  Mr.  Eliot  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible  and  other  religious 
books,  was  killed  in  this  campaign.  These  and  other  Indians,  who 
had  professed  attachment  to  the  gospel,  were  highly  approved  by 
their  chief  commander.  Still,  many  of  the  English  soldiers  were 
suspicious  of  their  fidelity  and  strongly  prejudiced  against  them 
which  operated  unfavorably  to  such  Christian  natives. 

10.  John  Richardson,  of  Newbury,  preaches  the  Artillery  Elec- 
tion sermon.  The  text  was  II  Samuel  i.  18, — and  subject,  "  The 
necessity  of  a  well  experienced  soldiery,  or  a  Christian  common- 
wealth ought  to  be  well  instructed  in  the  military  art."  The 
introduction  says :  "  Wars  are  in  the  same  nature  with  offenses ; 
necesse  est  ut  veniunt,  they  must  be,  though  there  be  a  vce  inducenti, 
a  woe  to  him,  that  is  the  unjust  cause  of  them."  The  close  re- 
marks :  "  Though  your  present  exercise  be  a  matter  of  sport  in  a 
sense,  yet  it  tends  to  solemn  execution.  You  may  be  called  to  be 
in  good  earnest.  Thou  knowest  not  how  soon  orders  may  come 
from  the  Lord  of-  hosts,  for  thy  sudden  march,  and  then  there  will 
be  no  time  to  get  any  skill  to  defend  thyself.  You  are  now,  as  it 
were,  in  garrison,  but  you  may  very  quickly  be  in  the  field,  per- 
haps in  Aceldama,  a  field  of  blood,  where  you  shall  not  want 
for  an  enemy,  but  find  one ;  not  one  it  may  be,  but  many.  You 
are  most  likely,  having  followed  God's  order,  to  have  his  presence 
with  you,  and  protection  over  you.  He  delights  in 'those  that  are 
like  himself." 

15.  John  Wilson,  Sen.,  and  John  Wilson,  Jr.,  and  their  wives, 
Henry  Sumers  and  wife,  Caleb  Farlow  and  Hopestill  Foster,  are 
admonished  by  the  Middlesex  Court,*  and  required  to  pay  costs. 
The  following  persons  are  fined  from  £1  to  £5  and  costs,  by  the  same 
authority,  for  neglect  of  allowed  worship  on  Fast,  Thanksgiving 
and  Sabbath  days.  Thomas  Foster,  John  Russell,  Sen.,  John  Rus- 
sell, Jr.,  Benanuel  Bowers,  Thomas  Osborn  and  John  Johnson.  All 
these  individuals  were  so  dealt  with,  because  they  worshiped  with 
the  Baptist  Society,  now  of  Boston. 

July.  The  Christian  Jndians  of  Punkapog  brought  before  the 
Council  at  Boston  several  of  the  enemy,  whom  they  had  captured, 
and  particularly  a  noted  one,  called  Drummer,  who  lived  near 
Taunton. 

14.  Governor  Andros  notifies  the  Vineyard  and  Nantucket,f  as 
subject  to  his  jurisdiction,  that  he  has  sent  them  match,  muskets 
and  powder,  to  help  defend  them  against  hostile  Indians. 

*  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec.  f  Easton's  Philip's  War,  p.  57. 


568  NARRAGANSETTS  CONSPIRE  WITH  PHILIP. 

[Mass. 

By  this  time,  Christian  Indians*  from  Hassanamesitt,  Magunkoag, 
Manchage  (Oxford),  and  Chobonokum  (Dudley),  had  joined  others 
of  their  profession  at  Marlborough,  so  as  to  make  forty  men,  be- 
sides women  and  children.  These  men  built  a  fort  near  the  meet- 
ing-house of  the  English  residents,  intending  thereby  to  defend 
themselves  and  neighbors,  as  well  as  be  under  the  protection  of  the 
latter.  As  an  expression  of  their  fidelity  they  took  part  in  a  scout- 
ing expedition,  helped  to  capture  seven  strange  Indians,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  enemies,  but  were  finally  released. 

15.  As  the  Narragansetts,  who  had  agreed  to  join  in  the  revolt 
of  Philip,  and  to  whom  this  chief  and  his  people  had  sent  their 
women  and  children  for  protection,  were  surprised  by  his  com- 
mencement of  it  sooner  than  they  expected,  they  were  unprepared 
to  take  the  field  in  his  behalf.  The  Colonies  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  purposed  to  keep  them  in  check,  as  much  as  possible, 
by  a  new  treaty.f  Therefore  the  main  part  of  the  army  at  Mount 
Hope  was  marched  into  their  country.  Under  the  date  given,  a 
covenant  is  made  between  six  of  their  Sachems  and  Thomas  Savage, 
Edward  Hutchinson  and  Joseph  Dudley,  for  the  Bay ;  Wait  Win- 
throp  and  Richard  Smith,  for  Connecticut.  Plymouth,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Union,  had  part  in  this  contract. 

While  the  negotiation  proceeded,  £  Potuche,  the  agent  of  the 
Narragansetts,  endeavored  that  one  condition  of  the  English  should 
be,  that  they  abstain  from  sending  any  missionaries  among  them, 
"  to  preach  the  gospel  or  call  on  them  to  pray  to  God."  But  this 
proposition  was  decidedly  rejected. 

August  1.  Hostilities  were  continued,  and  so  carried  on  by  the 
commanders  of  the  English,  of  whom  Benjamin  Church  gave 
prominent  proofs  of  his  extraordinary  valor,  that  Philip  and  his 
forces  feel  compelled  to  retreat.  Being  the  Sabbath,  an  alarm  is 
given,  that  the  Sachem  and  his  followers  are  escaping.  The  Colo- 
nists who  could  be  mustered  from  Rehoboth,  led  on  by  their  min- 
ister, Mr.  Xewman,  and  the  adjacent  towns,  with  Mohegans,  who 
had  come  to  assist  our  forces,  and  Naticks,  went  in  pursuit.  They 
reached  the  fugitives  at  ten  o'clock,  forenoon,  who  lost  about  thirty 
of  their  number,  with  little  loss  to  the  pursuers,  and  took  up  their 
quarters  with  the  Xipmucks  in  a  swamp,  about  ten  miles  from 
Brookfield.  § 

The  church  of  Salem  agree  to  use  the  Bay  Psalm  Book  ||  six 
months  on  trial. 

9.  The  following  persons  *[  are  apprehended  in  Boston  for 
holding  a  Quaker  meeting.  Robert  Edmands,  Edward  Shippe, 
(Shippen,)  John  Soames,  George  Walker,  Jeremiah  Deble,  George 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians.     Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  vol.  ii.  p.  443. 

f  Hubbard's  Ind.  Wars,  p.  80-4.       }  Gookin.  Am.  Antiq .  Soc.  vol.  ii.  p.  439. 

§  Gookin's  Hist,  of  Indians,  p.  445,  6.  ||  Salem  Ch.  Rec. 

IT  Moses  Brown's  MS.  Letter. 


LUNG   INTO    PERPETUAL  BLAVERY.  669 

Danson,  Miles  Foster,  Thomaa  Scott,  Humphrey  Hodges,  William 
Neal,  Bridget  Phillips,  Ephraim  Stratton,  Elisabeth  Dowers,  Sen. 
and  Jr.  Of  these  fourteen,  two  paid  their  fines,  and  as  the  rest 
would  not,  they  were  whipped.  A  parr  of  these  and  others  were 
whipped  for  attending  a  similar  meeting,  which   came   next  in 

couise. 

1  1.  John  Elliot  offers  a  petition  to  the  Governor  and  Council,  a 
part  of  it  as  follows  :  "  The  terror  of  selling  away  such  Indiana 
unto  the  Islands  for  perpetual  slaves,  who  shall  yield  up  themselves  to 
mercy,  is  like  to  be  an  effectual  prolongation  of  the  war,  and  such  an 
operation  of  them  as  may  produce  we  know  not  what  evil  conse- 
quences upon  the  land.  Christ  hath  said,  Blessed  are  the  merciful, 
for  they  shall  obtain  mercy.  This  usage  of  them  is  worse  than 
death.  The  design  of  Christ  in  these  last  days,  is  not  to  extirpate 
nations,  but  to  gospelize  them.  His  sovereign  hand  and  grace 
have  brought  the  gospel  into  these  dark  places  of  the  earth.  When 
we  came,  we  declared  to  the  world  and  it  is  recorded,  yea  we  are 
engaged  by  our  letters  patent  from  the  King's  Majesty,  that  the 
endeavor  of  the  Indians'  conversion,  not  their  extirpation,  was  one 
great  end  of  our  enterprise,  in  coming  to  these  ends  of  the  earth. 
The  Lord  hath  so  succeeded  that  work,  as  that  (by  his  grace)  they 
have  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  sundry  of  themselves  able  to  teach 
their  countrymen  the  good  knowledge  of  God.  And,  however 
some  of  them  have  refused  to  receive  the  gospel  and  are  now 
incensed  in  their  spirits  unto  a  war  against  the  English,  yet  I  doubt 
not  but  the  meaning  of  Christ  is  to  open  a  door  for  the  free  passage 
of  the  gospel  among  them.  My  humble  request  is  that  you  would 
follow  Christ's  design  in  this  matter,  to  promote  the  free  passage  of 
religion  among  them,  and  not  to  destroy  them.  To  sell  souls  for 
money,  seemeth  to  me  a  dangerous  merchandize.  To  sell  them 
away  from  all  means  of  grace,  when  Christ  hath  provided  means  of 
grace  for  them,  is  the  way  for  us  to  be  active  in  the  destroying  of 
their  souls." 

28.  The  Governor  and  Council  write  to  the  like  officers  in  Con- 
necticut, desiring  that  they  would  send  forward  their  troops  to 
assist  those  under  Major  Pynchon.  They  remark  that  their  forces 
"have  been  under  some  humbling  frowns  of  God,  permitting  the 
Indians  there  to  wax  proud  and  more  insolent.  How  necessary  in 
such  a  day,  the  common  safety  and  interest  of  the  people  of  God 
were  by  joint  and  united  counsels  considered  of  and  carried  an 
end."  They  then  state  that  for  such  a  purpose,  Commissioners 
from  Plymouth  had  been  to  Boston  and  waited  for  those  of  Con- 
necticut, and  would  come  again  when  they  would  meet  them. 

30.  In  consequence  of  the  strong  prejudice*  which  the  general- 
ity of  the  Colonists  had  imbibed  against  the  Christian  Indians, 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  450-4. 
72 


570  PREJUDICE  AGAINST   CHRISTIAN   INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

because  Philip  and  his  allies  were  set  upon  the  ruin  of  the  former, 
the  Governor  and  Council  order  all  the  friendly  Indians  in  Massa- 
chusetts, who  reside  at  Natick,  Punquapog,  Nashobah,  Wamesit 
and  Hassanamesitt,  to  confine  themselves  within  one  mile  from  the 
centre  of  their  respective  towns.  All  others  who  do  not  reside  in 
such  places,  are  required  to  take  up  their  abode  in  some  one  of 
them.  This  injunction  prevented  the  Christian  Indians  from  hunt- 
ing, looking  after  their  cattle  and  swine,  gathering  their  corn  and 
laboring  among  the  English,  and  thus  subjected  them  to  much  suf- 
fering for  lack  of  food.  Two  or  three  superintendents  were  or- 
dered to  live  in  every  Indian  town.  Two  only,  however,  fully 
complied  with  the  order.  They  were  John  Watson,  Sen.,  and 
Henry  Prentice,  of  Cambridge,  who  resided  twelve  weeks  at  Natick 
and  spoke  highly  of  the  Indians  there. 

Instigated  by  persons  who  had  no  good  will  for  the  Christian 
Indians,*  Capt.  Samuel  Mosely  sent  fifteen  of  the  latter,  the  most 
of  whom  lived  at  Okonkomesitt,  near  Marlborough,  and  had  faith- 
fully served  on  the  side  of  the  English,  pinioned  and  fastened  with 
lines  from  neck  to  neck,  under  a  guard  of  soldiers,  down  to  Boston. 
Among  these  prisoners  were  Abraham  Spene  and  John  Choo,  who 
belonged  to  Natick  and  were  of  excellent  character.  Such  an  act 
was  done,  through  the  false  accusation  of  an  Indian  called  David, 
who,  to  save  his  life  when  bound  to  be  shot,  charged  eleven  of  the 
prisoners  with  murdering  seven  English  people  on  the  22d  of 
August,  at  Lancaster.  At  their  trial,  the  prisoners  proved  that  on 
this  very  day  they  were  at  worship  the  whole  of  the  Sabbath,  in 
their  fort  at  Marlborough.  Ten  of  them  were  acquitted.  The 
other,  James  Spoonant,  was  tried  by  another  jury,  who  brought 
him  in  as  accessory  to  the  murder,  of  whom  Gookin  remarked : 
w  Upon  what  ground  "  they  "  went,  I  know  not ;  but  the  man  was 
sold  for  a  slave,  and  sent  out  of  the  country."  David,  on  suspi- 
cion of  shooting  an  Irish  boy  at  Marlborough  and  falsely  accusing 
the  Christian  Indians  who  were  cleared,  was  similarly  sentenced. 
However  the  persons  thus  declared  to  be  innocent,  were  entitled  to 
their  liberty,  yet  when  it  was  known  that  the  most  of  them  were 
let  out  of  prison  by  one  or  two  at  a  time,  in  the  night,  there  was 
much  excitement.  About  forty  persons  collected  in  Boston,  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  September  10,  called  on  Captain  James 
Oliver,  and  requested  him  to  head  them  for  the  purpose  of  breaking 
open  the  prison  and  hanging  one  of  the  Indians,  who  remained 
there.  But  the  Captain  would  listen  to  no  such  wish,  and  he  drove 
the  leaders  of  the  mob  from  his  house.  This  was  one  of  the  many 
instances  in  which  Indians  who  had  chosen  the  religion  of  the 
Colonists  and  were  ready  to  hazard  life  for  their  defense,  were 
unrighteously  suspected  and  badly  treated.     With  reference  to  this 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  455,  6. 


OOFF   as   a    DELIVERER.  51  1 

1675.] 

subject,  Gookin  observed:  u  But  sonic  that  were  more  considerate, 
serious  ami  pious,  had  their  hearts  exercised  with  tremblings  in 
prayer  all  this  time,  lest  the  wind  of  temptations  might  blow  so 
hard  as  to  drive  the  judges  and  jurors  upon  the  rock  of  bringing 
blood  upon  the  land,  which,  blessed  be  God,  was  prevented  in  this 
matter." 

The  dav  previous  to  the  seizure  of  the  Indians  at  Marlborough, 
Lieut.  Ruddock,  of  that  place,  took  twenty-three  guns  and  ammu- 
nition from  them  and  their  brethren.  Thus  he  gave  them  plain 
intimation  that  they  were  accounted  altogether  unworthy  of  con- 
fidence. 

September  1.  Philip  and  his  allies  attack  Deerfield,*  burning 
seventeen  of  its  dwellings,  and  kill  James  Eggleston.  On  the  same 
dav,  being  Sabbath,  they  appeared  at  Hadley  while  the  people  were 
at  worship.  The  alarm  being  given,  the  assembly  were  in  great 
consternation.  At  this  juncture,  a  gentleman  of  venerable  appear- 
ance was  seen  among  them.  He  restored  order,  headed  the  men, 
drove  the  enemy  from  the  town  and  disappeared.  For  a  time,  the 
people  supposed  that  he  was  an  angel  sent  from  heaven  for  their 
deliverance.  It  was  General  Goffe.  At  that  time  he  had  a  secret 
residence  in  Hadley.  He,  Whalley  and  Dixwell,  fled  hither  to 
avoid  death,  believed  that  the  execution  of  the  late  King's  judges 
was  the  slaying  of  the  witnesses  in  Revelation,  and  were  much 
disappointed  when  1666  passed  without  any  remarkable  occurrence, 
and  they  still  hoped  that  there  was  some  mistake  in  the  chronology 
so  as  to  allow  their  expectation. 

9.  The  serious  aspect  of  the  war  with  the  Indians,  who  opposed 
Christianity  and  its  professors,  called  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  together  at  Boston.  They  declare  it  "  a  defensive 
war,  just  and  necessary."  They  order  1,000  men  to  be  raised  ;  527 
from  Massachusetts,  158  from  Plymouth,  and  315  from  Connect- 
icut. 

12.  After  this,  a  correspondent  f  from  the  West  of  Massachusetts 
writes  to  Increase  Mather  :  "  I  desire  you  to  speak  to  the  Governor, 
that  there  may  be  thorough  care  for  a  reformation.  I  am  sensible 
there  are  many  difficulties  therein.  Many  sins  are  grown  so  in 
fashion,  that  it  becomes  a  question  whether  they  be  sins  or  no.  I 
desire  you  wrould  especially  mention  oppression ;  that  intolerable 
pride  in  clothes  and  hair  ;  the  toleration  of  so  many  taverns,  espe- 
cially in  Boston,  and  suffering  home  dwellers  to  be  tippling  in 
them.  It  would  be  a  dreadful  token  of  the  displeasure  of  God,  if 
these  afflictions  pass  away  without  much  spiritual  advantage." 

17.  The  Governor  and  Council,  +  in  view  of  various  considera- 
tions, as  the   "  ill  entertainment  of  the  ministry  of  the  precious 

*  Williams's  Redeemed  Captive.  Stiles's  Judges,  189.  Grahame's  U.  S.  vol. 
i.  p.  466.         f  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  o3.>.         J  In  Mather's  Ind.  Wars,  p.  11,  1<5. 


572  A  PILLAR  ON   GRAVES   OF   QUAKERS. 

[Mass. 

gospel ;  the  apostasy  of  many  from  the  truth  unto  heresies  and 
pernicious  errors;  great  formality,  inordinate  affection,  and  sinful 
conformity  to  this  present  evil  world.  And  (besides  many  scan- 
dalous sins  breaking  forth  among  us)  our  great  insensibleness 
of  the  displeasure  of  the  Lord  in  suffering  these  abominations  to 
be  perpetuated ;  together  with  our  carnal  security  and  unquietness 
under  the  judgments  of  God  upon  us, — we  having  greatly  incensed 
him  to  stir  up  many  adversaries  against  us,  not  only  abroad,  but 
also  at  our  own  door,  causing  the  heathen  in  this  wilderness  to  be 
a  thorn  in  our  sides," — do — "  being  under  the  sense  of  these 
evils,  and  also  the  distressed  state  of  the  rest  of  the  Colonies  con- 
federate with  ourselves,  and  of  the  churches  of  Christ  in  other  parts 
of  the  world  in  this  day  of  trouble,  rebukes  and  blasphemy  ;  and 
fearing  the  sad  issue  thereof,  unless  the  Lord  help  us  with  our 
whole  heart,  and  not  feignedly,  to  turn  unto  himself — appoint  the 
seventh  day  of  the  next  month  to  be  a  day  of  public  humiliation, 
with  fasting  and  prayer  throughout  this  whole  Colony." 

28.  Governor  Andros  and  Council,  of  New  York,  consider  a 
letter  brought  by  an  express  from  Nantucket,*  stating  their  weak- 
ness, and  the  great  strength  of  the  Indians  there  and  on  Martin's 
Vineyard  ;  "  not  above  forty  men  at  the  latter,  and  thirty  on  the 
former,  capable  of  bearing  arms.  On  Nantucket,  the  Indian  men 
five  or  six  hundred  ;  not  so  many  on  Martin's  Vineyard."  Andros 
and  Council  resolve  to  send  each  of  the  Islands  a  great  gun — "  and 
the  Proclamation  concerning  the  Indians,  of  keeping  watches,  erect- 
ing block-houses,  etc." 

30.  This  week,  somebody  in  the  night-time  erected  a  pillar  over 
the  Quakers'  graves  (who  were  hanged),  under  the  gallows,  and 
wrote  :  "  Here  lie  the  bodies  of  such  and  such,  their  souls  triumph- 
ing in  their  blood,  crying  for  vengeance."! 

Soon  after  November  3,  Thomas  Corwin  and  wife  are  taken 
from  a  place  of  meeting,  (in  Boston,)  confined  in  the  house  of  cor- 
rection, and  two  days  after  are  whipped,  and  the  next  day  set  at 
liberty.  BesseJ  remarks  that  the  people  were  so  afflicted  with  the 
Indian  war,  they  had  no  heart  for  further  proceedings  against  these 
two  Quakers.  Next  January  14,  Robert  Ford,  of  these  people, 
nailed  a  note  on  the  meeting-house  doors  of  the  same  place,  declaring 
that  the  ruin  of  it  was  at  hand.  July  8,  a  woman  of  them,  dressed 
frightfully,  came  into  the  same  place  of  worship  and  terrified  several 
females  into  fits,  one  of  whom  died.  §  On  the  15th,  a  man  went 
through  the  town,  crying,  Repent. 

October  1.  The  Council  had  ordered  Lieut.  Thomas  Henchman, 
of  Chelmsford, ||  to  dispatch  messengers  to  Wannalancet,  Sachem  of 
Naamhok,  who,  to  avoid  collision  with  the  English,  had  retired, 

*  Nantucket  Papers,  p.  88,  9.     f  In  Mather's  Diary.     J  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  259. 
§  Sewall's  Diary.  ||  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  462,  3. 


FAITHFULNESS  OF  WANNALANCET,  :>~-> 

it;;:).] 

about  mx  weeks,  with  the  remainder  of  his  people,  being  one  hun- 
dred, to  the  Pennicookf.  .Now,  aware  of  the  enemy's  lucoeai  at 
Sugar  Hill;  at  Deerfield,  September  1;  at  Nbrthfield,  over  the 
forces  under  Capt.  Beers;  ami  then  over  those  commanded  by 
Capt  Lothrop,  the  Council  sign  a  pass  for  this  chief  to  meet  Messrs. 
Eliot  and  (iookin  at  Lieut  1  leiuhmaifs  house.  The  MesseE 
could  not  meet  him,  and  therefore  they  sent  to  him.  But  he  well 
knew  the  jealousy  of  the  English  in  general,  relative  to  the  Chris- 
tian Indians,  with  whom  he  was  worthily  numbered;  and  hence 
he  declined  to  comply,  moved  further  off,  and  took  his  quarters 
about  the  head  of  the  Connecticut,  where  was  very  good  hunting. 

While  he  and  his  company  were  at  Pennicook,  it  was  erroneously 
reported  that  a  body  of  strange  Indians  had  been  discovered  there- 
abouts. Captain  Mosely  and  one  hundred  men  went  in  pursuit. 
When  this  commander  approached,  Wannalancet  and  his  people 
left  their  fort  and  retired  to  the  woods  and  swamps.  This  Sachem 
had  opportunity  to  have  wounded  and  killed  many  of  the  English, 
and  his  young  men  were  very  desirous  to  do  it,  because  the  latter 
burnt  their  wigwams  and  destroyed  their  dried  fish,  but  he  suffered 
not  a  gun  to  be  discharged.  He  had  made  a  covenant  to  keep 
peace  with  Massachusetts,  and  he  faithfully  kept  his  pledge. 

4.  The  Christian  Indians,  when  retiring  from  Hassanamesitt, 
Manchauge  and  Chabanakongkomam,  as  ordered,  left  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  corn,  wigwams  and  other  things,  which  are  now 
mostly  destroyed  by  some  of  the  English  soldiers,  passing  that 
way,  though  expressly  ordered  not  to  spoil  such  property.* 

8.  Among  the  charities  disbursed  at  this  period,  the  First  church 
of  Salem  give  £10  13s.  to  individuals  of  their  own  and  other  towns, 
who  had  suffered  from  hostile  Indians.f 

13.  An  account  of  all  strangers,:}:  not  the  King's  subjects,  who 
are  in  Boston,  is  required,  and  none  of  them  to  remain  unless  they 
give  sufficient  bonds  for  their  fidelity.  No  master  of  a  vessel  shall 
be  allowed  to  land  strangers  without  similar  security. 

Articles  of  war  are  adopted.  1.  "  Let  no  man  presume  to  blas- 
pheme the  holy  and  blessed  Trinity,  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  upon  pain  to  have  his  tongue  bored  with 
a  hot  iron."  2.  Profanity  shall  incur  the  loss  of  pay  and  other 
punishment.  3.  Absence  from  prayers  and  worship  shall  be  at 
discretion,  etc.  ^ 

The  General  Court  sit.  This  session  a  committee  of  both  houses 
is  appointed  for  reformation  of  evils, ||  the  occasions  of  judgments. 
They  desired  the  assistance  of  the  Teaching  Elders.  They  agree 
for  suppression  of  proud  excesses  in  apparel,  hair,  etc. ;  testimony 
against  false  worshipers,  especially  Quakers,  "  who  set  up  a  Christ 

*  Gookin's  Chris.  Indians,  p.  462-7.  t  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec. 

J  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  §  Ibid.  ||  In  Mather's  Ind.  Wars,  p.  16. 


574  INDIANS  ORDERED  TO  DEER  ISLAND. 

[Mass. 

whom  the  Scriptures  know  not."  Excess  in  drinking  increased  by- 
multiplied  ordinaries,  to  keep  town  dwellers  from  these  places. 
Swearing :  "  They  that  hear  others  swear  profanely,  and  do  not  com- 
plain of  it  to  authority,  shall  be  punished  for  that  concealment." 
4th  and  5th  Commandments  to  be  better  observed.  Oppression  by 
merchants  and  day  laborers  to  be  rectified.  "  Indian  trading  houses, 
whereby  the  heathen  have  been  debauched  and  scandalized  against 
religion,  be  suppressed."  More  care  of  the  rising  generation  as  to 
their  discipline  in  Christ.  "  Unanimously  consented  to."  On  the 
19th,  conclusions  of  the  committee  were  signed  and  delivered  to 
the  General  Court,  who  accepted  them,  and  appointed  another 
committee  to  draw  up  laws  for  promoting  the  reformation. 

As  there  was  great  danger  of  famine,  by  reason  of  the  war,  all 
sorts  of  provision*  are  forbidden  to  be  exported,  except  "fish  and 
mackerel." 

Major  Clark  is  to  strengthen  Mendon  garrison  by  ten  more  men. 
The  Christian  Indians  of  Punkapoag  have  leave  to  move  their  pro- 
visions and  stuff  to  a  place  near  Braintree  and  Milton.f  As  they 
had  nearly  finished  a  good  fort,  "  accommodated  for  scouting  and 
securing  of  the  southern  passages  and  inlets  upon  our  Plantations," 
sixteen  or  twenty  soldiers,  from  Braintree,  Milton  and  Dorchester, 
are  ordered  to  reinforce  them,  and  scout  with  them  between  Wey- 
mouth and  Natick,  to  prevent  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  or 
strange  Indians,  and  give  notice  thereof. 

A  committee  of  the  General  Court  are  to  examine  J  three  Indians 
who  had  left  Natick,  and  now  reside  with  Henry  Leland,  and  are 
suspected  of  ill  designs.  All  the  Natick  Indians  are  required  to 
live  on  Deer  Island  for  the  present.  Gookin  supplies  us  with 
various  particulars  on  this  subject.§  The  Deputies  were  strongly 
solicited  by  their  constituents  to  remove  all  the  Christian  Indians 
from  their  settlements.  A  bill  was  introduced  for  this  object.  But 
it  was  laid  aside,  because  they  knew  of  no  location  which  would  do. 
Such  a  demur,  however,  stirred  up  the  spirit  that  prevailed  against 
the  friendly  Indians  so  much,  that  the  bill  was  brought  forward 
again.  A  committee  of  both  houses  deliberated  on  its  propositions. 
A  paper  was  laid  before  them,  assigning  reasons,  as  that  such  In- 
dians had  been  under  the  patronage  of  the  Missionary  Society  in 
England  ;  had  made  much  advancement  in  letters  and  religion ;  had 
made  a  covenant  with  the  Colony,  which  promised  them  protection ; 
had  proved  themselves  faithful,  though  others  were  perfidious  ; 
some  had  lost  their  limbs  and  lives  in  fighting  the  enemy.  Still 
the  committee  said,  that  they  must  report  so  as  to  satisfy  the  popu- 
lar clamor,  though  they  did  it  for  the  safety  of  the  Indians  as  well 
as  of  the  English.     They  handed  in  their  result,  that  the  Indians 

■ 
*  Mass.  Col.  Rec.  f  Ibid.  %  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

§  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  467-75. 


MANNER  of   BURNING   CAPTIVE8.  575 

1675.] 

of  Natick  should  move  to  Cambridge  neck ;  ofWamesil  to  Nod- 
dle's Island;  of  Naahobah  to  Concord ;  of  rlaasanamesitt,  Magun- 
kog  and  Marlborough  to  Mendonj  and  of  Punkapoag  to  Dorchester 

neck.  But  as  the  inhabitants  of  these  places  refused  to  have  §uch 
Indians  live  there,  the  Court  took  a  different  course.  On  the  18th 
of  October,  John  Watson,  of  (  ambridge,  one  of  the  guardians  for 
the  Natick  Indians,  presented  their  petition  to  the  Court,  wherein 
they  beseech  this  body  not  to  "  harbor  any  jealous  or  harsh  thoughts 
of  them,  or  hearken  to  any  false  information  against  them ;  not  to 
fetch  them  off  from  their  dwellings,  which  would  expose  them, 
especially  the  aged  and  weak,  to  very  much  sorrow  and  misery* 
both  for  want  of  food  and  apparel,  especially  considering  that  the 
winter  was  approaching.  But  rather,  if  the  Court  pleased,  they 
would  deliver  some  of  their  principal  men  for  hostages  for  their 
fidelity,  professing  their  innocency  and  integrity  both  to  the  interest 
of  God  and  the  English." 

18.  "  If  any  shall  negligently  lose,  or  sinfully  play  away  their 
arms  at  dice,  or  cards,  or  otherwise,  they  shall  be  kept  as  pioneers 
or  scavengers  till  they  furnish  themselves  with  as  good  arms. 

19.  The  enemy  killed  five  of  a  scout  from  Hadley,  numbering 
ten.*  They  took  the  others  prisoners,  of  whom  was  John  Warner. 
He  related  that  two  days  after,  they  put  to  death  one  of  his  fellow 
captives,  as  follows.  They  drove  a  stake  through  one  of  his  feet, 
and  so  fastened  him  to  the  earth  ;  burnt  his  nails  and  his  feet 
against  a  fire  ;  opened  his  body  below  the  breast,  pulled  out  his 
entrails,  and  cut  off  his  head.  They  threatened  to  treat  him  and 
"  his  comrad  "  in  the  same  manner.  Warner  related  that  he  was 
made  to  number  the  army  of  Indians  assembled  at  Oasmuck,  and 
who  fought  for  Philip,  and  counted  2,100  fighting  men ;  none 
above  forty  years  old,  of  whom  were  about  600  French  Indians. 
These  boasted  that  in  the  spring  they  would  destroy  Connecticut, 
then  Boston,  and  then  the  Dutch. 

On  the  19th  a  detachment  of  troopers  under  Cornet  Oakes 
were  dispatched  by  the  Court  to  fetch  down  some  of  Wamesit 
and  Pakemitt,  because  they  were  suspected  of  burning  the  hay 
stack  of  Lt.  James  Richardson,  of  Chelmsford,  the  day  before. 
But  the  Indians,  so  accused,  were  subsequently  cleared. f  On  the 
20th,  Joseph  Cook,  of  Cambridge,  related  to  the  Court,  that  these 
distressed  natives  were  on  their  way  down ;  numbered  145  men, 
women  and  children  ;  part  of  them  old  and  decrepid,  naked,  and 
needed  •  food.  The  Court  requested  Mr.  Cook  to  have  them  all 
sent  back,  except  the  able  men,  being  about  thirty-three.  The 
Christian  Indians  of  Punkapoag  were  guarded  down  to  Dorchester 
from  their  fort  by  a  troop  under  Capt.  Brattle.  The  Court  having 
heard  William  Ahaton  and  others  of  their  chief  men,  let  them  all 

*  John  Eastern's  Philip's  War.  f  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  467-7-5. 


576  NATICKS   ORDERED   TO   DEER  ISLAND. 

[Mass. 

go  back  except  three  or  four  men,  who  were  suspected.  The 
Wamesit  men,  after  being  secured  in  the  town  house  of  Charles- 
town  several  days,  were  examined  by  the  Court,  and  the  most  of 
them  permitted  to  go  home. 

On  the  26th,  an  old  house,  not  worth  10s.,  as  Gookin  states,  was 
burnt  in  Dedham.  He  says  that  "in  all  probability,"  it  "  was  set 
on  fire  on  purpose  by  some  back  friends  "  to  the  Indians  of  Natick, 
and  so  that  they  might  be  ejected  from  their  settlement.  Conse- 
quently much  excitement  was  created  against  them,  and  "  the  con- 
trivance obtained  that  which  it  was  desired  for,  viz.,  the  passing  an 
torder  by  General  Court  forthwith  to  remove  them  from  their  place 
unto  Deer  Island."  A  party  of  horse,  under  Capt.  Prentice, 
guarded  them  down  to  the  pines  on  Charles  river,  "  about  two 
miles  above  Cambridge."  Here  boats  were  ready  to  carry  them, 
being  two  hundred,  down  to  the  Island. 

A  family  of  twelve  persons,  whose  head  was  old  Jethro,  who 
moved  to  Natick  after  the  war,  but  had  not  joined  the  praying 
Indians,  ran  away  in  the  night  and  joined  the  enemy.  Before  the 
afflicted  Naticks  embarked,  Mr.  Eliot,  their  long -tried  and  faithful 
adviser,  comforted  them  with  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel,  and 
exhorted  them  to  remain  steadfast  in  their  Christian  profession. 
At  midnight  of  the  30th,  they  left  for  their  destination,  fearing  lest 
they  should  be  sent  out  of  the  country,  and  no  more  behold  the 
homes  and  the  sanctuary  in  which  they  professed  themselves  the 
friends  of  Christianity. 

Three  Indians,  brought  down  with  the  Wameists,  who  had  no 
sympathy  for  them  in  their  religious  profession,  and  who  had  gone 
to  live  in  their  settlement  after  the  war  began,  were  condemned  and 
sentenced  to  be  sold  as  slaves  out  of  the  country.  One  of  these 
was  Will  Hawkins,  a  Narraganset  Indian,  who  had  worked  about 
Salem.  The  innocent  ones,  on  their  way  home,  had  a  young 
man,  the  son  of  pious  parents,  shot  by  an  English  soldier,  on 
parade,  at  Woburn.  The  person  who  committed  this  deed  was 
tried  for  his  life,  but  cleared  by  the  jury. 

21.  A  day  of  thanksgiving  is  observed  at  Concord*  for  the 
remarkable  preservation  of  Capt.  Thomas  Wheeler  and  his  men, 
who  had  returned  from  very  perilous  battles  with  a  large  body  of 
Indians  near  and  at  Brookfield.  Their  minister,  Mr.  Bulkley, 
preached  from  Psalm  cxvi.  12.  "  What  shall  I  render  to  the 
Lord  for  all  his  benefits  towards  me."  They  have  always  made 
the  bravest  and  best  soldiers,  who  most  successfully  battled  against 
their  spiritual  foes  of  shame  for  the  cause  of  God  and  forgetful- 
ness  of  his  mercies. 

November.  Gookin  informs  usf  that  "about  the  beginning" 
of  this  month  news  reached   Boston   that  fifty  men,  one   hundred 

*  Shattuck's  Hist,  of  Concord,  p.  49,  50.         f  Gookin's  Chr.  Ind.  p.  475-7. 


sins   OCCASIONING    l  HE    w  A_R,  ■>  t  < 

]»;7r>.  j 

ami  fifty  women  anil  children  of  the  Christian  Indians,  while  put- 
ting up  their  harvest  of  com  at  Elassanamesitt,  had  been  taken  and 
carried  away  by  the  enemy.  'The  account  was  brought  by  two  of 
the  principal  persona  among  those,  bo  captured,  named  Jamea 
Speen  and  Job  Kattenanit.  These  related  that  they,  several 
squaws  and  BOtne  children,  being  at  a  distance  from  the  rest,  bad 
an  opportunity  to  escape.  Among  the  prisoners  was  Captain  Tom, 
or  Wuttasacomponom,  a  ruler  over  them,  and  Joseph  Tuckappawill, 
their  minister.  The  author  just  quoted  observes:  "This  provi- 
dence was  a  very  deep  wound  to  the  work  of  gospelizing  the 
Indians,  for  this  people  were  considerable  for  number,  as  before 
hinted,  being  the  greatest  part  of  three  Indian  villages,  viz.,  Has- 
sanamesitt,  Magunkog,  and  Chobone-Konhonom."  Detachments 
of  English  were  dispatched  after  the  enemy,  who  made  such 
inroad,  but  without  effect. 

S.  The  Colonial  Treasurer  is  instructed  to  provide  for  the  Chris- 
tian Indians  on  Deer  Island,  and  to  appoint  some  person  to  visit 
them  when  proper,  for  such  a  purpose. 

The  General  Court  begin  their  session.*  They  consider  sins  for 
which  God  hath,  they  observe,  "  given  commission  to  the  bar- 
barous heathen  to  become  a  smart  rod  and  severe  scourge  to  us  in 
burning  and  depopulating  several  hopeful  plantations  and  murder- 
ing many  of  our  people."  They  state  that  there  has  been  too 
much  neglect  in  watching  and  catechising  children  of  the  church. 
They  recommend  to  the  elders  and  churches  of  the  jurisdiction  a 
reformation  in  this  respect.  As  an  instance  how  this  was  imme- 
diately complied  with,  Mr.  Higginson,  of  Salem,  proposed  that  he 
would  catechise  the  children  of  his  congregation  every  second  week, 
on  the  5th  and  6th  days,  as  formerly.  They  mention  pride,  mani- 
fested in  men's  wearing  long  hair  and  periwigs,  and  in  women's 
"  wearing  borders  of  hair,  and  their  cutting,  curling  and  immodest 
laying  out  their  hair,"  as  needing  correction.  They  call  on  County 
officers  to  execute  the  law  against  excess  in  apparel.  They  order 
the  assemblies  of  Quakers  to  be  suppressed,  and  the  law  forbidding 
their  introduction  into  the  Colony  to  be  more  strictly  enforced. 
They  order  that  no  one  turn  his  back  "  upon  the  public  worship 
before  it  is  finished  and  the  blessing  pronounced.  Youth  are  to  be 
watched  over  in  the  meeting-house."  The  acts  against  profanity, 
violations  of  the  fifth  command,  idleness,  fraud  and  parties  of  dis- 
sipation, are  to  be  vigorously  put  in  force. 

Persons  driven  from  their  homes  by  the  enemy  to  other  towns 
for  refuge  are  not  to  be  considered  as  residents  in  these  places,  and, 
if  poor,  shall  .be  supported  by  the  Colony,  and  the  Selectmen, 
where  they  are,  must  see  that  they  are  employed,  so  as  to  save 
expense. 

*  Mass.  Col.  Records. 
73 


578  THE   WAMESITS   CRUELLY   TREATED. 

[Mass. 

The  Court  say  that  for  weighty  reasons,  they  had  placed  Indians 
on  different  Islands,  "  for  our  and  their  security."  They  forbid 
them  to  leave  their  places  on  pain  of  death,  and  the  English,  if 
meeting  them  as  stragglers,  are  authorized  to  slay  them.  If  Eng- 
lishmen steal  any  of  these  Indians  and  carry  them  off,  they  shall 
be  punished  for  man-stealing,  as  the  law  requires. 

12.  Commissioners  commend  to  the  several  General  Courts  of 
their  jurisdiction,  to  keep  the  second  of  December*  "  as  a  solemn 
day  of  prayer  and  humiliation,  to  supplicate  the  Lord's  pardoning 
mercy  and  compassion  towards  his  poor  people,  and  for  success  in 
our  endeavors  for  the  repelling  the  rage  of  the  enemy.  They 
further  commend  to  several  General  Courts,  that  effectual  care  be 
taken,  that  the  soldiers  sent  on  this  expedition  be  men  of  strength, 
courage  and  activity,  their  arms  well  fixed  and  fit  for  service  ;  that 
their  clothing  be,  in  all  respects,  strong  and  warm,  suitable  for  the 
season ;  that  they  have  provisions  in  their  knapsacks  for  a  week's 
march  from  their  rendezvous,  and  supply  in  a  magazine  for  a  more 
general  service ;  also,  that  there  be  a  meet  number  of  able  minis- 
ters and  chirurgeons  provided  and  appointed  for  the  expedition." 

13.  Of  the  Christian  Indians,  Job  Kattenanit,  who  had  been  a 
preacher  at  Magunkog,  receives  a  pass  from  General  Gookin  to 
visit  the  enemy,f  and  endeavor  to  regain  his  children,  carried  away 
from  Hassanamesitt.  A  scout  of  Captain  Henchman's  company  met 
him  near  that  place,  and  brought  him  to  their  commander,  who 
sent  him  to  Boston,  where,  to  still  the  popular  clamor,  he  was  im- 
prisoned three  weeks  and  then  put  on  Deer  Island.  Gookin  was 
reproached  by  many  for  granting  the  pass. 

15.  The  Wamesit  Indians,  still  adhering  to  gospel  order,  fall 
into  another  affliction  through  the  act  of  their  adversaries.  They 
were  under  the  supervision  of  Lieut.  James  Richardson,  two  miles 
from  Chelmsford.  A  barn,  full  of  hay  and  corn,  belonging  to  their 
guardian,  was  consumed  by  some  Indians  of  the  enemy,  who  were 
thus  continually  planning  to  bring  the  Christian  Indians  into  suspi- 
cion with,  the  English.  Fourteen  men  of  Chelmsford,  under  pre- 
tence of  scouting  to  discover  Philip's  forces,  went  to  kill  all  the 
Wamesits.  They  called  them  out  of  their  wigwams,  and  most  of 
them,  men,  women  and  children,  complied,  not  thinking  harm  was 
intended.  Two  of  the  Englishmen  discharged  their  pieces,  and 
wounded  five  women  and  children,  and  killed  a  boy.  Of  the 
wounded  was  Sarah,  a  respectable,  pious  widow,  and  mother  of  the 
lad  who  was  slain.     The  rest  of  the  aggressors  were  restrained 

*  Hazard,  vol.  ii.  p.  537,  8.  f  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  480-2. 

Note. — 1675.  Nov.  24.  As  a  matter  of  anxiety  to  our  people  in  their  various 
concerns,  a  proclamation  is  issued  in  London  which  forbids  merchandise  of 
Europe  to  be  imported  into  the  Plantations,  unless  they  are  laden  in  England, 
and  which  orders  the  laws  of  plantation  trade  to  be  enforced. — Salmon's  Chro?i. 
vol.  i.  p.  205. 


FLIGHT  OF  Tin:  WAMBSTTS, 
W75.] 

from  their  murderous  purpose.  Such  an  outrage  WM  severely 
oondemned,  especially  by  magistrates  and  ministers.  The  murder- 
era  were  tried  tor  their  lives,  hut  the  juries  did  not  agree  to  bring 
them  in  guilty.  Perceiving  that,  let  them  be  ever  BO  careful  or 
ever  so  faithful  to  the  English,  they  were  continually  in  peril  of 
destruction,  the  Wumesits  left  their  residence  and  carried  but  little 
with  them.  They  would  rather  run  the  hazard  of  hunger,  cold 
and  starvation,  than  live  as  they  had  done.  When  the  Council 
were  informed  of  their  flight,  they  ordered  Lt.  Thomas  Henchman, 
of  Chelmsford,  to  seek  and  persuade  them  to  return.  But  they 
would  not.  John  Lyne  and  Numphow,  the  rulers  of  the  Wame- 
sits,  wrote  a  kind  letter.  In  this  they  said  that  they  were  following 
Wanalancet,  who  had  gone  to  the  French.  They  acknowledged 
the  protection  of  the  Council,  but  it  did  not  keep  them  from  inju- 
ries inflicted  by  evil-minded  Englishmen.  When  harm  was  done 
in  their  neighborhood,  it  was  laid  to  them,  however  innocent.  If 
they  should  go  to  Deer  Island,  the  English  might  come  and  kill 
them  there,  as  they  had  done  at  Wamesit.  They  add,  "  We  are 
sorry  the  English  have  driven  us  from  praying  to  God,  and  from 
our  teacher."*  What  oppressive  wrong,  inflicted  on  weak  and 
unoffending  natives,  seeking  after  heavenly  wisdom  ! 

When  these  poor  Indians  had  been  gone  twenty-three  days,  and 
suffered  greatly  for  want  of  food,  the  most  of  them  returned  to 
their  wigwams.  Lieut.  Henchman  immediately  sent  word  to  the 
Council,  and  they  instructed  him  to  treat  them  kindly,  and  also 
appointed  Majors  Gookin  and  Willard,  and  Rev.  John  Eliot,  to 
visit  and  encourage  them,  and  persuade  the  Chelmsford  people  to 
treat  them  better.  The  same  committee  were  empowered  to  do  a 
like  service  for  the  Nashobah  Christian  Indians,  residing  at  Con- 
cord. 

On  the  return  of  the  Wamesits,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Clark,  of 
Chelmsford,  asked  their  teacher,  Symon  Beckom,  what  they  did 
while  absent.  He  replied,  "  We  kept  three  Sabbaths  in  the  woods ; 
the  first  Sabbath,"  said  he,  "  I  read  and  taught  the  people  out  of 
Psalm  35  ;  the  second  Sabbath,  from  Psalm  46  ;  the  third,  out  of 
Psalm  118."  These  were  passages  of  sacred  writ,  pertinent  to  the 
sorrows  of  the  speaker  and  hearers.  Their  penitent  worship  in 
the  wilderness,  amid  hunger,  cold,  perils  and  distress,  was  no  less 
acceptable  to  the  Father  of  mercies,  than  that  of  a  courtly  audience 
in  the  most  splendid  cathedral. f 

28.  Leonard  Hoar,  late  President  of  Harvard  College,  +  dies  at 
Braintree,  aged  forty-five  years.  He  graduated  at  the  same  Insti- 
tution, 1650 ;  -went  to  England,  1653  ;  and  received  a  doctorate  of 
medicine  at  the  University  of  Cambridge.  He  became  minister  at 
Winsted,  Sussex,  and   was   ejected  for  non-conformity  in  1662. 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  480.  t  Ibid.  485. 

X  Calamy,  vol.  i.  p.  -525.     Magnalia,  3  ed.  vol.  ii.  p.  14,  5. 


580  CANADIANS   HELP  INDIAN  REBELS. 

[Mass. 

Being  invited  to  visit  Boston,  by  the  Old  South  Church,  he  came 
1672,  and  in  September,  was  inducted  into  the  office  of  President. 
While  respected  for  his  scholarship  and  piety,  he  deemed  it  best  to 
vacate  his  place,  which  he  did  fifteenth  of  March,  1675.  In  Eng- 
land he  married  a  daughter  of  Lord  Lisle,  who  survived  him  and 
married  Hezekiah  Usher,  of  Boston,  and  died  May  25,  1723.  He 
left  two  daughters,  Bridget  and  Tryphena.  Cotton  Mather  says  of 
him,  "  He  was  truly  a  worthy  man."  Though  he  had  troubles, 
Christian  principles  were  his  support  and  guide  to  perfect  rest. 

December  2.  A  day  of  prayer  and  humiliation*  is  observed  for 
success  of  the  New  England  forces  against  the  Narragansetts,  whose 
treachery  towards  our  fathers  had  been  fully  discovered.  Increase 
Mather  says  :  "  The  churches  were  all  upon  their  knees  before  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  armies,  intreating  his  favor  and  gracious  success 
in  that  undertaking,  wherein  the  welfare  of  his  people  was  so 
greatly  concerned." 

10.  Andros  writes f  to  the  Governor  of  Maryland:  "Indians  at 
the  eastward,  so  great  success  in  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  Col- 
onies, having  engaged  all  others  the  neighbors,  and  endeavoring  by 
all  means  of  command  and  profit  to  engage  the  Maques,  and  sent 
to  all  other  parts  as  far  as  Canada,  which  New  England  think  do 
supply  their  said  enemies,  and  all  our  Indians  as  far  as  Delaware, 
thought  only  to  wait  opportunities.  There  only  remains  firm  the 
Maques;  and  by  their  means  the  Sinnekes,  which  as  seated  are 
most  able  to  good  or  harm,  and  too  far  and  particularly  the  Sin- 
nekes, if  they  fall  off  to  be  force.  I  here  send  you  an  abstract  of 
a  letter  sent  from  the  Commander  at  Albany,  relating  to  some 
particulars,  (writte  by  ye  Jesuite  among  the  Maques,)  by  which 
you  may  see  his  sense." 

13.  The  committee  designated  to  visit  the  Christian  Indians  J  at 
Wamesit,  attend  to  this  work  of  mercy.  They  also  sent  for  eighteen 
more  of  these  people,  who  were  afraid  to  come  back,  and  staid 
about  Pennagog.  Among  these  was  the  afflicted  widow  who  was 
wounded,  and  whose  son  was  barbarously  murdered.  The  message 
was  obeyed,  and  the  community  of  natives,  professing  the  religion 
of  Christ,  were  once  more  united,  with  stronger  pledges  from  the 
head  authorities,  that  their  rights  should  be  protected.  The  com- 
mittee proceeded  to  Concord  and  placed  the  Christian  Indians  of 
Nashobah  under  the  inspection  of  Mr.  John  Hoar,  who  duly 
sympathized  with  them  in  their  anxieties. 

17.  A  communication  from  John  Eliot  to  Robert  Boyle,  §  Presi- 
dent of  the  Missionary  Corporation,  furnishes  the  following  ex- 
tracts : 

"  I   must  change  my   ditty  now.      I   have    much  to  write  of 

*  Inc.  Mather's  Ind.  "Wars,  p.  19.  f  Easton's  Philip's  War,  p.  124. 

%  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  484.  §  Boyle    at  the    Golden    Key,    in 

Watling  Street,  London. 


VICTOR!    AT  NARRAGANBETT,  581 

it  ;?;>.] 

Umentation  over  the  work  of  Christ  among  our  praying  Indians. 

As  yet  it  is  (as  it  were)  dead,  but  not  buried,  nor,  I  believe,  shall 

be.  My  care  and  labor  is,  to  exhort  them  to  humiliation  and 
repentance,  to  be  patient  and  meek  in  tin.:  sight  of  both  God  and 
man.  Here  be  three  hundred  and  titty  souls  or  thereabouts,  put 
upon  a  bleak  island,  the  fittest  we  have,  where  they  surfer  hunger 
and  cold.  Our  rulers  are  careful  to  order  them  food,  but  it  is 
hard  to  be  performed,  that  they  suffer  much.  I  cannot  without 
difficult v,  hardship  and  peril  get  unto  them.  I  have  been  yet  but 
twice  with  them.  Yet  I  praise  God  that  they  be  put  out  of  the 
way  of  greater  perils,  dangers  and  temptations.  Captain  Gookin 
and  I  did  this  week  visit  another  company  (where  be  fifty-nine 
souls)  at  Concord,  whom  we  have  ordered  in  as  much  safety  as  the 
difficulty  of  the  times  would  permit  us  ;  and  so  we  commit  them 
to  God,  begging  his  protection  over  them.  From  thence,  we  went 
to  Pawtucket,  to  visit  the  poor  Wamesit  Indians,  who  in  a  fright 
fled  into  the  woods  until  they  were  half  starved.  They  are  come 
back  again.  There  be  more  than  one  hundred  souls  of  them.  At 
another  place  there  were  a  company  making  ready  to  go  to  the 
island,  but  were  surprised  by  the  enemy  and  carried  away  captive. 
There  were  more  than  one  hundred,  and  sundry  of  them  right 
godly,  both  men  and  women. 

"  Another  great  company  of  our  new  praying  Indians  of  Nip- 
muck  fled  at  the  beginning  of  the  wars,  first  to  Connecticut,  offered 
themselves  to  Mr.  Pynchon,  one  of  our  magistrates,  but  he  (though 
willing)  could  not  receive  them.  They  fled  from  thence  to  Uncas, 
who  is  not  in  hostility  against  the  English,  and  I  hope  they  be 
there.  This  is  the  present  state  of  the  most  of  our  praying  Indians 
in  our  jurisdiction.  All  in  Plymouth  Patent  are  still  in  quiet,  and 
so  are  all  our  Vineyard  Indians  and  all  the  Nantucket  Indians.  I 
beg  prayers  that  they  may  be  still  preserved."* 

19.  After  several  skirmishes  of  our  troops,  while  concentrating 
to  the  point  of  their  intended  attack  at  Narragansett,  they  com- 
mence this  work  upon  the  fortification  of  the  enemy,  who  had 
strongly  entrenched  themselves  in  a  swamp,  fifteen  miles  from 
Petaquamscot.  Having  been  engaged  in  a  severe  battle  of  three 
hours,  and  repulsed  once,  the  English  gained  the  mastery,  burnt 
about  five  hundred  wigwams,  in  which  many  Indian  women  and 
children  perished.  They  lost  eighty-five,  killed  and  died  of  their 
wounds,  and  had  one  hundred  and  forty-five  others  wounded ; 
while  of  the  enemy,  one  thousand  men  were  computed  to  have  per- 
ished. Though  our  fathers  were  thankful  to  God  for  the  victory, 
as  an  encouragement  that  they  might  hope  to  secure  their  colonial 
existence,  yet  they  felt  that  it  was  dearly  purchased,  and  taught 
them  that  much  was  to  be  endured  before  they  could  rest  from  the 
contest  of  Christianity  with  heathenism. 

*  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle. 


582  VISIT  TO   DEER  ISLAND. 

[Mass. 

In  the  orders  of  Josiah  Winslow,  as  chief  commander  in  the 
expedition  against  the  Narragansetts,  are  the  subsequent  passages. 
"  This  trust  is  committed  to  you  for  the  honor  of  God,  the  good 
of  his  people,  and  the  security  of  the  interest  of  Christ  in  his 
churches."  After  instructing  him  to  prevent  profanity,  they  pro- 
ceed :  "See  that  the  worship  of  God  be  kept  up  in  the  army,  by 
daily  prayer  and  invocation  of  his  name,  and  preaching  his  word  as 
you  have  opportunity,  and  the  Sabbath  be  not  profaned." 

21.  A  question  came  up  among  the  Quakers  of  Salem,#  about 
wearing  the  hat  in  time  of  prayer.  The  majority  of  them  decided 
it  in  the  negative. 

The  latter  end  of  this  month,f  Messrs.  Gookin,  Eliot  and  other 
friends  to  the  Christian  Indians,  visit  those  on  Deer  Island.  The 
number  of  such  Indians  at  this  time  were  about  five  hundred,  who 
had  been  enlarged  by  the  Punkapoag  community.  Gookin  observes : 
"  The  enmity,  jealousy,  and  clamors  of  some  people  against  them, 
put  the  magistracy  upon  a  kind  of  necessity  to  send  them  all  to  the 
Island  ;  and  although  it  was  a  great  suffering  to  the  Indians  to  live 
there,  yet  God  brought  forth  this  good  by  it :  first,  their  preserva- 
tion from  the  fury  of  the  people  ;  secondly,  the  humbling  and  bet- 
tering the  Indians  by  this  sore  affliction.  I  may  say,  in  the  words 
of  truth,  there  appeared  among  them  much  practical  Christianity." 

24.  William  Gilbert  writes  from  Boston  to  his  grandfather  and 
grandmother  in  England.  Though  news  had  not  come  from  camp 
when  he  wrote,  yet  it  probably  came  before  the  close  of  the  day. 
"Never  worse  days  in  New  England  by  reason  of  the  multitude 
of  Indians,  which  have  been  lately  our  neighbors  and  friends,  are 
risen  up  against  us,  and  they  have  burnt  many  towns  and  killed 
about  three  hundred  persons,  and  used  them  in  a  most  inhuman 
manner,  they  lying  in  swamps  and  woods,  where  there  is  no  coming 
at  them,  and  now  notwithstanding  the  sharpness  of  the  season,  we 
have  sent  forth  an  army  of  about  twelve  hundred  against  them  up 
about  sixty  miles  into  the  country,  and  about  two  days  ago  post 
came  from  the  army  how  that  they  had  killed  and  taken  sixty-five 
prisoners,  and  the  Indians  have  killed  twenty-four  English,  and 
taken  a  half  barrel  of  powder.  But  the  main  body  of  the  Indians 
is  got  into  a  great  swamp,  and  'tis  judged  that  they  will  stand  a  fair 
battle.  'Tis  judged  there  is  about  three  thousand  of  them  armed. 
The  Lord  grant  good  news  from  the  army.  Otherwise  we  shall 
have  sad  times  here  next  summer,  insomuch  that  'tis  judged,  that 
there  will  be  a  famine  amongst  us,  if  God  is  not  more  merciful  to 
us.  People  are  driven  from  their  habitations,  so  that  they  cannot 
plant  their  corn." 

25.  Thomas  Danforth  writes  from  Boston,  in  the  name  of  the 
Commissioners,  to  the  Council  of  Connecticut,  J  to  make  further 

*  Friends'  MS.  Records.  t  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  48o,  6. 

t  Conn.  Col.  Records. 


different  m0tive8  of  emigrants.  688 

k;7;>.i 

exertions  for  suppressing  the  enemy.  They  remark:  M  Xou  mil 
see  what  we  have  been  necessitated  to  conclude  upon,  in  prosecu- 
tion of  what  by  Divine  Providence  we  are  so  deeply  engaged  in." 

On  the   28th  they   say,   in    another   communication:    "We   had   a 

deep  Bense  of  the  necessity,  that  the  present  opportunity  for  the 

subduing  of  tin.1  enemy  he  vigorously  prosecuted,  they  being  now 
united  into  one  body ;  for  that,  it'  through  any  neglect  or  slackness 
on  our  part,  they  have  again  the  benefit  of  the  warm  spring  to 
scatter,  we  may  fear  that  the  event  thereof  will  be  that  the  lives 
and  habitations  of  multitudes  of  the  English  must  go  for  their  lives. 
We  are  not  ignorant  of  the  great  difficulty  and  hardship  of  the 
undertaking ;  but  yet,  if  God  calls  us  therein  to  wait  on  him,  it 
will  be  of  wisdom  as  well  as  duty,  with  cheerfulness  and  humility, 
to  submit  to  his  good  pleasure."  In  the  margin  they  observe: 
"  The  Council  of  Massachusetts  have  sent  two  Natick  Indians  as 
spies  to  the  Narragansetts.  Their  signs  for  their  security,  are  the 
laying  down  their  arms,*  (if  they  have  any,)  spreading  their  hands, 
and  opening  their  breasts." 

SO.  According  to  the  pressing  request  of  the  Council,  two  of 
these  Indians  had  been  engaged  by  Major  Gookin  to  visit  the  enemy 
at  their  different  quarters,  and  obtain  knowledge  of  their  plans. 
Though  their  reward  was  but  five  pounds  a-piece,  they  agreed  to 
adventure  their  lives  in  so  perilous  an  enterprise,  and  accordingly, 
before  day,  they  set  out  on  their  journey.f 

Increase  Mather  remarks  as  follows  :  "It  is  easy  to  observe, 
from  the  history  of  these  troubles,  £  that  whereas  there  have  been 
two  sorts  of  men  designing  settlement  in  this  part  of  America ; 
some  that  came  hither  on  account  of  trade,  and  worldly  interests, 
by  whom  the  Indians  have  been  scandalized ; — others  that  came 
hither  on  a  religious  and  conscientious  account,  having  in  their  eye 
the  conversion  of  the  heathen  unto  Christ ;  the  former  have  been 
attended  with  blasting,  ruinous  providences ;  these  latter  have  been 
signally  owned  by  the  Lord.  Jesus,  for  the  like  hath  been  rarely 
known  in  the  world,  that  a  plantation  should  be  raised  out  of 
nothing,  and  brought  to  such  considerableness  in  so  short  a  time ; 
whereas  in  the  close  of  the  last  century,  there  was  not  so  much  as 
one  Christian  in  the  land,  there  are  now  above  fourscore  English 
and  six  Indian  churches  therein,  besides  many  other  congregations 
calling  upon  the  name  of  the  true  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  although 
as  yet  not  brought  into  church  estate,  according  to  the  order  of  the 
gospel."  • 

Randolph  replies  to  questions.  §  A  reason  assigned  for  the  Indian 
war  is,  that  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  are  so  strict  in  their 
requisitions  for  the  natives  to  embrace  Christianity.     Some  believe 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.  f  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  487. 

J  Inc.  Mather's  Ind.  Troubles.  §  London  Plantation  Office  MS. 


584  PURPOSES   OF  PHILIP. 

[Mass. 

that  Jesuit  priests  have  been  among  them  and  stirred  them  up 
against  the  English. 

1676.  January  14.  A  letter  from  Massachusetts,  laid  before  the 
Council  of  Connecticut,*  refers  to  the  late  battle :  "  The  success  of 
our  united  forces  in  the  Narragansett  country,  in  which  enterprise, 
though  it  hath  pleased  God  to  humble  us,  by  translating  to  rest 
out  of  the  bed  of  honor  in  the  service  of  Christ,  several  worthy 
and  valiant  commanders  and  soldiers,  both  ours  and  yours,  yet 
doubtless  we  have  cause  (according  to  our  best  intelligence)  to 
acknowledge  to  God's  praise,  that  he  hath  made  use  of  our  army 
as  executioners  of  his  justice  upon  many  of  our  barbarous  and 
cruel  enemies." 

24.  James  Quannapohit,  one  of  the  spies,  returned  from  among 
Philip's  adherents.f  He  related  that  this  sachem  and  his  soldiers 
had  their  quarters  near  Fort  Albany,  and  the  Nipmucks  and 
others  about  Menumese  ;  that  in  the  spring  they  intended  to  push 
the  war  vigorously,  and  burn  and  desolate  the  English  towns. 
He  stated  that  they  were  acquainted  with  the  battle  between  the 
English  and  Narragansetts,  and  were  glad  that  the  latter  would 
now  openly  espouse  their  cause ;  that  they  anticipated  much  suc- 
cess, and  expected  a  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition  from  the 
French,  through  the  hunting  Indians.  He  gave  information  of 
their  purpose  to  make  speedy  attacks  on  several  frontier  towns.  He 
said  that  Joseph  Tuhpawillin,  the  minister  of  Hassenasit  (Hassa- 
namesitt)  a  prisoner  among  the  enemy,  told  him  that  Philip  had 
ordered  his  men  to  capture  the  most  valiant  of  the  Christian  In- 
dians, so  that  he  might  put  them  to  some  cruel  death. 

February  5.  About  this  date  the  praying  Indians  at  Wamesit, 
near  Chelmsford,  petitioned  the  Council,  through  one  of  their 
guardians,  Jerathmel  Bowers,  that  they  might  be  removed  to  a 
safer  place  ;  that  they  feared  the  enemy  would  come  and  commit 
depredations,  so  that  the  fault  might  be  laid  to  them,  and  thus 
bring  on  them  unjust  retribution.  The  Council  replied  that  they 
would  attend  to  the  request.  In  the  meanwhile,  some  imprudent 
English  threatened  them.  They  ran  away  towards  Pennahoog, 
(Pennacook,)  except  six  or  seven  aged,  blind  and  lame  individuals, 
who  were  secretly  burnt  to  death  in  a  wigwam.  Those  who  fled 
joined  Wannalancet,  and  suffered  much  from  famine  and  sickness. 
Their  ruler,  Numphow,  and  their  teacher,  Mystic  George,  died, 
besides  others,  men,  women  and  children. 

10.  Among  the  captives  taken  at  Lancaster  are  Mary,  the  wife 
of  John  Rowlandson,  minister  of  that  place,  J  and  several  of  their 
children.  He  was  then  at  Boston,  soliciting  the  Council  for  addi- 
tional protection  to  his  people.     On  the  21st  he  was  chosen  chap- 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.  t  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  487-91. 

1  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  p.  145,  6. 


ASSUMPTION   OP  civil,   POWER. 
Kwti.] 

lain  of  the   forces,  hut    anxious   and    occupied    for   the  recovery  of 

his  family,  be  declined,  and  Samuel  Noble  was  elected  for  the 
office.  As  well  known,  Mrs.  Rowlandson  published  a  narrative  of 
her  intense  Bufferings  after  being  redeemed  by  a  gentlewoman  and 

Mr.  Usher,  of  Boston,  and  returned  to  her  husband  on  the  third 
of  next  May.  While  she  was  striving  to  obtain  her  freedom,  she 
had  occasion  to  call  on  Philip  several  times,  who  kindly  encour- 
aged her  exertions. 

21.  An  instance  ol*  military  power  being  used  to  counteract 
civil  authority,  occurs  with  reference  to  the  Christian  Indians*  of 
Nashobah,  under  the  care  of  John  Hoar,  at  Concord.  Some  of 
the  inhabitants  here  had  imbibed  the  prejudice  generally  prevailing 
against  all  who  bore  the  color  and  name  of  Indian,  as  though  they 
were  entirely  ready  to  take  part  with  Philip  for  the  extermination 
of  the  English.  They  encouraged  a  captain,  quartered  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  supposed  to  have  been  Scyll,*  to  send  the 
Nashobahs  down  to  Boston.  He  quickly  seconded  their  purpose. 
After  a  day  or  two's  parleying  with  Mr.  Hoar,  who  refused  com- 
pliance, unless  he  brought  an  order  from  the  Colonial  Council,  he 
finally  had  the  house  where  the  Indians  kept,  broken  open,  and  its 
inmates  carried  under  a  guard  to  Charlestown.  The  Captain 
wrote  to  the  General  Court,  then  in  session, /an  account,  of  his 
proceedings.  The  Council,  in  conference  with  the  Deputies,  ex- 
pressed their  dissatisfaction  at  this  great  irregularity  in  setting 
up  a  military  power  in  opposition  to  the  chief  authority  of  the 
country,  declaring  of  what  evil  consequences  such  a  precedent  was ; 
instanced  the  evil  effects  of  like  practices  in  England  in  later  times, 
urging  that  due  testimony  might  be  borne  against  the  same  by  the 
whole  Court.  But  they  were  mortified  and  grieved  to  perceive, 
that  however  the  House  assented  to  their  statement,  they  deemed  it 
best  to  delay  action.  The  poor  Indians,  who  had  placed  them- 
selves under  protection  of  the  English,  found  their  confidence 
abused.  Being  about  fifty-eight,  they  were  sent  down  to  Deer 
Island,  where  they  suffered  severely. 

The  Captain  here  referred  to  was  probably  Capt.  Joseph  Scyll, 
then  quartered  with  his  company  at  Lancaster.  If  so,  though  the 
Deputies  may  not  at  first  have  complied  with  the  wish  of  the 
Council,  for  punishing  him  because  he  assumed  excessive  power, 
they  may  have  waited  till  the  next  October,  when  they  united  with 
the  magistrates  in  ordering  him  to  resign  his  captaincy  for  such 
conduct." 

*  Shattuck's  Hist,  of  Concord,  p.  52-4. 

Note. — 1675-6.  Feb.  11.  On  complaint  of  a  Dutch  ambassador,  that  the 
forts  of  Penatscop  and  St.  John,  in  New  France,  belonging  to  the  French,  and 
recently  taken  by  a  vessel  of  his  nation,  had  been  re- captured  by  a  force  from 
Boston,  the  English  Council  order  that  Massachusetts  rulers  be  addressed  on 
this  subject. — Orders  in  Council. 


586  PROPOSALS   AS  TO   PRAYING  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

21.  John  Curtis,  of  Roxbury,  as  the  guide  of  troops  going  forth 
to  Quaboag,  their  head- quarters,  is  authorized  to  employ  six  Chris- 
tian Indians  at  the  Island  for  his  assistants.  Curtis  accordingly* 
selected  James  Quannapohit,  Job  Hattenanit,  James  Speen,  Andrew 
Pitimee,  John  Magus  and  William  Nahaton.  These  were  princi- 
pal men,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  show  their  fidelity  to  the  English, 
and  to  serve  under  Major  Thomas  Savage,  with  whom  some  of 
them  were,  in  the  first  of  the  war,  at  Mount  Hope. 

In  this  session  there  were  several  motions  f  concerning  "  the 
poor  Christian  Indians  at  Deer  Island."  Some  proposed  that  they 
should  be  destroyed  ;  others,  that  they  should  be  sent  out  of  the 
country  ;  but  the  majority,  that  they  should  be  treated  kindly,  ac- 
cording to  a  covenant,  made  1644,  between  the  Colony  and  their 
tribes. 

March  1.  Near  this  date,  Joseph  Tuckapawillin,  who  had  been 
minister  of  the  Indian  church  at  Hassanamesitt,  his  wife,  child, 
father  and  several  others  of  his  people,  having  escaped  from  the 
enemy,  are  taken  by  a  detachment  of  the  English  and  brought  into 
Marlborough.  Among  the  articles  found  with  the  preacher,  and 
seized  by  the  troops,  was  a  pewter  cup,  which  was  presented  to  him 
by  Mr.  Eliot,  and  which  he  used  at  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  No  doubt  this  vessel,  surrounded  with  sacred  associations 
of  his  spiritual  Teacher,  heavenly  Redeemer,  and  solemn  commun- 
ions, was  more  to  him  than  golden  goblets  to  the  proprietor  of  a 
princely  mansion.  Some  of  the  people  of  Marlborough  were 
prejudiced  against  all  Indians,  because  of  barbarities  committed  by 
the  followers  of  Philip. 

Soon  after  this,  Joseph  and  his  father,  Naos,  with  several  chil- 
dren, were  sent  to  Deer  Island.  In  two  months  his  wife  was  re- 
stored to  him,  but  his  beloved  son  perished  with  famine. 

4.  The  following  is  Governor  Andros's  order  to  Lieut.  Teunise,J 
to  demand  Christian  prisoners  of  the  Indians.  "  Go  as  far  as 
Connecticut  River,  and  '  find  out  Philip  or  other  northern  Indians  ; 
let  him  or  other  sachems  or  commanders  in  chief  know,'  that  I 
have  sent  you  to  demand  of  them  the  Christian  prisoners,  whom 
you  brought  into  our  parts,  and  *  forewarn  them  from  or  returning 
into  any  part  of  the  Government.'  If  they  are  scattered  into  par- 
ties, you  are  to  visit  each  party  and  demand  such  prisoners." 

9.  Thomas  Thacher,  James  Allen  and  Increase  Mather,  at  the 
suggestion  of  ministers  who  attend  the  Lecture  in  Boston,  propose 
to  Messrs.  Samuel  Phillips,  Cobbet,  Hobart  and  Gerrish,  of  Essex 
County,  that  the  churches  renew  covenant  with  God  and  seek  his 
face  for  the  pardon  of  prevailing  sins  and  the  removal  of  judgments. 

13.  A  chief  of  the  Indians,  who   destroyed  Groton,  called  to 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  497-501.  f  Ibid.  501-2. 

J  Eastern's  Philip's  War,  p.  148.  9. 


CHRI8TIAN    IMPRESS   ON    HEATHEN    MIND.  58* 

1676,  | 

Capt  Parker,*  in  one  of  the  fortified  bouses,  conversed  about  peace, 
but  threw  our  severe  taunts  "at  (heir  praying  and  worshiping  God 
in  the  meeting-house,  which  he  deridingly  Baid  ho  had  burned." 

Among  the  sufferers  of  Grotonf  at  this  date,  when  the  town  was 
burnt  by  Indians,  was  Sainuel  Willard.  He  was  son  to  Major 
Simon  Willard,  of Concord  ;  born,  January  31,  1040  ;  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  1659;  ordained,  July  13,  1664,  when  his  church 
organized,  though  his  salary  began  .Inly  1,  of  the  preceding 
year  :  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Rev.  .Mr.  Sherman,  of  Water- 
town,  next  month,  August  8  ;  her  mother  being  grand-daughter 
of  Thomas  Darcy,  Earl  of  llivers.  Called  to  preach  at  the  Third 
church  of  Boston,  (Old  South,)  he  was  installed  April  10,  1678, 
as  colleague  with  Mr.  Thacher. 

:^t).  Rev.  Samuel  Nowell,  chaplain  of  the  army,  and  whom 
Gookin  styles  "  minister  of  God's  word  at  Boston,"  writes  home.+ 
"  I  look  at  it  as  a  great  rebuke  of  God,  that  we  should  miss  our 
enemy  as  we  did,  when  we  were  at  Menumesse.  If  we  had 
hearkened  to  those  six  Indians,  whom  we  took  from  Deer  Island, 
we  might  have  prevented  that  error.  They  have  behaved  them- 
selves like  sober,  honest  men,  since  their  abode  with  us." 

April  5.  A  letter  from  Edward  Taylor, §  minister,  and  others  of 
Westfield,  to  the  Council  of  Connecticut,  states  their  distressed 
condition  from  great  sickness  among  their  people  and  exposure  to 
the  enemy  ;  that  they  had  concluded  to  draw  in  their  out  garrisons, 
and  have  such  defenses  near  together  ;  that  the  Bay  Authorities 
had  advised  them  to  leave  their  settlement  and  go  to  Springfield, 
which  they  could  not  do  on  account  of  their  sick,  and  it  did  not 
meet  their  wishes.  They  ask  if  they  should  be  assisted  in  remov- 
ing down  to  Connecticut,  if  health  be  restored  to  them.  The  Coun- 
cil replied  in  a  sympathizing  manner,  but  declined  to  draw  them 
from  Massachusetts. 

20.  Mr.  Nicholet  preaches  his  farewell  sermons  ||  in  Salem,  and 
is  recommended  to  the  churches  of  London  and  elsewhere. 

22.  As  the  indication  of  a  true  idea  on  heathen  mind,  that 
devotion  offered  to  the  Supreme,  with  faith  of  heart  and  piety  of 
life,  will  be  efficacious  for  deliverance  from  affliction,  we  have  the 
subsequent  tradition.^!  As  the  Sagamores  who  still  survived  and 
remained  in  league  with  the  Chief  of  the  Wampanoags,  stood  in 
consultation  on  the  highlands  of  Stow,  and  asked  which  of  the 
two  settlements,  Concord  or  Sudbury,  they  should  first  attack,  the 
decision  was  made  as  to  the  latter.  While  arguing  for  such  a  con- 
clusion, one  of  the  chiefs  remarked  :  "We  no  prosper  if  we  go  to 
Concord — the'  great   Spirit  love  that  people — they  have   a  great 


*  Kubbard,  p.  173.  f  Butler's  Hist,  of  Groton,  p.  156,  7. 

t  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  505,  6.      §  Conn.  Col.  Rec. 

J  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec.  If  Shattuck?s  Hist,  of  Concord,  p.  59. 


588  NOTICE   OF   PETER   FOLGER. 

[Mass. 

man  there — he  great  pray."  The  speaker  no  doubt  had  Mr. 
Bulkley  in  mind,  who  was  noted  for  his  gift  of  gospel  prayer.  It 
furnishes  a  clue  to  the  remarkable  influence  on  the  hearts  of  the 
numerous  body  of  Indians  who  fled  from  Hope  Atherton,  when 
lost  and  offering  himself  to  them  as  a  captive,  as  a  means  of 
escaping  starvation. 

23.  Peter  Folger,  of  Nantucket,  dates  a  pamphlet  in  verse.  It 
is  called,  "  A  Looking-Glass  for  the  Times."  It  was  printed  in 
1763.  It  speaks  of  treatment  received  by  Baptists  and  Quakers ; 
of  ministers  as  hirelings,  and  of  "college  men,"  as  objectionable. 
He  addresses  a  petition  to  Governor  Andros,  of  New  York.  He 
represents  himself  as  a  prisoner  at  Sherburn,  because  he  did  not 
pay  a  fine,  laid  on  him  by  authorities  chosen  by  opponents  to  the 
Duke's  interests,  for  declining  to  give  up  court  records;  sixty 
years  old ;  poor  and  has  a  family ;  a  resident  thirty  years  on  Nan- 
tucket and  the  Vineyard ;  an  interpreter  for  English  and  Indians 
from  the  beginning.  Farmer  states  that  he  was  grandfather  of 
Benjamin  Franklin.  The  Magnalia  calls  Folger  "  an  able,  godly 
Englishman,  employed  in  teaching  the  youth  in  reading,  writing, 
and  the  principles  of  religion  by  catechism,  being  well  learned  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  capable  of  help  in  religious  matters."  Gov. 
Andros  ordered,  August  3,  1677,  that  his  and  other  cases  be  sus- 
pended, and,  September  21,  that  they  be  brought  before  him  and 
his  Council  at  New  York.  Backus  remarks  :  "I  find  by  Mr. 
Samuel  Hubbard,  that  Mr.  Folger  became  a  Baptist  and  joined  Mr. 
Clark's  church  about  the  time  of  this  war,  as  Thomas  West,  an 
Englishman,  and  some  Indians  from  thence,  did  to  Mr.  Hiscox's 
church  in  1680.  And  Mr.  Folger  promoted  the  Baptist  principles 
among  the  Indians."  One  of  these,  named  Japheth,  said  to  him, 
that  he  should  hold  fast  his  former  teachings,  and  not  his  latter. 
After  a  long,  trying  and  useful  life,  Mr.  Folger  died  in  1690.* 

25.  Nathaniel  Byfield,  a  stranger  in  the  country  and  lately  mar- 
ried,! petitions  the  Council  to  be  released  from  impressment  for 
marching  against  the  enemy,  according  to  Deut.  xxiv.  5 :  "  That 
when  a  man  hath  taken  a  new  wife,  he  shall  not  go  out  to  war, 
neither  shall  he  be  charged  with  any  business,  but  he  shall  be  free 
at  home  one  year."  This  application  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
considered  as  within  the  range  of  common  law  for  its  age  and 
people. 

May  3.  The  General  Court  begin  their  session.  William  Hub- 
bard, of  Ipswich,  preaches  the  election  sermon.  This  is  entitled 
"  The  happiness  of  a  people  in  the  wisdom  of  their  rulers  direct- 
ing, and  in  the  obedience  of  their  brethren  attending  unto  what 
Israel  ought  to  do."     The  text  was  I.  Chronicles,  xii.  32. 

The  author  of  the  discourse  says,  in  its  dedication  to  Governor 

*  Nantucket  Papers,  p.  89-98.     Mag.  B.  vi.  p.  54.     Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  437. 
t  Mass.  Archives.     Military,  vol.  ii.  p.  231. 


BOVBREIGNTi    MAI    CHOOSE   IT8   RELIGION.  W9 

I67&] 

Leverett :  M  It  cannot  be  denied  but  in  the  hitter  end  of  the  former 
year,  the  wisest  among  Ufl  were  under  sad  apprehensions  concern- 
ing the  i>sue  of  the  present  troubles  that  were  then  come  and  daily 
coming  upon  us,  in  regard  of  the  rage  of  the  heathen  so  far  let 
loose  against  us,  and  those  that  were  concerned  in  the  election  of 
magistrates  lor  this  present  year  were  ready  to  fear  they  might 
bespeak  the  persons  on  whom  the  next  election  should  fall,  with 
the  words  of  the  prophet,  Thou  hast  clothing,  be  thou  our  ruler, 
and  let  this  ruin  be  under  thine  hand.  But  thanks  be  to  Almighty 
God,  that  hath  verified  that  ancient  proverb  of  the  Hebrews  to  our 
late  experience,  Cum  duplicantur  latcres,  hinc  venit  Moses,'1  (When 
the  bricks  are  doubled,  henceforth  cometh  Moses.)  He  proceeds 
to  discuss  the  order,  conduct,  counsels,  courage  and  resolution 
of  the  Jewish  Commonwealth  in  application  to  New  England. 
He  remarks,  that  in  accordance  with  "  learned  and  judicious 
writers,"  it  is  an  undoubted  right  of  "  sovereignty  to  determine 
what  religion  shall  be  publicly  professed  and  exercised  within  its 
dominions." 

He  proceeds  to  state  that  "  the  same  power  is  necessarily  re- 
quired to  uphold  and  maintain  true  religion,  by  taking  care  that 
public  ministers  be  sent  forth  to  preach  the  wrord  of  truth,  admin- 
ister sacraments,  and  celebrate  all  other  rites  and  ordinances,  that 
do  concern  "  such  religion  ;  "  by  providing  maintenance  and  other 
suitable  encouragements  for  such  ministers  ;  by  setting  up  and 
encouraging  the  schools  of  learning,  for  he  that  wills  the  end  is 
supposed  also  to  will  the  means ;  by  the  calling  of  Synods  or 
Councils,  as  need  may  require,  to  discuss  points  of  religion  in  con- 
troversy, and  to  hear  matters  of  differences  and  determine  them, 
and  be  of  use  whenever  there  is  want  of  truth  or  peace  in  the 
churches ;  by  preventing  the  spreading  and  growth  of  corrupt 
doctrine  and  heretical  opinions.  I  confess  it  is  not  easy  to  hit  the 
joint  in  this  controversy.  I  shall  lay  down  this  as  an  undoubted 
position,  that  it  is  scarce  possible  to  give  any  general  rule  about 
toleration  that  will  suit  with  all  times  and  places.  Such  opinions 
in  doctrine,  or  professions  and  practices  in  religion,  as  are  attended 
with  any  foul  practical  evils,  as  most  heresies  have  been,  ought  to 
be  prohibited  by  public  authority,  and  the  broachers  or  fomenters 
of  them  punished  by  penal  laws,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
offense,  like  other  fruits  of  the  flesh.  Any  doctrine  undeniably 
tending  to  the  disturbance  of  the  civil  State  ought  to  be  suppressed, 
and  the  public  profession,  yet  by  civil  authority  forbidden,  and  the 
disobedience  to  be  proceeded  against,  as  wrholesome  and  meet  laws 
provide  in  such  cases.  For  simple  heresy,  or  misbelieving  any 
truth  in  religion,  though  fundamental,  if  not  seditiously  or  blas- 
phemously held  forth,  there  seems  neither  rule  from  the  wrord  of 
God,  nor  reason  from  the  nature  of  the  thing,  why  any  should 
undergo    capital    punishment.      Doubtless    they   that   are    nursing 


590  STEPS  FOR  A  TREATY. 

[Mass. 

fathers  of  their  people  ought  as  well  to  prevent  poison  as  to  pro- 
vide bread  for  them,  which  seems  to  be  all  that  was  intended  by 
the  authority  of  the  country  in  the  laws  formerly  made  against 
heretics.  If  the  owner  or  keeper  of  the  vineyard  shall  make  a 
thorn  hedge  about  it,  if  any  man  by  violence  breaking  in  shall 
wound  or  destroy  himself,  where  will  the  blame  be  found,  in  them 
that  made  the  hedge  so  sharp  and  strong,  or  in  them  that  attempted 
without  leave  violently  to  break  in  ? " 

Mr.  Hubbard  adds :  "  For  those  opinions  which  are  inconsistent 
with  the  truth  of  religion  and  power  of  godliness,  and  where  those 
that  profess  them  may  in  charity  be  supposed  to  have  in  them 
aliquid  Dei,  as  Calvin  used  to  say,  the  case  is  far  otherwise.  Why 
there  may  not  be  an  indulgence  or  connivance  at  them,  that,  in 
some  things  not  fundamental,  may  not  be  so  far  persuaded  of  the 
truth  of  everything  professed  or  practiced  in  the  religion  estab- 
lished, as  to  join  with  others  in  all  outward  acts  of  worship,  being 
in  other  respects  orderly  and  peaceable,  but  desire  to  worship  God 
according  to  their  own  persuasion,  I  understand  not."  His  remark 
particularly  favored  the  cause  of  those  who  were  desirous  that  the 
Baptists  might  be  free  from  all  penalties,  for  not  attending  the 
allowed  places  of  worship. 

The  last  branch  of  the  author  on  this  subject  is,  that  the  magis- 
trates should  reform  religion  "  when  it  is  grown  corrupt,  or  is  in 
tendency  thereto." 

Referring  to  the  desolations  of  the  land,  he  says  with  the  Psalm- 
ist, "  The  heathen  are  come  into  thine  inheritance,  O  God  ;  the 
dead  bodies  of  thy  servants,  some  of  them  have  they  given  to  be 
meat  for  the  fowls  of  heaven,  the  flesh  of  thy  servants  to  the 
beasts  of  the  earth.  Their  blood  have  they  shed  like  water,  and 
there  is  none  to  bury  them.  How  long,  Lord,  wilt  thou  be  angry 
forever  :  shall  thy  jealousy  burn  like  fire  before  thou  pour  out  thy 
fury  on  the  heathen  ?  "  Here  the  author  vividly  refers  to  the 
destruction  of  property  and  lives  by  the  enemy  at  Lancaster,  Wey- 
mouth, Grotou,  Marlborough,  Wrentham,  Chelmsford,  Sudbury, 
and  of  Captain  Wadsworth  with  his  company. 

Among  his  closing  remarks  is  the  following :  "  We  have  many 
complaints  among  us.  Could  we  get  our  hearts,  stored  with  this 
grace  of  charity,"  it  "  would  cure  all  the  morellianism  and  liber- 
tinism in  the  brethren,  and  all  the  prelacy  and  presbyterianism  in 
the  elders  of  the  New  England  churches." 

The  Court  hand  instructions  to  Seth  Perry,  as  a  messenger  to 
the  hostile  Sachems.  He  was  accompanied  by  Tom  Doublet,  an 
Indian  guide.  He  was  instructed  to  require  that  if  they  sent 
persons  to  make  a  treaty,  such  individuals  should  come  to  the 
place  that  might   be  agreed  on,  unarmed,  and  with  a  white  flag.* 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  517. 


CHRISTIAN    INDIANS   LB88  BU8FECTBD.  591 

L676.] 

The  Court  on  the  5th  Bend  a  letter  by  him  to  M  the  Sagamoree 
about  Wachusetts,  Philip,  John,  Sam,  Wassakenoldquen  and  Pom- 
ham. "  They  say  in  it  that  they  wish  to  redeem  all  the  English 
captives  in  their  hands,  and  not  one  after  the  other.  They  pro- 
ceed :  M  You  desire  not  to  be  hindered  by  our  men  in  your  plant- 
ing, promising  not  to  do  damage  to  our  towns.  This  is  a  great 
matter,  and  therefore  cannot  be  ended  by  letters  without  Bpeaking 
one  with  another.  We  have  therefore  sent  to  you  once  more,  to 
let  you  know  our  minds  with  all  speed.  If  you  will  send  us  home 
all  the  English  prisoners,  it  will  be  a  great  testimony  of  a  true 
heart  in  you  to  peace,  which  you  say  you  are  willing  to  have." 

As  the  Christian  Indians  at  the  Island  are  distressed  for  lack  of 
food,  and  unable  to  provide  in  future,  a  man  is  required  to  take 
some  of  them  in  a  boat  to  catch  fish  for  the  supply  of  their  need  ; 
and  they  shall  have  liberty  to  get  employment  in  any  of  the  Eng- 
lish towns,  as  scouters  and  laborers.  This  is  a  strong  indication 
that  the  prevalent  prejudice,  which  had  sadly  operated  against  the 
evangelized  Indians,  was  much  weakened,  and  that  they  were  to  be 
treated  with  less  suspicion  and  greater  friendliness. 

With  regard  to  this  matter,  Gookin  observes  :  "  Then  God  was 
pleased  to  mollify  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men  towards  them  ; 
partly  by  the  true  reports  brought  to  the  General  Court,  of  their 
distressed  estate  and  the  great  unlikelihood  they  were  to  plant  or 
reap  any  corn  at  the  Islands  ;  and  partly  from  the  success  God 
was  pleased  to  give  their  brethren  abroad  in  the  country's  service, 
insomuch  that  the  hearts  of  many  were,  in  a  degree,  changed  to 
those  Christian  Indians  ;  and  the  General  Court,  then  sitting, 
passed  an  order  giving  liberty  to  remove  them  from  the  Islands, 
cautioning  their  order  that  it  should  be  done  without  charge  to 
the  country."  Such  Indians  were  accordingly  brought  in  boats 
from  the  Islands,  particularly  Deer  Island,  in  Boston  harbor,  to  a 
place  near  the  house  of  Thomas  Oliver,  in  Cambridge,  who  deeply 
sympathized  with  them  in  their  trials.  Many  of  them  were  then 
sick,  such  as  Waban,  their  ruler,  and  John  Thomas,  their  teacher, 
who  recovered,  with  most  of  the  others.  The  removal  was  made 
at  the  expense  of  the  missionary  Corporation  of  England,  who 
considered  them  as  under  their  care.  The  position  so  occupied  by 
the  Indians  was  retained  by  most  of  them  till  near  October,  when 
they  removed. 

As  an  indication*  that  the  extraordinary  perils  and  sufferings  of 
the  war  had  been  attended  with  more  than  usual  insanity,  it  is 
ordered  that  distracted  persons  in  some  towns,  who  had  injured 
their  own  families  and  others,  should  be  taken  care  of  by  the 
direction  of  the  selectmen. 

A  report  is  made  by  a  committee  and  accepted,  that  in  view  of 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Roc. 


592  LONG  ISLAND  FOR  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

"  the  great  difficulties  the  country  labors  under  to  raise  money, 
provisions  and  clothing  for  the  soldiers  employed,"  a  proclamation 
be  made,  "  that  such  as  are  able  may  be  stirred  up  to  give  or  lend, 
or  both,  the  country  such  a  sum  of  money  and  provisions,  as  may 
help  to  discharge  the  public  necessary  debts  contracted  and  con- 
tracting in  the  management  of  this  war;  what  shall  be  lent  to  be 
paid  in  three  years,  and  that  upon  the  next  public  day  of  Humilia- 
tion or  Thanksgiving,  that  shall  be  appointed  by  authority,  the 
eldest  ministers  of  the  respective  towns,  be  desired  to  stir  up  and 
exhort  the  people  thereunto." 

5.  Major  Daniel  Gookin  and  Capt.  Samuel  Hunting,  of  Charles- 
town,  are  empowered  to  raise  a  company  of  seventy,  and  afterwards 
increased  to  eighty,  Christian  Indians,  to  unite  with  five  hundred 
of  the  Colonists,  on  the  30th,  at  Concord. 

Proposals  are  made  for  locating  such  Indians  on  Long  Island, 
so  that  they  may  improve  the  planting  season.  That  those  of 
Punkapoag  be  placed  at  Brush  Hill,  as  near  as  they  can  be  with 
safety  to  their  own  fields  and  wigwams,  and  some  English  garrison  ; 
those  of  Nashobah  and  part  of  the  Naticks  at  Patucket,  and  the 
rest  of  the  latter  in  their  own  plantation,  or  on  such  lands  as  may 
be  procured  for  them.  Garrisons  shall  be  constructed  at  Patucket 
and  Natick,  to  secure  English  and  Indians  against  the  common  foe. 
The  Indians  who  are  to  be  thus  moved,  are  chiefly  women  and 
children,  and  they  are  required  to  lodge  constantly  in  the  garrisons, 
while  most  of  the  men  are  to  be  in  the  army.  The  separation  and 
removal  of  these  afflicted  people  are  committed  to  the  direction  of 
Messrs.  Gookin  and  Eliot.  The  Court  remark,  that  such  are  the 
"  solemn  occasions  with  the  present  awful  hand  of  God  on  us  in 
the  present  dispensation,"  they  must  put  off  attendance  on  the  legal 
cases  before  them. 

The  Salem  Company  of  Capt.  Joseph  Gardner,  slain  at  Narra- 
gansett  Fort,  head  their  petition  to  the  Legislature,  for  a  supply  of 
officers,  as  follows :  "  Whereas  by  the  death  of  our  honored  Cap- 
tain in  the  service  of  God  and  the  country,  we  are  deprived  of  a 
Captain." 

9.  Our  forces  dispersed  thirteen  Indians.  At  this  point,*  Mather 
remarks :  "  The  praying  Indians  did  approve  themselves  faithful 
to  the  English,  and  did  very  good  service  at  this  as  well  as  other 
times  ;  inasmuch  as  many,  who  had  thoughts  of  them,  begin  to 
blame  themselves  and  have  a  good  opinion  of  the  praying  Indians, 
who  have  been  so  generally  and  so  sinfully  decryed." 

16.  A  letter  from  Lord  Anglesey,  in  London,  to  John  Leverett, 
contains  several  items  f  on  the  distresses  of  our  people.  He  repre- 
sents that  they  seemed  to  act  as  if  they  were  independent  of  the 
Crown,  and  would  not  ask  it  for  help  in  their  warfare  with  the  In- 

*  Inc.  Mather's  Diary.  f  Hutchinson's  Hist.  3  ed.  vol.  i.  p.  279,  80. 


THE  FRENCH  HELP  THE  Indians.  594 

167&] 

dians.     He  mentions  that  were  the  King  applied  to  for  assistance, 

be  believes  thai  it  would  be  readily  granted,  lie  observes:  "It. 
is  not  altogether  groondlessly  reported,  thai  the  French  do  under- 
hand assist  and  supply  your  enemies."  In  this  his  Lordship  was 
very  probably  correct.  The  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  easily  brought 
to  bear  on  Philip  through  French  traders,  who  had  long  visited  in 
the  neighborhood  of  his  territory,  and  by  other  means,  was  most 
likely  a  principal  stimulus  to  urge  him  on  in  the  enterprise  of  ex- 
terminating the  Puritans  and  their  religion. 

ID.  In  the  Fall  fight  on  Connecticut  River,  wherein  the  enemy 
lost  three  hundred  men,  women  and  children,  and  which  was 
among  the  causes  of  their  overthrow,  Capt.  William  Turner,  with 
thirty-eight  of  his  men,  were  slain.  He  was  too  unwell  to  engage 
in  battle,  but  he  felt  constrained  to  lead  his  soldiers  by  the  great 
prospect  of  success.  Farmer  states  that  he  came  from  Dartmouth, 
in  England.  He  left  a  wife,  Mary.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church,  of  Boston,  by  whom  he  was  much  beloved,  and 
with  whom  he  had  suffered  for  what  they  believed  just  resistance 
to  authority. 

Hope  Atherton,  minister  of  Hatfield,*  was  chaplain  in  this  expe- 
dition. In  the  retreat  he  was  separated  from  the  troops,  and  wan- 
dered in  the  woods.  Perceiving  the  next  morning,  that  there  was 
no  prospect  of  striking  upon  the  route  homeward,  he  concluded,  if 
meeting  the  enemy,  to  place  himself  in  their  hands  as  the  likeliest 
means  of  prolonging  his  life.  The  next  day,  when  discovering  a 
party,  he  made  directly  towards  them,  and  gave  signs  of  his  readi- 
ness to  become  their  prisoner.  But  unaccountably  to  him,  they 
fled  from  his  presence,  shewing  no  hostility  and  appearing  to  be 
under  the  influence  of  fear.  He  then  sought  the  river  Connecticut, 
which  he  found,  and  following  it  several  days  with  great  hunger, 
fatigue  and  anxiety,  he  finally  reached  his  home.  The  singular 
conduct  of  the  enemy  towards  him,  was  probably  owing  to  their 
impression  from  his  dress  and  air,  that  he  was  a  priest,  and  that 
injury  done  to  him  would  bring  down  on  them  judgments  of  the 
Great  Spirit.  Such  superstition  proved  in  this  instance  real  pres- 
ervation. Tradition  of  descendants  in  the  family,  reports  that  he 
became  deranged.  In  June,  1679,  he  closed  his  earthly  career,  and 
thus  welcomed  the  restoration  of  his  reason,  never  more  to  be  dis- 
ordered, but  ever  to  abound  in  the  glories  of  a  warfare,  accom- 
plished through  the  might  of  Emmanuel. 

24.  The  Legislature  answer  a  communication  from  Connecticut. 
They  remark  as  to  late  conflicts  with  the  enemy :  "  Thus  God  is 
pleased  to  mix  his  smiles  with  his  frowns.  The  season  is  sickly, 
our  forces  disabled  at  present,  but  we  have  impressed,  and  hope 
by  1st  of  June,  to  be  out  with  five  hundred  horse  and  foot  and 

*  Hoyt's  Researches,  p.  133.     Williams's  Redeemed  Captive. 
76 


594  rARTIALITY   OF  AXDROS   FOR  INDIAN   REBELS. 

[Mass. 

Indians,  on  visiting  of  the  enemy's  head-quarters  at  Wachusetts, 
taking  it  on  their  march  to  join  with  your  forces  and  Indians, 
who  we  hope  and  desire  may  be  proportional  to  pursue  and  distress 
the  enemy  (if  God  please).  The  Indians  hereabouts  do  but  dally 
and  intend  not  peace,  therefore  we  concur,  without,  in  a  vigorous 
prosecution  of  them.  We  have  communicated  our  thoughts  to  the 
Governor  of  Plymouth,  from  whom  we  yesterday  received  his  con- 
currence in  the  affair,  and  assurance  that  what  is  in  their  power 
now  is  and  shall  be  out  to  scout  in  those  parts,  commending  your 
and  our  endeavors  to  the  gracious  guidance  and  blessing  of  the 
Almighty." 

28.  From  the  minutes  of  Andros's  Council  at  New  York,*  it  is 
evident  that  he,  supposing  Massachusetts  to  have  complained  too 
much  of  Philip's  forces  receiving  supplies  at  Albany,  begins  to 
retaliate,  and  thus  prolongs  the  sufferings  of  New  England  churches 
and  communities.  It  is  probable  that  "  Boston  will  make  a  peace 
with  the  North  Indians  on  their  own  account  alone.  Resolved  that 
endeavors  be  made  to  put  a  stop  to  the  Maques'  further  prosecuting 
the  North  Indians.  29.  All  North  Indians  that  will  come  in, 
may  be  protected.  30.  All  such  Indians  shall  be  received  to  live 
under  the  protection  of  [New  York]  Government,  and  the  Governor 
will  be  at  Albany,  where  any  of  them  may  freely  come  and  speak 
with  him  and  return  again  as  they  see  cause,  without  molestation. 
Memorandum — That  the  French  do  receive  North  Indians  under 
their  protection,  and  it's  said  that  five  hundred  of  them  are 
already." 

June.  A  petition  of  Andrew  Pittimeef  and  other  officers  of 
eighty  praying  Indians  in  service,  is  directed  to  the  General  Court, 
for  mercy  towards  some  of  the  prisoners  lately  taken  by  them,  near 
Lancaster  and  Marlborough.  The  persons  for  whom  they  sup- 
plicate as  their  friends  and  kindred,  are  Captain  Tom,  his  son 
Nehemiah,  his  wife  and  two  children,  John  Uktuck,  his  wife  and 
children,  Maanum  and  her  child.  They  say  of  them  :  "  The  per- 
sons we  beg  pardon  for,  as  we  are  informed,  are  innocent ;  and 
have  not  done  wrong  to  the  English,  all  this  war  time  ;  only  were 
against  their  wills  taken  and  kept  among  the  enemy.  We  have 
(especially  some  of  us)  been  sundry  times  in  your  service,  to  the 
hazard  of  our  lives,  as  spies,  messengers,  scouts  and  soldiers,  and 
have,  through  God's  favor,  acquitted  ourselves  faithfully,  and  shall, 
as  long  as  we  live,  endeavor  with  all  fidelity  to  fight  in  the  English 
cause,  which  we  judge  is  our  own  cause,  and  also  God's  cause,  to 
oppose  the  wicked  Indians,  enemies  to  God  and  all  goodness." 
The  Council  reply  to  the  petitioners,  that  they  have  so  much  evi- 
dence that  Captain  Tom  had  acted  with  the  enemy,  they  cannot 
grant  him  pardon,  though  they  do  to  the  women  and  children, 
for  whom  they  intercede. 

*  Eastern's  Philip's  War.  p.  158,  9.  f  Gookin's  Ohr.  Indians,  p.  .527-9. 


1  Kl'.AciiKKY   OF   PHILIP  TO  THE   MOHAWKS.  595 

So  many  o\'  the  men  belonging  to  Boston  were  in  public 
service,*  and  bo  great  the  alarm  from  the  final  struggle  of  foes, 
whose  only  hope  was  in  the  destruction  of  the  Colonists,  the  women 
of  this  town  began  to  build  a  fortification  across  its  neck  with  mud 
and  turf 

Soon  after  the  repulse  at  Iladley,  Philip  and  his  allies  began  to 
disperse  from  that  quarter,  where  they  had  caused  many  deaths  and 
great  suffering  among  the  English  forces  and  inhabitants.  Of 
their  discouragements  was,  that  the  Mohawks  had  become  his  fear- 
ful opponents.  Philip  had  used  strenuous  exertions  to  draw  these 
powerful  warriors  to  make  a  common  cause  with  him  against  the 
Christians.  Perceiving  that  they  would  not  consent,  he  resorted  to 
the  stratagem  of  having  a  small  party  of  them  waylaid  and  all 
killed,  as  was  supposed,  and  the  report  made  that  this  was  done  by 
the  English,  but  one  survived  to  reveal  his  treachery  and  bring 
retribution  upon  him.  Church  (Philip's  War,  p.  68)  speaks  of  this 
as  having  occurred  while  Philip  was  at  "  Scattacook,  between  York 
and  Albany,"  and  before  he  came  to  "  the  fall  of  Connecticut 
River,"  where  Turner  and  Holyoke's  forces  successfully  attacked 
his  warriors,  saying  :  "  The  Moohags  made  a  descent  upon  him 
and  killed  many  of  his  men,  which  moved  him  from  thence." 
Hubbard  observes :  "  It  is  certain,  after  the  end  of  this  month, 
(June,)  the  power  of  the  enemy  began  every  where  to  fail."  They 
"  that  had  lurked  about  Connecticut  River  all  this  spring,  being 
visited  with  sundry  diseases,  disappointed  of  the  fishing  and  put  by 
their  planting,  began  to  be  at  variance  among  themselves."  "  The 
Hadley  and  Pocumtuck  (now  Deerfield)  Indians  quarrelled  with 
Philip  for  occasioning  the  English  and  them  to  fall  out."  They 
"  resolved  to  return  to  their  own  homes ;  Philip  to  Mount  Hope 
and  the  Xarragansetts  to  their  country ;  the  Nipnets  and  River  In- 
dians westward  ;  others  northward,  towards  Pennicook  upon  Mer- 
rimack, intending  to  shift  for  themselves  as  well  as  they  could." 

In  Mather's  Prevalency  of  Prayer,  Increase  Mather  informs  us, 
the  churches  of  Dublin,  where  he  had  a  brother  settled,  manifest 
their  benevolence  for  our  colonists  and  their  faith  in  divine  promise, 
in  assembling  to  supplicate  the  God  of  armies,  that  he  would  give 
victory  to  our  fathers  over  their  heathen  enemies.  The  same  writer 
adds  :  "  The  prayers  of  the  churches  of  Europe  have  had  no  small 
share  in  our  mercies.  I  can  assure  the  reader  that  the  churches  in 
London,  in  Suffolk,  in  Dorset,  in  Devon,  in  Somerset,  in  Lan- 
cashire, have,  by  fasting  and  prayer,  sought  the  Lord  for  New 
England,  in  the  time  of  our  late  troubles."  Though  this  may 
excite  the  smile  of  unbelief,  it  is  in  the  fullest  accordance  with 
revealed  wisdom. 

July.   About  the  first  of  this  month,  the  Massachusetts  authori- 

*  N.  E.  Tears  for  her  Present  Miseries, 


596  INDIANS    KILLED   BY   WOMEN. 

[Mass. 

ties  being  informed  that  many  Indians  were  desirous  of  coming 
under  their  protection,  issued  a  proclamation*  to  the  import,  that 
whoever  of  them  would  submit  to  their  laws,  within  fourteen  days, 
might  hope  for  mercy. 

15.  Two  Indians  were  brought  prisoners  from  the  Eastward 
into  Marblehead.f  While  some  women  there  were  coming  out  of 
meeting,  they  met  these  prisoners,  and  such  was  their  excitement 
against  them  for  sufferings  brought  upon  the  English  by  the  wars, 
they  attacked  and  put  them  to  death.  A  Quaker  went  through 
Boston,  crying,  Repent.J 

18.  The  Quakers  of  Salem,  §  after  some  respite  from  prosecution, 
are  again  arraigned.  Josiah  Southwick  was  presented  for  bringing 
the  wife  of  John  Smith  to  address  the  congregation  there  on  the 
Sabbath,  to  their  great  annoyance.  He  is  fined  10/.,  and  ordered 
to  bring  Mrs.  Smith  before  the  Court  the  next  day,  or  pay  30/. 
The  wife  of  Henry  Trask  is  fined  5/.  for  disturbing  the  congrega- 
tion, as  they  came  out  of  meeting.  John  Robinson  is  fined  10/. 
for  being  twice  at  the  Quakers'  meeting.  Six  others  are  called  to 
account  for  absence  from  lawful  worship. 

20.  Ready  to  embark  for  England,  Randolph  says  ||  that  hfc 
called  on  Governor  Leverett,  who  severely  rebuked  him  for  con- 
versing in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  against  their  being  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  and  that  he  designed  "  to  make 
a  mutiny  in  the  country,  and  to  withdraw  the  people  from  their 
obedience  to  the  magistracy  of  that  Colony  and  the  authority 
thereof." 

27.  Sagamore  John,  who  resided  in  the  vicinity  of  Brookfield, 
came  and  surrendered  himself,  with  one  hundred  and  eighty  other 
Indians,  to  the  Governor  and  Council  in  Boston.  Among  them 
was  Matoonas,  who  for  the  injury  he  had  done,  was  hung  on  a 
gibbet.  Of  them  also,  were  some  of  the  Christian  Indians,  who 
were  carried  from  Hassanamesitt. 

August  9.  A  special  session  of  the  General  Court If  takes  place. 
The  occasion  of  it  is  a  letter  brought  from  the  King  by  Edward 
Randolph,  concerning  the  claims  of  heirs  to  Gorges  and  Mason. 
The  Court,  informed  that  many  of  the  Elders  were  in  Boston,  send 
the  marshal  to  request  their  presence  and  advice  on  so  important 
an  affair.  They  agree  that  the  following  question  be  submitted  to 
the  ministers.  Whether  the  most  expedient  manner  of  making 
answer  to  the  complaints  of  Mr.  Gorges  and  Mr.  Mason,  about  the 
extent  of  our  Patent  line,  be  by  sending  agents  or  written  repre- 
sentations only. 

From  twenty-four  Elders,  to  whom  this  was  proposed,  Thomas 
Cobbet  returned  the  subsequent  answer  to  the  Court.     To  reply  in 

*  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  p.  236,  40.  f  Inc.  Mather's  Diary. 

X  Sewall's  Diary.  §  Annals  of  Salem,  p.  254. 

||  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  olO.  IT  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


USEFULNE88  OF  THE    PRAYING    INDIANS.  597 

1676.] 

writing  may  be  construed  not  sufficiently  respectful  to  his  Majesty; 

doubtful  whether  it  would  be  received,  as  the  case  stand-,  and  it 

may  aif'ord  advantage  to  the  plaint  ills  so  as  to  obtain  their  wish. 
To  reply  through  agents,  is  encouraged  by  the  former  success  of 
such  commissioners  ;  our  friends  in  England  think  that  they  should 
be  sent  over ;  agents  can  more  pertinently  answer  objections  than 
mere  written  statements,  and  the  non-employment  of  them  may  be 
interpreted  as  though  we  were  fearful  to  appear  in  our  defense. 

Simon  lhadstreet  and  others  are  a  committee  to  answer  the  royal 
communication  and  the  two  petitions  of  heirs  to  Gorges  and  Mason. 
They  are  to  address  some  suitable  person  in  England,  who  will 
receive  these  documents,  deliver  them  to  the  proper  offices  and 
answer  for  Massachusetts  as  need  may  require. 

About  this  date  a  sad  event  took  place.*  The  wife  of  Captain 
Andrew  Pittimee,  his  sister,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Speene,  and  her 
three  children,  and  a  young  woman  who  belonged  to  the  Christian 
Indians,  were  murdered  at  Hurtleberry  Hill,  in  Watertown.  They 
were  here  gathering  berries  to  help  out  the  scanty  fare  of  their 
families.  They  were  accompanied  by  an  Indian  man,  lately  re- 
turned from  military  service  and  armed.  Thirteen  English  horse- 
men came  in  sight  of  them.  They  took  away  the  Indian's  carbine 
and  threatened  to  kill  him ;  but  he  interceded  for  his  life  and  they 
spared  him.  They  conversed  in  a  friendly  manner  writh  the  females 
and  left  them.  But  four  of  their  number  returned,  and  as  subse- 
quently proved,  killed  them  and  the  children.  They  were  tried 
and  condemned  to  death.  Two  of  them  were  executed,  and  two 
pardoned  by  the  Governor,  each  paying  £10,  part  of  which  for  the 
bereaved  husband.  With  reference  to  the  sufferings  as  well  as 
services  of  these  and  the  other  "  praying  Indians  "of  Massachusetts 
and  Plymouth,  Gookin  remarks  as  follows :  "  I  contend  that  the 
small  company  of  our  Indian  friends  have  taken  and  slain  of  the 
enemy,  in  the  summer  of  1676,  not  less  than  four  hundred ;  and  their 
fidelity  and  courage  is  testified  by  the  certificates  of  their  captains. 
It  may  be  said  in  truth,  that  God  made  use  of  these  poor,  despised 
and  hated  Christians,  to  do  great  service  for  the  churches  of  Christ 
in  New  England,  in  this  day  of  their  trial ;  and  I  think  it  was 
observed  by  impartial  men,  that  after  our  Indians  went  out,  the 
balance  turned  of  the  English  side." 

12.  As  an  event  of  great  importance,  Philip,  who  had  success- 

*  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  513,  4. 

Note. — 1676.  'August  10.  Potock,  chief  counsellor  of  the  Old  Squaw  Sachem 
of  Narragansett,  a  prisoner,  having  been  found  guilty  of  promoting  the  war,  is 
shot  to  death  on  Boston  Common.  While  on  his  way  hither,  he  stated,  that  at 
the  Fort  fight  last  winter,  where  there  were  above  3,000  Indians,  they  had  700 
fighting  men  killed,  and  300  of  their  wounded  soon  after  died,  and  "  that  as  to 
old  men,  women  and  children,  they  had  lost  nobody  could  tell  how  many." — 
I.  Mather.  Ind.  Wars. 


598  PHILIP    SLAIN  — LOSSES   OF   WAR. 

[Mass. 

fully  baffled  many  plans,  stratagems  and  efforts  of  the  New  Eng- 
land forces  for  his  capture  and  death,  is  shot  dead  on  Mount  Hope 
Neck,  by  an  Indian  called  Alderman,  under  the  command  of  Ben- 
jamin Church.  Thus  fell  a  man,  endowed  with  great  powers,  in 
defense  of  heathenism  and  of  aboriginal  rule  over  this  country,  to 
the  exclusion  of  Christianity  and  of  European  population.  His 
allies,  who  had  a  lingering  hope  that  he  might  continue  a  destruc- 
tive scourge  to  the  Colonists,  despair,  in  view  of  his  death,  and 
either  yield  to  the  English,  or  flee  and  become  incorporated  with 
distant  nations  of  Indians.  In  the  comparatively  short  but  tremen- 
dous conflict,  which  he  commenced  and  carried  on,  with  distin- 
guished tact  and  bravery,  under  many  discouraging  circumstances, 
though  with  savage  cruelties  of  his  race, — six  hundred  of  the  Colo- 
nists, children  and  adults,  were  either  slain  in  battle  or  murdered ; 
thirteen  towns  destroyed ;  six  hundred  buildings,  chiefly  houses, 
consumed,  and  a  great  amount  of  other  property  destroyed,  accord- 
ing to  common  estimation,  by  his  warriors.  Edward  Randolph,  in 
his  statement  to  the  King's  Privy  Council,  said  that  houses  burned, 
were  1,200,  and  that  8,000  head  of  cattle  were  killed,  and  that 
the  whole  loss  of  property  in  New  England  was  £150,000.  A 
writer  from  Boston,  at  this  date,  to  a  friend  in  London,  makes  a 
lower  estimate,  as  to  the  slain  of  the  English.  He  put  them  at 
four  hundred  and  forty-four,  besides  fifty-five  prisoners.  He  ob- 
serves, that  it  is  uncertain  how  many  the  Indians  lost,  because  they 
burn  their  slain  and  keep  the  number  of  them  secret,  but  it  is  con- 
jectured that  they  had  nine  hundred  and  ten  killed.  An  author 
here,  perhaps  the  same  person  who  gives  this  account,  sent  over  to 
London  "  sad  and  deplorable  news  from  New  England,  poetically 
related,"  and  it  belongs  to  the  British  Museum.  In  addition  to 
such  losses,  the  Confederates  were  forced  to  lay  very  heavy  taxes 
on  polls  and  estates,  and  run  greatly  into  debt  for  supporting  the 
expenses  of  the  war.  Besides  all  this,  they  are  again  called  in 
question  by  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations  for  complaints.* 

Sewall,  in  his  Diary,  mentions  the  commencement  of  a  weekly 
conference  meeting  this  summer,  on  Wednesday  evening,  in  Boston, 
at  different  individuals'  houses.  Then  some  brother,  by  way  of 
opening  the  remarks,  spoke  on  a  passage  of  Scripture,  which  he 
had  selected.  This  custom  was  introduced  in  an  early  period  of 
the  Colony. 

September  6.  A  special  General  Court  assemble.  Their  address 
to  the  King; — declaration  as  to  Eastern  territory,  and  instructions 
for  William  Stoughton  and  Peter  Bulkley,  their  commissioners 
bound  to  London,  are  accepted.  In  the  first  document,  they  ob- 
serve, that  on  account  of  "what  the  calamitous  and  deeply  dis- 

*  Church's  Philip's  War.  Holmes,  vol.  i.  p.  384.  Hutchinson,  3  ed.  vol.  i. 
p.  277.     Hubbard's  Ind.  Wars,  p.  226.     Hoyt's  Researches,  p.  143. 


l  m.mv    at    UN.   EASTWARD.  5W 

ItJTtJ.j 

tressed  estate  of  this  your  Majesty's  Colony,  (in  conjunction  with 
its  neighbours  ami  confederates,)  laboring  under  woeful  and  tragical 

effects   of   more    than    a   year's   cruel   and    uninterrupted   war,    have 

been,''  sent  Mr.  Secretary  Williamson,  so  that  he  may  inform  your 
Majesty.  M  Since  that  time  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God,  to 
whom  vengeance  belongeth,  to  plead  our  cause  against  the  insolent 
heathen,  both   by  laying  a  restraint  upon  them,  and  thereby  for  a 

season,  giving  us  respite  from  their  violent  and  depopulating  incur- 
sions, as  also  by  making  the  expeditions  of  your  loyal  subjects 
against  them,  in  our  southern  and  western  parts,  so  far  prosperous, 
that  multitudes  of  them,  together  with  their  Sachems  and  principal 
counsellors  and  commanders,  yea,  Philip  himself,  whose  head  and 
hand  were  first  in  the  design,  are  cut  off  and  destroyed,  most  of 
the  remainder  being  found  either  to  submit  to  mercy,  or  to  forsake 
their  old  and  seek  new  habitations,  far  remote  in  the  wilderness. 
This  singular  smile  of  divine  Providence  gave  us  fair  hopes  of  such 
a  calmness  and  composedness  in  our  public  affairs,  as  might  well 
suit  with  our  intended  convening,  and  best  further  our  desires  and 
resolutions  of  attending  your  Royal  pleasure  signified  to  us ;  but 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  we  are  alarmed  by  the  irruption  and 
treacherous  villainy  of  a  new  enemy,  together  with  some  of  the 
former,  springing  up  in  these  eastern  parts,  concerning  which  the 
controversy  between  us,  and  the  complainants  against  us,  doth 
arise." 

As  to  their  commerce,  letters  dated  in  x\pril  wrere  forwarded  to 
them  and  all  the  other  Colonies,  requiring  them  to  conform  with 
the  maritime  regulations  of  the  mother  country.  That  such  orders 
may  be  complied  with,  they  were  backed  by  the  declaration,  "  that 
no  Meditterean  passes  should  be  granted  to  New  England,  to 
protect  its  vessels  against  the  Turks,  till  it  is  seen  what  dependence 
it  will  acknowledge  on  his  Majesty,  or  whether  the  custom-house 
officers  are  received  as  in  other  Colonies."  Having  a  full  share  of 
these  trials,  Massachusetts  has  another,  peculiar  to  her,  even  colli- 
sion with  the  King's  partiality  for  the  withdrawal  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maine,  as  previously  stated,  from  her  jurisdiction.  Surely, 
she  would  have  sunk  beneath  her  burdens,  had  not  the  Lord  sus- 
tained her.* 

12.  A  license  is  granted  by  Governor  Leverett  to  Thomas 
Smith,f  captain  of  the  ship  Sea  Flower,  to  transport  and  sell 
seventy  Indians,  men,  women  and  children,  who  had  "  been  sen- 
tenced and  condemned  to  perpetual  servitude,"  for  being  concerned 
in  the  rebellion  of  Philip. 

19.  A  Council  met  at  Salisbury,:}:  relative  to  the  excommunica- 
tion of  Col.  Pike.  They  advise  the  church  to  repeal  the  vote  for 
cutting  him  off. 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  t  MS.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  ;  Annals  of  Salem. 


600  RANDOLPH'S  NARRATIVE. 

[Mass. 

20.  Edward  Randolph  gives  a  narrative  of  affairs  in  Massachu- 
setts, to  the  King's  Privy  Council.* 

He  proceeds  to  mention  laws  contradictory  to  those  of  England. 
Some  of  them  follow:  "All  persons  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  being  excommunicate  or  condemned,  have  liberty  to  make 
wills  and  dispose  of  lands  and  estates.  Ministers  are  ordained  by 
the  people,  and  no  injunction  to  be  put  on  any  church  officer  or 
member,  in  point  of  doctrine,  worship  or  discipline,  whether  'for 
substance  or  circumstance,  besides  the  institution  of  the  Lord. 
Whoever  shall  observe  a  Christmas-day  or  the  like  festivity,  by 
forbearing  to  labor,  feasting  or  otherway,  shall  pay  5/. ;  and  who- 
soever shall  not  resort  to  their  meeting  upon  the  Lord's  day  and 
such  days  of  Fasting  and  Thanksgiving  as  shall  be  appointed  by 
authority,  shall  pay  5/.  No  days  commanded  by  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land to  be  observed  or  regarded.  No  person  shall  join  any  person 
in  marriage  but  a  magistrate,  it  being  an  honorable  ordinance  and 
therefore  should  be  accordingly  solemnized.  All  strangers  pro- 
fessing the  true  Christian  religion,  that  shall  flee  to  them  for  succor 
from  the  tyranny  or  oppression  of  their  persecutors,  or  for  any 
necessary  or  compulsory  cause,  shall  be  entertained  and  protected 
amongst  them  according  to  that  power  and  prudence  God  shall  give 
them.  By  which  law,  Whalley  and  Goife,  and  other  traitors  were 
kindly  received  and  entertained  by  Mr.  Gookin  and  other  magis- 
trates'." 

Randolph  states  that  the  Bay  authorities  have  a  dislike  to  the 
French,  bordering  on  their  Eastern  jurisdiction,  "believing  they 
have  had  a  hand  in  the  late  war  with  the  Indians."  In  reference 
to  causes  of  this  war,  he  relates  :  "  Some  believe  there  have  been 
vagrant  and  Jesuitical  priests  who  made  it  their  business,  for  some 
years  past,  to  go  from  sachem  to  sachem,  to  exasperate  the  Indians 
against  the  English,  and  to  bring  them  into  a  confederacy,  and  that 
they  were  promised  supplies  from  France  and  other  parts,  to  extir- 
pate the  English  nation  out  of  the  continent  of  America.  Some 
impute  it  to  an  imprudent  zeal  in  the  magistrates  of  Boston  to 
Christianize  those  heathen  before  they  were  civilized,  and  enjoining 
them  the  strict  observance  of  their  laws."  With  regard  to  this 
last  clause,  it  is  erroneous  in  its  matter  of  fact.  Eliot  and  other 
missionaries  were  encouraged  by  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts, 
as  well  as  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  Union,  who  acted  for  the 
Missionary  Society  in  England,  to  bring  the  Indians  to  civilization 
and  Christianity  together,  believing  that  the  one  was  an  efficient  aid 
to  the  other. 

From  Randolph's  description  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  in 
New  England,  as  desirous  for  the  subversion  of  Massachusetts 
ascendency,  so  that  they  might  come  under  a  general  Governor,  he 

*  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  477. 


CLERGY- RULING    BLDER8.  001 

I67&] 

must  either  have  been  much  imposed  on,  or  made  very  incorrect 
conclusions  from  the  real  facts. 

lie  continues  his  narrative.  "The  clergy  are  for  the  most  part 
very  civil,  and  inclining  to  his  Majesty's  Government,  being  held 
in  subjection  by  the  ruling  elders,  who  govern  all  affairs  of  the 
church."  W  he  meant  that  the  former  were  not  strong  for  their 
charter  privileges,  which  he  spoke  of  as  naught,  and  that  the  latter 
were  arrayed  against  them,  in  this  respect  he  labored  under  a  great 
error. 

On  October  12,  he  mentions  the  library  at  Harvard  College  as 
containing  "  some  few  books  of  the  ancient  fathers  and  school 
divines,  but  in  regard  divinity  is  the  general  study,  there  are  many 
English  books  of  the  late  Non-conformist  writers,  especially  of 
Baxter  and  Dr.  Owen.  Here  they  teach  Hebrew  before  they  well 
understand  Latin.  Mr.  Thomas  Graves,  an  ingenious  and  worthy 
person,  was  put  by  his  fellowship,  by  the  late  Dr.  Hoar,  because  he 
would  not  renounce  the  Church  of  England."* 

September.  The  Indians  at  Cambridge  separated  for  different 
locations.f  Some  took  up  their  abode  at  the  falls  of  Charles  River, 
and  others  at  Nonantum  Hill,  where  they  first  began  to  pray  to 
God,  under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Eliot.  Here,  Anthony,  one  of 
their  teachers,  had  a  large  wigwam  erected,  in  which  Gookin  held 
his  Courts,  and  Eliot  preached  once  a  fortnight.  The  other  week, 
these  friends  of  the  Indians  met  for  like  purposes,  the  Packemitt  or 
Punkapoag  tribe,  who  came  from  the  Island  at  the  same  time,  and 
were  placed  at  Brush  Hill,  in  Milton,  under  the  supervision  of 
Thomas  Swift.  With  what  they  raised,  the  venison  their  hunters 
took,  the  corn  and  clothes  provided  by  the  Missionary  Corporation, 
these  several  companies  of  natives  were  rendered  very  comfortable 
through  the  winter.  They  held  to  the  religion  of  Christ,  whose 
promises  had  enabled  them  to  endure  a  great  "fight  of  affliction." 
Besides  the  places  where  Indians  met  to  worship,  were  Natick, 
Medfield,  Concord  and  Namkeake,  near  Chelmsford.  At  most  of 
them  there  were  teachers  and  schools  for  the  young. 

October  3.  Benanuel  Bowers  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  J  Thomas 
Osborn  and  his  wife,  are  fined  by  the  Middlesex  Court  for  non- 
attendance  on  lawful  worship.  To  be  committed,  if  refusing  pay- 
ment. 

12.  The  complaint  of  Mr.  Rushworth  last  session,  against  Captain 
Joshua  Scottow,  of  Boston,  a  firm  supporter  of  Puritanism,  charging 
him  with  employing  soldiers  under  his  command  at  Black  Point 
for  his  own  private  concerns,  is  declared  unsupported,  and  the 
accuser  is  required  to  pay  the  costs. 

17.  Thomas  Clark  is  granted  £6  by  the  Legislature,  for  serving 
as  chaplain  seven  weeks  at  Narragansett.     He  was  the  son  of  Jonas 

*  Hutch.  Coll.'p.  477.     t  Gookin's  Chr.  Ind.  p.  518,  9.     %  Middlesex  MS.  Rec. 
76 


602  THANKSGIVING  FOll   VICTORY. 

[Mass. 

Clark,*  born  at  Cambridge,  March  2,  1653,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  1670,  succeeded  John  Fisk  as  second  minister  of  Chelms- 
ford, 1677,  and  died  December  7,  1704. 

25.  As  the  allies  of  Philip  were  slain,  taken,  or  had  fled  into 
remote  parts ;  there  was  an  abatement  of  an  epidemical  disease 
which  had  prevailed  most  of  the  summer ;  and  there  had  been  a 
plentiful  harvest,  Thanksgiving  is  ordered  to  be  kept  on  the  9th 
of  November.  The  Court,  also,  appoint  a  Fast  to  be  observed 
the  first  Thursday  in  December. 

November  1.  Mugg.f  desirous  for  peace,  visits  Portsmouth, 
bringing  with  him  Fryer,  mortally  wounded,  and  promising  that  his 
crew  should  be  returned  without  ransom.  General  Daniel  Den- 
nison  being  there,  accommodated  him  with  a  passage  to  Boston. 

6.  Here  Mugg  negotiates  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Governor 
and  Council,  in  behalf  of  Cheberina  and  Madockawanda,  sachems 
of  Penobscot,  who  are  pledged  to  treat  all  eastern  Indians  as  en- 
emies, that  continue  hostile  to  the  English.  This  was  the  first 
transaction  of  the  kind  with  the  Tarranteens. 

10.  Gookin  gives  an  account  of  the  praying  Indians,  to  the 
Council.^:  It  is  to  be  understood  that  the  first  figures  mean  men  ; 
and  the  second,  women  and  children.  The  Punkapoags  reside 
about  Milton,  Dorchester  and  Braintree,  where  they  are  employed 
by  the  English,  and  number  3d  men  and  140  women  and  children. 
The  Naticks  are  divided  into  four  companies.  One,  with  James 
Rurnney  Marsh  and  his  relatives,  dwell  at  Medfield,  and  are  5  and 
20.  Another  reside  near  Natick,  and  the  garrison-house  of  John 
Dewin  and  sons,  and  consist  of  10  and  40.  A  third  company  are 
with  Waban,  adjacent  to  the  falls  of  Charles  River  and  the  house 
of  Joseph  Miller ;  they  are  12  and  50.  A  fourth  division  are 
located  at  Nonantum  Hill,  where  they  and  some  nigh  John 
White's,  of  Muddy  River,  and  Thomas  Oliver's,  meet  to  worship 
on  the  Sabbath  ;  they  constitute  15  and  60. 

Among  the  Naticks,  are  remains  of  those  Indians  whose  settle- 
ments, before  the  war,  were  at  Hassanamesitt,  Magunkog,  Marlbo- 
rough and  Wamesitt.  The  Nashobahs  are  placed  at  Concord, 
numbering  10  and  40.  Wannalancet's  people  are  at  Dunstable, 
nigh  Jonathan  Tyng's,  and  make  10  and  50.  There  are  8  and  17 
at  Ipswich.  Some  families  live  about  Watertown  and  Cambridge, 
who  number  7  and  33.  The  total  is  112  men,  450  women  and 
children,  and  in  all  562.  Above  thirty  of  the  men  are  at  the 
eastward,  under  Captain  Hunting.  Part  of  them  work  for  the 
English  in  spinning,  cutting  wood  and  building  stone  wall.  Some 
of  the  children  are  put  to  service  in  English  families.  The  several 
companies  assemble  on  the  Sabbath  to  worship  God.     There  are 

f  Williamson's  Me.  vol.  i.  p.  545. 
J  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  -532,  3. 


CHARTTi    FROM    IRELAND.  603 

L676.] 

religious  teachers  of  themselves  at  Medfield,  Andrew  Dewin's, 
Lower  Falls,  Nonantum,  Concord  and  Dunstable.  Evidently  the 
desolations  of  war  had  greatly  reduced  the;  number  of  Christian 
Indians. 

£5.  A  vessel  arrived  at  Boston  from  Ireland  with  a  load  of 
provisions/  to  help  supply  those  who  had  been  impoverished  by 
the  war.      She  was  thus  lifted  out  by  charitable  Quakers  of  Dublin. 

December  2,  Increase  Mather's  "  War  with  the  Indians,"  from 
June  24,  167 j,  to  the  death  of  Philip,  August  12,  lu'TG,  is 
licensed  for  a  London  press,  "  according  to  the  original  copy 
printed  in  New  England."  His  reason  for  doing  this  was,  that 
there  were  errors  in  the  publications  of  a  merchant  in  Boston, 
published  in  London,  and  of  a  Quaker  (John  Easton)  in  Rhode 
Island,  "  fraught  with  worse. than  mere  mistakes,"  which  required 
his  correction. 

After  presenting  the  documents  which  prove  that  New  England 
were  amply  justifiable  in  their  resistance  to  the  desolating  attacks 
of  this  chief  and  his  allies,  Increase  Mather  remarks  as  follows  :f 
"  We  may  truly  say  of  Philip  and  the  Indians,  who  sought  to  dis- 
possess us  of  the  land  which  the  Lord  our  God  hath  given  to  us, 
as  sometimes  Jepthah  and  the  children  of  Israel  said  to  the  King 
of  Amnion  :  '  I  have  not  sinned  against  thee,  but  thou  dost  me 
wrong  to  war  against  me.  The  Lord  the  Judge  be  judge  this  day 
between  the  children  of  Israel  and  the  children  of  Ammon.' 
And  as  Jehosaphat  said,  when  the  heathen  in  those  days  combined 
to  destroy  the  Lord's  people  :  *  And  now  behold  the  children  of 
Amnion  and  Moab  and  Mount  Seir,  whom  thou  wouldst  not  let 
Israel  invade,  when  they  came  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  but  they 
turned  from  them  and  destroyed  them  not ;  behold  how  they 
rewarded  us,  to  come  to  cast  us  out  of  thy  possession,  wrhich  thou 
hast  given  us  to  inherit.'  Even  so,  when  Philip  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  English  in  former  years,  and  disarmed  by  them,  they 
could,  easily,  but  would  not,  destroy  him  and  his  men.  The  Gov- 
ernors of  that  Colony  (Plymouth)  have  been  as  careful  to  prevent 
injuries  to  him  as  unto  others;  yea,  they  kept  his  land  not  from 
him  but  for  him,  who  otherwise  wrould  have  sold  himself  out  of 
all ;  and  the  gospel  was  freely  offered  to  him  and  to  his  subjects  ; 
but  they  despised  it,  and  now  behold  how  they  reward  us ! " 

IS.  Messrs.  Itowlandson  and  Willard  called  on  my  father.* 
While  they  were  here,  Mr.  Shepard  came  in.  They  discoursed  of 
reformation,  especially  of  the  meetings  of  the  Quakers  and  Ana- 
baptists. They  thought  that  if  all  could  agree,  i.  e.,  the  magis- 
trates and  ministers,  the  former  might  easily  be  suppressed,  and 
the  magistrates  would  see  reason  to  handle  the  latter.  As  to  what 
offense  England  might  take  at  such  a  course,  they  should  leave  it 
to  the  disposal  of  God.     They  wished  that  all  the  children  in  the 

*  Inc.  Mather's  Diary.  f  P.  S.  of  Ind.  Wars,  by  Inc.  Mather,  p.  8. 

X  SewaU's  Diary. 


604  HIRING  THE   MOHAWKS. 

[Mass. 

country  were  baptized,  and  believed  that  as  this  rite  was  neglected, 
religion  would  falter. 

Wunnanauhkomun  was  an  Indian  preacher  at  Christian  town.* 
He  was  exemplary  in  the  religious  duties  of  his  family,  consisting 
of  a  wife  and  three  daughters,  who  survived  him,  with  the  consola- 
tions of  his  parting  benediction.  He  labored  diligently  to  support 
his  dependants,  devoting  a  part  of  each  successive  mid-day  to  study 
and  meditation,  and  the  whole  of  the  last  day  in  the  week  to 
preparation  for  the  Sabbath.  "  He  was  highly  esteemed  and  hon- 
ored by  many  of  the  poor  people,  to  whom  he  dispensed  the  word 
of  God,  who  therefore  frequently  visited  him  and  performed  many 
good  offices  for  him  in  the  time  of  his  last  and  very  long  sickness." 
So  comforted  and  disciplined,  he  peacefully  departed,  this  year,  for 
the  Canaan  of  promise. 

In  the  distressing  war  with  Philip,  the  Indians  at  Martha's 
Vineyard,f  being  as  twenty  to  one  of  the  English  there,  were 
suspected  by  some  persons,  who  desired  that  they  might  be  dis- 
armed. Their  governor,  Thomas  Mayhew,  and  his  assistants, 
favored  a  conversation,  through  Capt.  Richard  Sarson  and  a  small 
party  with  the  natives  who  resided  at  the  west  part  of  the  Vine- 
yard nearest  to  the  main,  and  who  had  not  lately  professed  Chris- 
tianity. These  Indians  replied  that  they  needed  their  arms  to 
protect  themselves  against  the  insurgents,  who  were  enemies  to 
them  as  well  as  to  the  English.  They  also  signed  an  obligation  to 
do  all  in  their  power  for  the  welfare  of  the  Islands.  Having  such 
a  return,  the  Governor  immediately  employed  them  as  a  guard, 
supplying  them  with  needed  ammunition  and  instructions  how  to 
act.  They  proved  themselves  faithful  in  the  trust,  and  when  their 
relatives  and  acquaintances  came  frequently  to  solicit  and  turn 
them  from  their  covenant,  they  would  bring  them  before  the  chief 
magistrate.  Such  was  the  confidence  which  they  gained,  the  Eng- 
lish of  the  Islands  left  with  them  the  principal  care  of  vigilance 
and  defense  against  whatever  approaches  the  enemy  might  make. 

1677.  January  4.  The  Council  write  to  the  like  body  in  Con- 
necticut on  the  subject  of  hiring  the  Mohawks  against  Eastern 
Indians.  "  Being  fully  assured  that  the  Mackquaes  are  and  long 
have  been  a  great  terror  unto  them,  we  have  at  length  concluded, 
with  your  joint  concurrence,  which  we  desire,  to  send  unto  the 
said  Mackquaes  to  invite  their  coming  down  upon  them  through 
the  country,  which  may  drive  them  down  unto  the  sea-coast  and 
places  fit  for  our  forces  to  fall  upon  them ;  and  to  bestow  some 
suitable  present  upon  them,  by  the  hands  of  such  persons  as  your- 
selves and  Major  Pynchon  shall  judge  meet  to  betrust  therewith." 
This  was  done  next  April  by  the  officer,  here  named,  with  a  guard 
of  seven  men.  J 

They  add  :  "  We  suppose  you  have  long  since  received  account 

*  E.  Mayhew,  Indian  Converts,  p.  18-20.  f  Prince's  Autobiography  of 

English  Ministers,  p.  295,  6.  %  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Papers. 


DBGBASE  OF  JOHN   FISX.  BOG 

1077.] 

of  the  Irish  Charity.  We  thought  meet  to  give  you  account  of 
our  method  of  obtaining  knowledge  of  such  as  arc  in  distress,  as 

you  may  see  by  this  order,  sent  to  our  several  towns,  by  which  we 
find  o'GO  families,  consisting  of  ~,~b"5  persons,  in  distress  ;  and  yet 
want  returns  from  thirteen  towns,  which  will  augment  our  dis- 
tressed inhabitants.  We  want  such  account  from  yourselves  and 
the  other  Colony,  by  which  we  may  proportion  what  is  divisible 


amongst  us. 


14.  John  Fisk,  minister  of  Chelmsford,  is  called  to  close  his 
faithful  labors.  Though  here  as  one  of  his  various  abodes,  yet  he 
was  uniform  and  steadfast  in  the  continuation  of  his  exertions  for 
the  best  of  human  interests.  The  Gospel,  in  its  calls  on  the  faith 
and  obedience  of  all  the  world  constantly  increased,  to  his  percep- 
tion, in  its  excellence  and  necessity.  Aside  from  the  toil  lie  had 
given  to  the  education  of  youth,  it  was  his  joy  to  conform  with  the 
two-fold  duties  of  a  skillful  physician  and  an  able  messenger  of  Rev- 
elation. An  inestimable  helper  to  him  in  his  various  employments 
was  Anne,  the  companion  of  his  younger  years  and  trials.  She  was 
remarkable  for  her  acquaintance  with  the  Bible.  She  could  guide 
expertly  even  the  intelligent  therein  for  knowledge.  But  the 
infirmities  of  mortality  touched  her  vision.  She  lost  her  sight 
several  years  before  her  decease.  Still  the  affliction  imparted  to 
her  a  nearer  view  of  "  the  things  which  are  not  seen  and  are 
eternal."  She  expired  14th  of  February,  1671.*  Though  deeply 
afflicted,  Mr.  Fisk,  after  a  time,  married  again,  as  a  change  better 
suited  to  his  loneliness  and  usefulness,  Elizabeth,  the  widow  of  his 
friend,  Edmund  Hinchman.  While  disciplined  by  his  various 
allotments,  he  was  careful  to  meet  his  obligations  as  they  arose. 

When  the  Westminster  System  of  doctrines  was  communicated 
to  the  churches  of  New  England,  by  the  Colonial  authorities,  Mr. 
Fisk  was  among  the  most  active  to  have  this  matter  properly  con- 
sidered by  his  church,  so  that  it  might  be  returned  for  due  and 
conclusive  action.  That  his  flock  might  feel  that  it  was  all-impor- 
tant for  them  to  advance  in  heavenly  wisdom  and  piety,  he  perse- 
vered in  the  means  to  give  and  perpetuate  such  improvement.  He 
discoursed  on  the  Assembly's  Catechism  twice  with  his  people 
before  his  afternoon  sermons  on  the  Sabbath.  He  composed  and 
published  a  useful  catechism,  called  "  Watering  of  the  plants  in 
Christ's  garden,  or  a  short  catechism  for  the  entrance  of  our 
Chelmsford  children,  enlarged  by  a  three-fold  appendix." 

During  his  ministry,  he  went  through  "  an  exposition  of  almost 
all  the  Scripture  in  both  Testaments,"  delivered  a  monthly  lecture 
on  week-day,  discourses  at  the  meetings  of  professors,  and  con- 
tinued a  salutary  course  of  church  discipline. 

Yielding  to  the  pressure  of  abundant  labor  and  study,  and 
receiving  additional  warnings  that  his  earthly  habitation  wa»  soon 

*  Allen's  Chelmsford,  p.  21,  puts  this  21st  of  March. 


GOG  INDIANS   STOLEN  AND   SOLD. 

[Mass. 

to  be  broken  down,  he  was  visited  with  the  severities  of  stone  and 
the  gout.  These  occasioned  him  to  be  carried  to  and  from  the 
pulpit  in  a  chair,  whence,  in  a  sitting  posture,  he  dispensed  the 
messages  of  salvation.  But  this  privilege  was  arrested,  and  he  was 
confined  to  his  chamber.  Waiting  for  the  summons  of  his  Lord, 
he  said  as  follows  to  his  four  children,  who  were  at  his  bed-side  for 
a  blessing  :  "  You  are  as  a  shock  of  corn  bound  up,  or  as  twins 
made  beautiful  by  the  covenant  of  grace.  You  have  an  interest  in 
the  sure  mercies  of  David  ;  those  you  have  to  live  upon.  Study  to 
emulate  one  another  ;  but  in  the  best,  in  the  best.  Provoke  one 
another  to  love.  The  God  of  your  forefathers  bless  you  all." 
Cotton  Mather  applies  to  him  the  passages  of  Paul,  "  The  beloved 
physician  ;  a  brother  whose  praise  is  in  the  gospel  throughout  all 
churches."* 

February  T.  The  Baptists  of  Boston  and  vicinity  had  become 
enlarged  so  much  under  the  ministrations  of  Mr.  Miles  and  others, 
they  agree  to  form  two  churches,f  though  afterwards  revoked. 

On  an  expedition  J  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  who  sail  from 
Boston  to  subdue  the  enemy  in  Maine,  and  liberate  the  captives  in 
their  hands,  are  sixty  praying  Indians.  Previously  to  their  depar- 
ture a  public  Fast  was  observed  for  their  success. 

March  5.  Robert  Boyle  addresses  Robert  Thompson  §  on  the 
subject  of  propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  natives,  where  the 
East  India  Company  had  extended  their  commerce.  He  relates 
the  means  employed  for  a  similar  purpose  among  the  Indians  of 
New  England  :  "  We  have  caused  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  some 
few  choice  practical  books  to  be  translated  into  their  chiefest  lan- 
guage. We  have  caused  some  of  ours  to  learn  their  tongue  ;  and, 
having  convinced  them  of  their  idolatry  and  the  sinfulness  of  their 
courses,  to  preach  to  them  and  to  catechize  them  in  their  own  lan- 
guage. And  then  we  breed  some  of  their  hopeful,  forward  youths, 
to  that  knowledge  of  the  English  tongue  and  European  learning, 
that  they  may  afterwards  be  able  to  confute  the  idolatrous  priests, 
and  convert  and  instruct  their  own  countrymen." 

6.  A  case  is  before  the  Court  of  Assistants,  which  shows  that 
Indian  men,  women  and  children  had  been  sent  to  Fayal,  and 
there  sold,  without  proper  authority.  The  vessel  which  carried 
them  was  commanded  by  John  Houghton.  He  was  charged  with 
man-stealing  and  cleared  ;  but  was  fined  £20  and  costs  for  not 
protesting  against  the  reception  of  such  Indians  on  board  of  his 
vessel.  || 

April  24.  Thomas  Parker  dies  in  his  eighty-second  year.  He 
was  the  only  son  of  Rev.  Robert  Parker,  and  was  born  1596.  For 
a  time  he  studied  at  Oxford,  afterwards  with  Dr.  Usher,  of  Ireland, 
and  with  Dr.  Ames,  in  Holland.  He  returned  to  Newbury,  in 
England,  where  he  preached  and  taught  school.     He  came  with 

*  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  477-80.  f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  480. 

'  J  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  p.  345.        §  Life  of  Boyle.        ||  Ct.  of  Ass't  Rec. 


DEATH   OF  Thomas   PARKER.  807 

1677.] 

other  "devout  Christians  out  of  Wiltshire,"  to  New  England,  in 
May,  1634.  Be  preached  a1  [pswich  about  a  year,  as  an  assistant 
to  Mr.  Ward.  The  next  year  he  was  Bottled  as  pastor, and  .lames 
Noyes  as  teacher,  over  the  Newbury  church.  He  lived  a  bachelor, 
and"  having  no  children  of  his  own,  he  supplied  several  young  men 

with  means  to  he  educated   at   Harvard.       lie   was   an   advocate    for 

Presbyterianism,  which  was  the  source  of  long  and  severe  trouble 
to  him  and  his  colleague,  as  opposed  by  a  large  number  of  their 
congregation.  He  had  printed  several  theses  de  traductionc  jjcccu- 
toris  ad  vitiun,  composed  by  him  when  young  ;  with  some  works  of 
Dr.  Ana->;  a  Letter  of  his  to  a  Member  of  Parliament,  on  the 
Government  of  the  Churches  in  England,  1044  ;  his  Exposition  of 
Daniel's  Prophecies,  4td,  1646 ;  and  a  Letter  to  his  Sister,  Mrs. 
Avery,  on  her  religious  opinions,  1G49.  Several  years  before  his 
decease,  lie  became  blind.  He  used  to  remark  on  his  darkened 
eyes,  "  They  will  be  restored  shortly  in  the  resurrection."  1  le 
deservedly  sustained  the  reputation  of  eminence  in  talent,  scholar- 
ship, beneficence  and  piety. 

Thomas  Jollie,  of  Pendleton,  near  Clitheron  Lane,  addresses 
Increase  Mather,  whom  he  had  never  seen.*  "  The  extraordinary 
account  of  the  New  England  worthies  which  I  ever  had,  and  the 
entire  accord  I  have  with  them  in  that  pure  yet  peaceable  way 
wherein  the  Lord  hath  led  them,  have  been  the  foundation  of  a 
more  abundant  affection  to  the  New  England  churches  than  any 
people  in  the  world.  The  late  troubles  you  were  in,  gave  us  an 
occasion  to  know  our  own  hearts  the  better  as  to  that  thing.  The 
Lord  is  witness  how  deeply  we  resented  your  distresses,  and  what 
days  were  set  apart  for  you,  as  also  how  heartily  we  rejoiced  in 
your  deliverance,  and  what  a  day  of  thanksgiving  we  had  on  that 
account."  He  speaks  of  reformation  in  the  churches  of  Old  and 
New  England.  "  I  wish  to  know  the  true  state  of  that  question 
among  you  about  the  posterity  of  the  church.  Whether  you  do  not 
admit  them  as  complete  members  of  the  Lord's  supper,  if  they  be 
free  from  scandalous  sins  of  omission  and  commission,  if  they  do 
also  solemnly  own  the  covenant  with  the  Lord  and  his  people, 
though  they  give  not  a  satisfactory  account  of  the  work  of  God 
upon  their  souls,  and  yet  would  partake  of  such  farther  privi- 
lege ;  whether  you  exercise  discipline  upon  them  in  a  church- 
way,  if  they  neglect  the  duty  and  privilege  aforesaid ;  whether 
you  admit  the  children  of  such  to  baptism,  the  immediate  parents 
falling  into  scandal  or  neglecting  to  own  the  Covenant  as  afore- 
said." 

May  8.  John  Westgate  of  Harleston,  Norfolk,  writes  to  Increase 
Mather.f  He-  formerly  resided  at  Rev.  John  Cotton's,  of  Boston. 
"  The   sad  condition   of  New  England   has  been   much  upon  our 

*  Mather's  Papers.  t  Ibid. 


608  SYMPATHY  IN  OLD  FOR  NEW  ENGLAND. 

[Mass. 

hearts.  We  have  had  many  solemn  days  of  humiliation  and  ye 
25th  of  January  last,  we  had  a  solemn  day  of  Thanksgiving  for 
ye  great  deliverance  we  heard  ye  Lord  had  given  you.  This  was 
very  general  among  all  ye  Congregational  churches  in  city  and 
country  round  about,  we  sending  one  to  another,  and  agreeing  of 
ye  day  before  hand,  which  was  also  kept  by  many  of  ye  Baptist 
congregations.  In  which  day  (understanding  your  deliverance 
was  not  perfected)  we  not  only  blessed  God  for  ye  mercy  you 
had  received,  but  pleaded  with  God  to  perfect  your  deliverance, 
and  help  you  to  a  thorough  reformation,  both  in  Church  and  Com- 
monwealth." He  thanks  Mr.  Mather  for  the  history  of  the  wars. 
He  thinks  that  New  England  suffers  in  Old  England  for  severe 
treatment  to  the  Quakers,  and  that  our  laws  should  be  more  len- 
ient to  them,  and  especially  to  the  Baptists.  Of  these  he  says,  are 
three  classes  in  England ;  one  who  hold  no  other  regular  Christian 
churches  but  theirs,  and  will  not  join  in  prayer  with  the  best  of 
Congregational  ministers,  even  in  the  family.  Another,  who  join 
with  Congregationalists  in  religious  service.  The  third  (most  of 
them  in  London)  commune  with  other  denominations. 

23.  Considering  the  settlement  of  adjacent  Indians  to  be  of 
"  great  concernment,"  the  Court  make  the  subsequent  regulations .* 
All  their  children  and  youth,  who  are  disposed  of  by  authority, 
or  by  the  consent  of  the  parents  and  relatives,  to  any  English 
people,  shall  be  taught  the  Christian  religion  and  remain  servants 
till  they  are  twenty-four  years  old,  except  special  contract  other- 
wise provide.  The  children  of  hostile  parents,  or  those  who  have 
lived  with  the  enemy,  and  have  been  captured,  and  given  or  sold  to 
the  English,  shall  be  at  the  disposal  of  their  masters,  if  instructed 
in  civilization  and  Christianity.  Others,  in  this  jurisdiction,  inclu- 
sive of  those  known  as  praying  Indians,  shall  dwell  at  Natick, 
Punkapoag,  Hassanamesitt  and  Wamesitt ;  be  inspected  and  gov- 
erned, as  the  Legislature  direct ;  a  list  of  their  number  shall  be 
taken  annually ;  they  shall  entertain  no  foreign  Indians  without 
leave  of  their  overseers.  None  of  them  are  to  carry  guns  a  hunt- 
ing without  permits. 

The  General  Court  commence  a  session.  Their  transactions 
follow.  All  laws,  for  preventing  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath, 
shall  be  read  by  ministers  to  their  congregations,  twice  every  year, 
in  March  and  September.  The  Selectmen  are  required  to  appoint 
persons,  as  ty thing-men,  each  of  whom  shall  have  the  inspection 
of  ten  families  in  his  own  neighborhood,  and  who,  in  absence  of 
constables,  shall  have  power  to  apprehend  all  violators  of  the 
Sabbath.  These  trespassers  shall  be  "  put  into  a  cage  in  Boston, 
which  is  to  be  forthwith  set  up  in  the  market-place,"  and  in  such 
other  towns  as  the  county  courts  may  designate,  where  they  are 
to   remain,  till   tried  and    punished.     Constables   are  required  to 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Record. 


COURT  AT  MARTHA'S    VINEYARD.  609 

1()77.] 

search  for  Quakers  on  the  Lord's  day,  if  suspected  of  being  met 
together  for  worship,  and  should  they  be  denied  admittance,  they 
may  break  open  the  doors  and  take  them.  All  who  are  able  to 
attend  allowed  worship  and  do  not,  shall  be  legally  fined. 

June  o.  ('apt.  Jno.  Gardner,  biought  from  Nantucket  to  General 
Court  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  when  led  into  Court,  sat  down  with 
his  hat  on,  showing  by  his  manners,  contempt  for  them.  They 
fined  him  £10,  in  money.  Not  allowing  the  Court  at  Nantucket 
to  be  legally  chosen,  he  appeals  to  the  Court  of  Assize  at  New 
York.  On  August  3d,  Andros  and  his  Council  order  a  suspension 
of  Gardner's  case,  and  the  case  of  Folger  and  others.  Sept.  21, 
they  order  the  sentence  for  Gardner  and  Tristram  Coffin's  disfran- 
chisement and  fine  to  be  null,  and  that  Folger's  case  can  be  laid 
before  Governor  and  Council  at  New  York.* 

Benanuel  Bowers,  of  Charlestown,  and  wife  Elizabeth,  are  in 
Cambridge  prison.f  He,  by  her,  on  March  5th,  presented  Thomas 
Danforth  a  Quaker  book,  and  "  a  paper  of  scurrilous  verses,"  which 
defamed  him  and  other  magistrates.  For  this,  Bowers  is  sentenced 
to  be  whipped  twenty  stripes,  next  5th  day  after  lecture,  in  Boston. 

On  the  petition  of  Salisbury,  the  Court  nominate  a  Committee 
to  go  thither  and  settle  their  town  and  church  difficulties,  which 
had  existed  for  several  years. 

11.  The  selectmen  of  Salem  agree,  J  that  each  of  them  would 
take  turns  and  go  with  the  constables,  forenoon  and  afternoon, 
morning  and  evening,  of  the  Sabbath,  to  prevent  its  being  violated. 

22.  Edmund  Brown,  minister  of  Sudbury,  §  closes  his  useful  life. 
He  was  employed  here  in  pastoral  labors  as  early  as  1638.  He 
was  admitted  freeman,  1640.  The  Magnalia  places  him  among  its 
first  class  of  divines,  or  such  as  had  been  ministers  before  leaving 
England  for  this  country.  His  wife  had  been  widow  of  John 
Lovejoy.  "  He  was  a  worthy  and  good  character  ;  a  man  of  emi- 
nence and  distinction  in  his  day." 

July  3.  Recently  some  of  the  Mohawks  had  carried  away  the 
son  of  Uncas,  though  they  had  a  treaty  with  the  English.  ||  This 
event  led  the  praying  Indians,  who  feared  lest  they  might  be 
attacked  by  the  Mohawks,  to  forsake  their  settlements  and  corn  at 
Natick,  Magunkog  and  Hassanamesitt.  Resorting  to  such  injurious 
means  of  self-preservation,  some  of  them  move  to  English  planta- 
tions, Medfield,  Concord,  Cambridge  and  Chelmsford,  where  they 
supported  themselves  by  their  labor. 

6.  John  Knowles,  of  London,  addresses  a  letter  to  Governor 
Leverett.K  He  mentions  a  committee  there,  for  the  College  here 
at  Cambridge,  and  of  a  Mr.  Smith,  as  a  suitable  architect  to  be 

*  Nantucket  Papers,  p.  110-13.     f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     t  Salem  Town  Rec. 
§  Magnalia,  vol.  ii.  p.  235.     Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  2  s.  vol.  iv.  p.  58. 
||  Gookin's  Christian  Indians,  p.  519.  IT  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  514. 

77 


610  GREAT  DISTURBANCE  AT  WORSHIP. 

[Mass. 

employed  on  the  new  College  building.  He  desires  that  Mr.  Hig- 
ginson,  of  Salem,  may  be  requested  to  influence  his  congregation 
to  contribute  something  for  the  support  of  Hugh  Peters's  widow, 
who  had  been  maintained,  since  his  execution,  by  Mr.  Cockquaine 
and  his  church.  He  remarks  :  "  The  blessed  God  strengthen  your 
heart  and  hand  in  that  great  work,  which  he  hath  called  you  to." 

9.  An  order  is  issued  by  Governor  Bradstreet  to  the  keeper  of 
the  Boston  prison.  "  Whereas  there  was  one  man  and  four  women, 
Quakers,*  committed  to  prison  yesterday,  being  the  Lord's  day,  for 
making  an  horrible  disturbance,  and  affrighting  the  people  in  the 
South  church  in  Boston,  in  the  time  of  the  public  dispensing  of 
the  Word,  whereby  several  women,  as  I  am  informed,  are  in  great 
danger  of  miscarrying ;" — they  are  to  be  kept  until  legally  dis- 
charged, and  others  taken  with  them  at  their  meeting,  are  to  be 
dealt  with  according  to  the  last  law.  The  principal  actor  among 
these  prisoners  was  Margaret  Brewster,  who  came  from  Barbadoes. 
She  had  sent  what  she  called  "  A  warning  from  the  great  God  of 
heaven  and  earth  to  the  rulers  and  magistrates  of  Boston,  in  New 
England,  that  they  put  not  in  practice  that  cruel  law  that  they  have 
made  concerning  swearing."  She  was  the  chief  leader f  in  the 
disturbance,  for  which  the  Governor's  order  was  issued.  Fancying 
that  she  could  predict  judgments  on  the  people  and  in  a  prophetical 
manner,  she  conducted  as  William  Coddington  wrote,  August  16, 
to  Ralph  Fretwell,  of  Barbadoes.  She  went  "into  Thacher's  meet- 
ing in  sackcloth,  with  ashes  upon  her  head,  and  barefoot,  and  her 
face  blacked.  With  her  was  Lydia  Wright,  of  Long  Island,  and 
Sarah  Miles  and  Elizabeth  Bowen,  Jr.,  and  John  Easton,  Jr.,  who 
took  her  riding  clothes  and  shoes,  when  she  went  into  the  house. 
The  4th  of  this  month  they  were  called  before  the  Court  at  Boston, 
and  she  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  up  and  down  the  town  with 
twenty  lashes,  and  the  three  maids  were  to  follow  the  cart."  Easton 
was  asked  if  he  were  a  single  man,  and  then  released.  The  sen- 
tence was  executed  on  the  9th. 

Coddington  continues :  "  The  same  day  that  the  four  above- 
mentioned  were  apprehended,  these  others  were  apprehended  at 
their  ordinary  place  of  meeting,  viz.,  Robert  Edmunds,  Edward 
Sheppey,  John  Soames,  George  Walker,  Jeremy  Deeble,  George 
Danson,  Miles  Foster,  Thomas  Scott,  Humphrey  Hodges,  William 
Neale,  Bridget  Phillips,  Eliphal  Stratton,  Elizabeth  Bowers,  Sen. 
and  Elizabeth  Bowers,  Jr.     These  were  all  of  them  whipped  but 

*  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  259,  60. 

f  On  her  trial,  the  Governor  asked  her,  "Are  you  the  woman  that  came 
into  Mr.  Thacher's  meeting-house  with  your  hair  frizzled  and  dressed  in  the 
shape  of  a  devil  ?  "  She  answered,  "  I  am  the  woman  "  who  so  came  tf  with 
my  hair  about  my  shoulders,  ashes  upon  my  head,  my  face  colored  black,  and 
sackcloth  upon  my  upper  garments."  The  constable  said,  "I  thought  her  hair 
looked  like  a  periwig."  Increase  Mather's  Diary  states  that  one  of  the  women, 
thus  frightened,  died  in  consequence. 


TOLERATION    FOR  QUAKERS.  <ill 

1077.] 

Milos  Foster  and  Thomas  Scott,  for  some  paid  their  fines,  Bgaintt 
their  minds.  The  next  meeting-day,  these  were  whipped:  Robert 
Edmunds,  Edward  Sheppey,  Jolm  Soames,  Miles  Foster,  William 
Richardson,  Humphry  Hodges,  Jeremy  Deeble,  Thomas  Hilbourn, 
Robert  Lew,  Josiah  Southick,  George Danson,  William  Mumford, 
Bridget  Phillips,  Bliphal  Stratton  and  Ann  Wilson.  Three  of 
these  wire  strangers  and  masters  of  ships.  The  next  meeting-day, 
seven  of  our  "  Friends"  assembled,  and  many  gathered  with  them. 
Neither  then  nor  afterwards  were  they  forbidden  to  meet  for  worship. 
It  appears  that  the  authorities  had  concluded  to  try  the  experiment 
of  such  toleration  towards  the  Quakers,  and  perceiving  it  subse- 
quently better  than  they  had  feared,  allowed  it  an  uninterrupted 
right.  Thus,  a  source  of  bitter  sorrow  was  closed  for  those  who 
felt  bound  to  execute  law,  and  those  who  felt  equally  obligated  to 
oppose  it  at  any  hazard. 

In  connection  with  his  account  of  Margaret  Brewster,  Codding- 
ton  gives  the  following.  He  states  that  with  Governor  Vane  and 
himself,  then  a  magistrate  and  treasurer  of  Massachusetts,  there 
were,  for  two  days  in  1637,  "  the  major  part  of  the  magistrates  and 
deputies,  against  the  banishment  of  John  Wheelwright  and  Anne 
Hutchinson ; "  but  that,  on  the  third  day,  "  the  priests  got  two  of 
the  magistrates  on  their  side,  and  so  got  the  major  part  with  them." 

10.  As  the  occasion  of  great  affliction  in  Boston,  Peter  Hobart's 
Diary  gives  the  subsequent  fact.  A  ship  arrives  at  Nantasket  with 
the  small  pox.  In  consequence,  more  than  eight  hundred  died. 
Increase  Mather  relates  in  his  Diary  more  particulars.  August. 
Small  pox  very  sore.  8th.  Fast  observed  for  it.  It  raged  most 
violently  November  3,  when  there  were  notes  to  pray  for  eighty 
persons,  eight  lying  dead,  six  buried,  and  thirty-eight  had  died  in 
town  with  it  in  one  week,  to  the  first  of  the  month.  Next  April 
23,  he  states  that  his  congregation  gave  public  thanks  for  restora- 
tion of  health  to  Boston. 

25.  Mr.  Higginson,  of  Salem,  makes  the  subsequent  record.* 
"  The  Lord  having  allowed  the  Indians,"  at  the  Eastward,  "  to 
take  no  less  than  thirteen  ketches  of  Salem  and  captivate  the  men, 
though  divers  of  them  cleared  themselves  and  came  home,  it  struck 
great  consternation  into  all  the  people  here,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
the  Lecture  day  should  be  kept  as  a  Fast.  The  Lord  was  pleased 
to  send  in  some  of  the  ketches  on  the  Fast  day,  which  was  looked 
on  as  a  gracious  smile  of  Providence.  Also,  nineteen  wounded 
men  had  been  sent  to  Salem  a  little  while  before.  Also  a  ketch 
with  forty  men  was  sent  out  of  Salem,  as  a  man  of  war,  to  recover 
the  rest  of  the  ketches.     The  Lord  gave  them  success." 

August  4.  The  Quakers  hold  a  monthly  meeting  f  at  the  house 
of  Josiah  Southwick,  in  Salem.     As  an  encouragement  to  the  cause 

*  Salem  First  Ch.  Kec.  f  Friends'  Record.     Smith's  N.  J.  p.  98,  102. 


612  PRE  VALENCY   OF  PRAYER. 

[Mass. 

of  this  denomination  in  America,  a  Colony  of  them  from  England, 
arrive  the  16th  of  this  month  at  West  Jersey.  Similar  emigrations 
followed. 

14.  A  communication  of  Richard  Blinman,*  formerly  a  minister 
in  New  England,  to  Increase  Mather,  observes  :  "  Your  agents  in 
London,  have  not  so  good  a  reception,  as  is  desired,  and  that  you 
will  be  like  to  lose  your  Patent." 

16.  A  letter  from  Massachusetts  bearing  this  date,  and  directed 
to  Major  John  Talcott,  of  the  Connecticut  Council,  complains  that 
they  had  not  come  up  to  the  line  of  duty,  as  implied  by  the  princi- 
ples of  their  Union,  and  thus  defeat  had  come  on  the  forces  in 
Maine.  It  remarks  :  "  Many  eyes  are  looking  upon  us  in  this  day 
of  our  adversity.  Those  that  are  wise  hearted  among  ourselves,  do 
with  Eli,  sit  trembling  to  think  of  the  Ark  of  God ;  and  we  fear 
there  are  too  many,  that  would  rejoice  to  see  it  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  the  uncircumcised."  An  answer  to  it,  of  September  3d, 
takes  a  different  view. 

This  is  the  date  of  a  preface  to  "An  historical  discourse  con- 
cerning the  prevalency  of  prayer"  in  the  late  deliverance  of  New 
England  "  from  the  rage  of  the  Heathen,"  by  Increase  Mather. 

In  the  same  year,  this  author  published  his  "  Relation  of  the 
troubles  in  New  England  by  reason  of  the  Indians,"  from  1614 
to  1675. 

This  summer,  as  Gookin  relates,  part  of  the  praying  Indians  f 
"  were  employed ;  some  to  scout  with  Lieut.  Richardson  upon  the 
borders  of  the  Merrimack,  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  eastern 
enemy;  others  were  sent  to  keep  garrison  in  the  east  parts,  as  at 
Cocheco,  York,  Wells  and  Black  Point ;  others  went  with  a  small 
army  to  Black  Point,  where  eight  of  them  were  slain." 

September  1.  A  letter  is  addressed  in  England,  to  the  Governor  J 
of  "  New  England,"  or  Massachusetts,  by  Peter  Chamberlain,  Sen., 
a  seventh-day  Baptist.  He  calls  himself  "  Doctor  of  both  Univer- 
sities, and  first  and  eldest  physician  in  ordinary  to  his  Majesty's 
person,  according  to  the  world,  but  according  to  grace,  a  servant 
of  the  word  of  God."  He  continues:  "I  have  always  had  a  love 
to  the  intended  purity  and  unspotted  doctrine  of  New  England  ; 
for  Mr.  Cotton  was  of  the  same  College  and  University,  of  Emmanuel 
in  Cambridge,  as  I  was,  and  so  was  Mr.  Hooker  and  others,  with 
whom  we  were  all  contemporary ;  and  I  never  knew  them  but  of  a 
holy  life  and  conversation.  I  also  knew  Colonel  Humfrey,  Sir 
Richard  Saltonstall  and  Mr.  Peters,  who  were  of  note  among  you, 
and  Sir  Henry  Vane,  who  all  had  some  share  in  the  foundation  of 
your  government.  But  certainly,  the  first  intentions  were  never 
to  debar  the  truths  of  Scripture  and  liberty  of  conscience  guided 
thereby;   but  to  suppress  sin  and  idolatry,  and  prevent  all  the 

*  Mather  Papers,     f  Gookin's  Chr.  Ind.  p.  519.     %  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  476,  7. 


EFFICACY    OF    DIVINK    l'KuYIDKV  013 

1(577.] 

adulteries  of  Rome,  to  whom  all  thingl  arc  lawful, especially  liet  in 
hypocrisy  ;  to  promote  their  most  damnable  doctrine-,  covetoui 
superstitions  and  blasphemous  Bupremacy,  It  is  great  wisdom  to 
suppress  Bin,  but  not  oppress  the  liberty  of  a  good  conscience  ;  and 

whilst  men  grant  liberty  of  conscience,  not  to  admit  liberty  of  sin. 
All  magistrates  have  not  attained  to  this  wisdom,  else  England  had 
been  long  since  heed  from  popery  and  perjury." 

This  month  a  company  of  Mohawks,  contrary  to  the  stipulations 
between  their  nation  and  the  Confederates,  come  down  and  show 
themselves  hostile  to  the  Christian  Indians.  A  party  of  them 
captured  two  of  their  widow  women,  who  were  at  Hassanamesitt. 
They,  or  others,  killed  Josiah  No  well,  an  Indian  of  good  reputa- 
tion, within  a  half  mile  of  an  English  house  at  Sudbury.  Pur- 
suit was  made  after  such  aggressors,  by  English  and  Indians,  but 
they  escaped.  The  peril,  thus  occasioned,  induced  the  Naticks 
and  Pakemits  to  repair  their  forts.* 

10.  Urian  Oakes  preaches  an  Artillery  Election  sermon  at 
Cambridge.f  His  text  is  Ecclesiastes  ix.  11.,  and  subject,  "The 
Sovereign  Efficacy  of  Divine  Providence."  In  the  application  of 
this  doctrine  to  the  military  hearers,  he  refers  them  to  hard  con- 
flicts, which  they  had  had  with  hostile  Indians,  as  a  lesson  to 
teach  them  reliance  on  the  help  of  God.  He  mentions  that  com- 
plaint is  made,  that  when  they  meet  for  exercise  in  arms,  there 
is  too  much  smoking,  carousing,  swaggering  and  dishonoring  the 
Lord.  He  proceeds :  "  It  is  one  of  the  characters  of  a  good 
soldier,  Acts  x.  2,  to  be  a  man  of  prayer.  It  were  well  if  all 
our  artillery  and  military  gentlemen  were  men  of  this  character." 
He  advises  them,  that,  while  they  try  and  hope  for  success,  they 
would  prepare  for  disappointments,  of  which,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  war  and  subsequently,  they  had  repeated  experience.  Of 
his  closing  remarks,  is  the  injunction  :  "Follow  your  commander 
in  chief,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  the  greatest  example 
that  ever  was,  or  will  be  in  the  world,  of  sobriety,  gravity,  serious- 
ness and  diligence  in  his  work  ;  of  prudent  and  prosperous  manage- 
ment of  his  affairs  ;  of  savory,  gracious  communication  and  holy 
conversation.  Learn  of  him,  and  you  shall  be  prosperous  men 
indeed." 

13.  A  committee  of  the  Legislature,  Daniel  Denison,  Joseph 
Dudley,  Thomas  Savage,  Hugh  Mason  and  Daniel  Fisher,  report 
on  their  proceedings  with  Messrs.  Wheelwright,  Pike  and  others,  of 
the  church  at  Salisbury.  They  relate  that  the  original  fault  of  Major 
Pike  was  not  a  plain  matter  of  immorality,  but  his  subsesequent 
contention ;  his  impeachment  of  the  pastor,  Mr.  Wheelwright, 
and  thereby  much  disturbance  in  the  church  and  town  ;  his  con- 
temptuous   treatment   of    the   same    minister,  sudden   withdrawal 

*  Gookin's  Chr.  Indians,  p.  519,  20.  f  Patres'  New  England. 


614  WANNALANCET   DEPARTS  FOR  CANADA. 

[Mass. 

from  the  church,  and  disregard  for  their  judgment ; — was  wrong, 
and  for  all  which,  he  is  expected  to  make  a  "  candid  acknowledg- 
ment." They  mention  that  Mr.  Wheelwright  had  been  precipi- 
tate in  pronouncing  sentence  of  excommunication  against  said 
Pike,  and  thus  occasioning  a  breach  in  the  church.  They  are 
obliged  to  state  that  the  conduct  of  those,  belonging  to  the  church 
and  town,  who  petitioned  the  General  Court  to  dismiss  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright from  his  ministry,  "  by  rendering  him  to  be  the  cause  of 
the  disturbance,  and  that  his  ministry  had  a  tendency  to  the  in- 
flaming the  minds  of  people  one  against  another — a  practice  of  so 
dangerous  a  consequence,  that  not  only  the  contrivers,  but  even 
those  drawn  thereinto  ought  to  reflect  upon  with  self-condemnation, 
which  we  expect  to  hear  from  them."  They  find  that  the  brethren 
with  Major  Pike  are  chargeable  with  a  breach  of  communion  and 
tendency  to  schism  by  espousing  his  cause.  They  consider  those 
of  Amesbury,  who  have  been  similarly  involved,  alike  to  blame. 
They  advise  all  the  parties  to  take  a  serious  review  of  the  subject, 
and  desire  that  Mr.  Wheelwright  and  his  church  may  restore  the 
Major  to  their  communion  on  the  acknowledgment  mentioned ; 
and  that  they,  so  receiving  him,  may  see  their  error,  as  already 
intimated.  They  propose  that  the  people  harmonize  in  the 
choice  of  a  "  godly  and  learned  person  to  assist  their  pastor  in  the 
work  of  his  ministry,  not  abating  his  former  maintenance  among 
them." 

The  same  committee*  assembled  at  Salisbury,  October  30,  to 
ratify  the  preceding  advice.  Having  given  a  day  to  attendance  on 
hearing  the  various  statements  of  both  parties,  they,  on  collec- 
tion of  the  assembly  next  morning,  obtained  their  consent  to  have 
a  settlement  of  their  difficulties,  as  had  been  specifically  laid 
before  them. 

19.  A  company  of  Indians  from  Canada, f  who  came  with  those 
that  attack  Deerfield  and  Hatfield,  visit  Wannalancet  and  his  people, 
near  Chelmsford,  and  take  them  away  for  their  residence,  except 
two  men  and  their  wives,  one  of  whom  was  their  minister,  and  a 
widow,  who  effected  an  escape.  The  subjects  of  Wannalancet,  who 
departed  with  him,  were  fifty,  of  whom  were  eight  men,  and  the 
rest  women  and  children.  Reasons  for  his  leaving  the  territory  of 
his  fathers,  were,  that  he  had  no  sufficient  means  to  defend  his 
people  against  the  Eastern  Indians  and  the  Maquas  who  were 
hostile  to  them ;  had  little  means  for  subsistence,  because  his  plant- 
ing soil  had  been  occupied  by  the  English ;  the  party  with  whom 
he  went  away  were  his  relatives,  one  of  them  being  his  wife's 
brother,  and  his  son  resided  with  the  French.     Gookin,  who  states 


*  Major  Appleton,  of  Ipswich,  was  with  them  at  the  latter  time,  and 

signed  the  report  at  Salisbury,  as  they  did. 
t  Gookin's  Christian  Indians. 


EXPERIENCE  OP  CHRISTIAN    iNhiws.  610 

M77.] 

these  facts,  observes  of  the  Sachem,  thai  he  "made  a  profession  of 
religion  ;  was  of  a  prudent  and  peaceable  spirit." 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Eliot  held  a  lecture  at  Natick.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Gookin  and  other  friends  to  the  missionary  cause. 
On  this  occasion,  Wahan  made  an  address,  which  comprised  some 
leading  points  in  the  experience  of  himself  and  other  Indian  con- 
verts. He  remarked  that  before  so  destructive  a  conflict,  they  had 
been  much  encouraged  by  many  Christians  of  Old  and  New  Eng- 
land. After  it  began,  they  were  in  peril  by  the  allies  of  Philip 
and  by  many  of  the  Colonists,  who  were  prejudiced  against  them, 
and  they  feared  an  utter  extermination.  The  authorities,  to  save 
them,  ordered  that  they  take  up  their  residence  on  Deer  Island, 
and  thus  they  were  obliged  to  forsake  their  homes  and  substance, 
and  look  for  "  famine  and  nakedness."  While  so  situated,  the 
Lord  raised  up  friends  in  England,  who  had  them  supplied  with 
food  and  raiment ;  and  the  rulers  here,  with  confidence  in  their 
faithfulness,  which  was  generally  suspected,  employed  some  of  their 
men  to  war  with  the  enemy,  which  they  did  successfully.  This 
brought  them  into  favor  with  the  many  who  had  unjustly  looked 
on  them  as  ungrateful  and  treacherous.  The  close  of  Waban's 
speech  says :  "  For  all  these  things,  we  desire  God  only  may  be 
glorified." 

Gookin  replied  to  such  observations.  He  stated,  that  Christ 
teaches  all  his  disciples  to  bear  the  cross  after  him  daily,  and  that 
there  were  bad  Englishmen  as  well  as  bad  Indians.  He  adds  : 
"  Let  us  leave  this  case  to  God,  and  wait  upon  him  in  a  way  of 
well-doing,  patience,  meekness  and  humility,  and  God  will  bring  a 
good  issue  in  the  end,  as  you  have  seen  and  experienced."  He 
then  closes  with  the  encouragement,  that  the  Great  Shepherd  would 
accept  his  labors  for  these  people,  who,  though  despised  by  some, 
"  are,  through  the  grace  of  Christ,  the  first  professors,  confessors, 
if  I  may  not  say  martyrs,  of  the  Christian  religion  among  the  poor 
Indians  in  America." 

25.  To  this  date,  from  November  4,  1674,  Roger  Derby  and 
wife  Lucretia,  were  fined  several  times,  as  inhabitants  of  Ipswich, 
for  absence  on  the  Sabbath,  from  the  Congregational  worship.  In 
the  last  year,  a  piece  of  land  was  taken  to  meet  such  demands,  and 
afterwards  they  were  ordered  to  prison,  if  they  delayed  to  pay  them. 
Some  have  supposed  that  they  were  Quakers,  but  they  appear  to 
me  as  though  they  were  Episcopalians.  They  moved  to  Salem  in 
1681.  He  was  ancestor  of  the  Derbys,  eminent  as  merchants  in 
this  place. 

October  1.  Samuel  Whiting,  of  Lynn,  writes  to  his  cousin  and 
brother  in  the  ministry,  Increase  Mather.  "  Let  me  beg  one 
request  of  you,  that  you  would  set  pen  to  paper  in  writing  a 
history  of  New  England  since  the  coming  of  our  chief  men  hither, 
which  you  may  do  by  conferring  with  Mr.  Higginson  and  some 


616  A  PRESENT  FOR  THE  KING. 

[Mass. 

of  the  first  planters  in  Salem  and  other  places,  which  I  hope  you 
may  easily  accomplish,  having  by  your  diligence  and  search  found 
out  so  much  history  concerning  the  Pequot  War.  And  the  rather 
let  me  entreat  this  favor  of  you,  because  it  hath  not  been  hitherto 
done  by  any  in  a  polite  and  scholarlike  way,  which,  if  it  were  so 
done,  would  gladden  the  hearts  of  many  of  the  Lord's  people,  and 
turn  to  your  great  account  in  the  last  and  great  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus." 

2.  The  selectmen  of  Charlestown  are  licensed  by  the  County 
Court  to  erect  a  cage  "  for  the  restraint  of  such  as  shall  be  taken 
in  profaning  the  Sabbath,  and  other  dissolute  and  disorderly 
persons." 

A  remonstrance  of  B.  Bowers  to  the  General  Court  last  May  is 
referred  to  Middlesex  Court,  who  find  no  just  exception  against 
the  sentence  for  his  commitment  to  prison  ;  and  consider  that  his 
obstinacy  against  the  laws,  "  making  his  appeal  to  England,"  has 
brought  on  him  the  sufferings  of  which  he  complains.* 

7.  Samuel  Cheever,  of  the  Marblehead  church  and  congrega- 
tion^ is  received  into  the  Salem  church,  being  recommended  by 
the  Ipswich  church.  It  appears  that  the  members  of  the  church 
to  whom  he  preached  still  held  their  connection  with  those  at 
Salem,  who  were  considered  as  its  parent  church. 

10.  The  Legislature  convene.  J  They  empower  tythingmen  to 
inspect  public  houses  when  they  think  necessary. 

They  appoint  Thanksgiving  on  the  15th  of  November,  in  view 
of  a  plentiful  harvest  and  a  great  diminution  of  the  enemy's  rage. 

As  an  expression  of  their  loyalty,  they  order  a  present  for  the 
King,  consisting  of  "10  barrels  of  cranberries,  2  hogsheads  of 
special  good  samp,  and  3,000  cod-fish." 

12.  They  address  a  letter  to  the  Mohawk  sachems.  They  state 
to  them  that  six  of  their  men,  fully  armed,  were  lately  taken  in  the 
woods,  near  Boston  ;  that  these  were  imprisoned,  but  when  ascer- 
tained to  be  Maquas,  they  were  released  ;  that  they  are  disposed  to 
continue  the  treaty,  made  with  them  of  late  in  Albany,  by  Major 
Fynchon,  though  some  of  their  nation  had  recently  killed  a  man 
and  carried  away  two  squaws  of  the  Natick  Indians  ;  that  they 
wish  for  such  aggressors  to  make  satisfaction  and  return  the  women, 
and  no  more  harm  to  be  done  to  their  friends,  the  Indians,  who 
had  proved  themselves  faithful  in  the  war  ;  that  they  would  reward 
any  of  the  Mohawks  who  should  pursue  the  Canada  Indians  that 
carried  captives  from  Hatfield,  and  recover  the  latter ;  that  they 
had  been  disappointed  in  not  having  their  aid  against  the  Eastern 
enemy. 

In  compliance  with  a  petition  from  Hatfield,  the  Court  desire 
the  Governor  to  send  letters  by  the  six  troopers,  who  are  to  guard 

*  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec.  f  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec.  J  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


l  CCLESIA8TICAL    hill  [CI  i.lll>.  617 

1(17?.] 

the  six   Mohawks  on  their  way  homeward,  to  the  Governor  of 
Canada  and  the  Indiana  who  had  carried  away  some  of  their  inhab- 
itants, so  that  these  might  be  restored  to  their  families  and  friends. 
2£.  'lilt-  Legislature,  while  preparing  communications  for  friends 

id  Loudon,*  express  the  deep  importance  which  they  consider 
involved  in  their  difficulties  with  the  Crown.  w  We  thought 
meet   by  this  opportunity  to  represent  to  you  the  due  Bense  we 

have  or  would  manifest  of  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord  our  God 
upon  us  in  general,  and  yourselves  in  particular,  in  this  affair  of 
so  great  concernment  to  us  in  our  spiritual  and  civil  liberties  and 
constitutions,  that  when  the  enemy  struck  at  the  foundation  of 
these  our  precious  things,  manifested  in  the  eighth  article  and 
otherwise,  the  Lord  our  God,  (in  whose  hand  is  the  King's  heart 
and  the  management  of  all  these  our  concerns,)  we  believe,  hath 
made  them  (by  this  act)  to  begin  to  fall  before  his  people,  and 
therefore  we  hope  they  shall  not  prevail,  but  most  surely,  (as 
Hainan's  wise  men  told  him  ;)  and  so  we  would  take  it  as  a  mat- 
ter of  great  thankfulness  to  our  God.  Though  we  yet  have  not 
what  we  expected  or  desired,  or  hope  we  may  have,  and  further 
difficulties  remain  to  be  conflicted  with,  yet  this  beginning  is  more 
than  we  deserve,  and  would  look  upon  it  as  an  answer  of  prayer, 
and  a  token  for  good  shewed  us  from  the  Lord." 

After  Jeremiah,  son  to  Thomas  Shepard  of  Cambridge,  had 
preached  at  Rowley  from  February,  1673,  amid  experience  of  in- 
creasing opposition  from  part  of  his  hearers,  the  parties  receive  a 
decision  of  their  difficulty  from  a  committee  of  the  Legislature. f 
These  conclude  as  to  the  singular  purpose  of  some  to  settle  him, 
though  not  having  become  legally  qualified  in  the  relations  of 
freeman  and  church  member,  as  follows  :  "  The  Court  declare 
that  they  will  not  countenance  any  procedure  or  actings  therein 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  this  Court,  having  therein  made  provision 
for  the  peace  of  the  churches  and  a  settled  ministry  in  each  town. 
And  that  all  votes  passed  by  any  among  them  contrary  thereto, 
are  hereby  declared  null  and  void." 

The  same  year  Mr.  Shepard  ceased  preaching  at  Rowley,  he 
commenced  the  like  service  at  Chebaaco,  a  part  of  Ipswich.  Here 
the  result  was  unhappy,  as  it  had  been  in  the  former  town. 
Joseph  Dudley  and  others,  a  committee  of  the  General  Court, 
report  their  proceedings  as  to  this  trouble,  June  11,  1680.  They 
relate,  that  they  had  expressed  to  him  his  omission  of  union  with 
some  regular  church,  and  advised  him  to  perform  this  duty,  "  that 
he  may  with  more  general  approbation  labor  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry  ; "  that  they  recommended  his  friends  to  select  a  candi- 
date for  settlement,  who  should  be  likely  to  promote  their  best 
welfare  ;  and  that  they  presented  John  Wise,  as  the  person  whom 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  Ibid.     Hist,  of  Rowlev,  p.  76,  7  ;  of  Ipswich,  p.  258. 

78 


618  ELIOT'S   LETTER  TO   BOYLE. 

[Mass. 

they  had  unanimously  chosen.  Mr.  Shephard  became  a  church 
member  between  October  15,  1679,  and  May  19,  1680,  being 
declared  a  freeman  at  the  latter  date.  He  was  ordained^  at  Lynn, 
and  was  eminent  in  his  profession. 

Gookin  speaks  as  follows  of  a  distinguished  person  among  the 
Christian  Indians,  who  lived  at  Natick.  "  In  this  town  they  have 
residing  some  of  their  principal  rulers,  the  chief  whereof  is  named 
Waban,  who  is  now  seventy  years  of  age.  He  is  a  person  of 
great  prudence  and  piety.  I  do  not  know  any  Indian  that  excels 
him."  Though  the  decease  of  this  individual,  so  desirably  in- 
troduced, has  been  represented  as  in  1670  and  1674,  yet  he  was 
among  the  witnesses  against  the  conspiracy  of  Philip  in  April  and 
afterwards  in  1675,  and  was  alive  September  19,  1677.  He 
probably  died  not  long  after  this  date.  He  left  a  wife,  Tasun- 
squaw,  daughter  to  Tahattawan,  sachem  of  Musquitaquid,  or 
Concord.  She  was  living  in  1684.  His  son  Thomas  served  the 
people  of  Natick,  many  years,  as  a  Town  Clerk.  Shephard,  of 
Cambridge,  observed  that  the  Indians  gave  "  names  to  their  chil- 
dren, usually,  according  to  appearances  of  providences  ;  and  the 
most  Indians  for  stirring  up  other  Indians  to  seek  after  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  in  these  parts  is  Waban,  which  signifies  wind ; 
although  they  never  dreamt  of  this  their  Waban  should  breathe 
such  a  spirit  of  life  and  encouragement  into  the  rest  of  the  Indians, 
as  he  hath  endeavored  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  both  at  Concord, 
Merrimack,  and  elsewhere."* 

22.  A  petition  from  Chebacco,  in  Ipswich,  to  the  General  Court, 
that  they  may  continue  meetings  for  worship,  is  referred  to  the 
town,  who  had  opposed  such  a  privilege  as  irregular. 

23.  John  Eliot  writes  to  Robert  Boyle,f  as  President  of  the 
Missionary  Corporation  :  "  The  poor  praying  Indians  do  thankfully 
acknowledge  that  (under  God  our  heavenly  Father,  and  under  Jesus 
Christ  our  Redeemer,  who  redeemeth  us  out  of  all  our  troubles) 
you  have  been  the  means  and  instruments  in  his  hands,  to  save  and 
deliver  us.  God  moved  your  hearts  to  own  us  in  that  black  day, 
when  we  were  almost  ready  to  be  swallowed  up  in  destruction. 
Many  of  our  aged,  decrepid,  fatherless  and  widows,  still  wear  the 
garments  which  your  charity  did,  the  last  winter,  clothe  us  withal. 
Understanding  that  some  doubt  is  raised  about  your  countenancing 
and  encouraging  our  rulers,  who  are  of  us,  and  live  among  us,  and 
without  whose  presence  and  assistance,  the  Lord's  work  of  soul- 
instruction  and  edification  will  soon  faint,  sink  and  come  to  nothing, 
our  humble  petition  is,  first,  to  God,  that  he  who  hath  hitherunto, 
would  still  move  your  hearts  for  our  welfare ;  and  next,  our  peti- 
tion is  unto  yourselves,  that  we  may  have  the  countenance  of  your 
favour,  to  countenance  and  own  our  rulers  among  us,  without  whose 

*  Hist,  of  Concord,  p.  28,  9.  f  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle. 


l  i  rir.i;  TO   BARL   FRONTINAC.  619 

0307.1 

countenance,  our  teachers  will  be  of  little  power,  especially  among 
our  youth  and  rising  generations,  who  do  not  ye!  savor  the  things  of 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  among  Btrangers,  who  have  not  yet 
tasted  how  good  the  Lord  is,  though  for  (heir  protection  and  safety, 
they  have  crowded  in  upon  us. 

"  In  our  first  war  with  the  Indians,  God  pleased  to  show  us  the 
vanity  of  our  military  akill  in  managing  our  arms  alter  the  Euro- 
pean mode.      Now  we  arc  glad  to  learn  the  skulking  way  of  war. 

"The  Governor  of  New  York  sent  a  strength  this  summer,  and 
took  possession  of  a  northern  post,  where  they  fixed  and  fortified 
themselves,  since  whose  coming  the  Indians  have  not  stirred  much. 
Whether  their  intention  be  to  promote  religion,  or  only  trading,  I 
know  not." 

Eliot  continues  as  follows :  "  It  pleased  the  Lord  very  lately  to 
permit  a  small  handful,  not  twenty,  of  the  late  scattered  rod,  to 
make  a  sore  disruption  upon  Hadley  and  Deerfield,  where  about 
twelve  persons  were  killed,  more  than  twenty  carried  away  captive 
or  lost,  seven  dwellings  burned,  and  sundry  barns  full  of  corn;  and 
since,  they  have  appeared  at  Hadley  and  burned  the  mill.  These 
last  actions  have  very  much  discouraged  our  people  from  repairing 
the  destroyed  towns,  which  some  were  beginning  to  do." 

"  We  had  a  Sachem  of  the  greatest  blood  in  the  country,  sub- 
mitted to  pray  to  God  a  little  before  the  wars.  His  name  is  Wan- 
nalancet.  In  the  time  of  the  wars  he  fled,  by  reason  of  the  wicked 
actings  of  some  English  youth,  who  causelessly  and  basely  killed 
some  of  them.  He  was  persuaded  to  come  in  again.  But  the 
English  having  ploughed  and  sown  with  rye  all  their  lands,  they 
had  but  little  corn  to  subsist  by.  A  party  of  French  Indians,  of 
whom  some  were  of  the  kindred  of  this  Sachem's  wife,  very  lately 
fell  upon  this  people,  being  but  few  and  unarmed,  and  partly  by 
persuasion,  partly  per  force,  carried  them  all  away.  One,  with  his 
wife,  child  and  kinswoman,  who  were  of  our  praying  Indians,  made 
their  escape,  came  in  to  the  English,  and  discovered  what  was  done. 
These  things  keep  some  in  a  continual  disgust  and  jealousy  of  all 
the  Indians." 

24.  John  Leverett  writes  to  Earl  Frontinac,  of  Canada.  He 
states  that  Indians  from  that  quarter,  pretending  to  be  Mohawks, 
on  the  19th  of  September,  killed  and  wounded  some  of  our  people 
and  took  prisoners  of  others.  He  desires  him  to  discourage  such 
expeditions,  and  assist  the  bearers  in  obtaining  the  liberty  of  our 
Christian  captives. 

November  18.  Mr.  Higginson,  of  Salem,  reads  a  vote  of  the 
town,*  dated  9th,  that  a  contribution  be  taken  for  the  poor  every 
Sabbath,  and  that  the  individuals,  unable  to  give  money,  may  put 
on  paper  what  they  will  otherwise  give. 

*  Salem  First  Ch.  Rec. 


620  HISTORY   OF  PRAYING  INDIANS. 

[Mass. 

December  3.  Mr.  Bailey,  pastor  of  the  Salem  Village  church,  is 
admitted  to  the  Salem  church,  the  former  being  still  a  branch  of 
the  latter.  He  presented  a  letter  of  dismission  from  the  Newbury 
church. 

18.  John  Russell,  John  Wilson,  Sen.,  and  Caleb  Farlow,  are 
fined  as  Baptists,  for  neglect  of  authorized  worship.*  George  Polly, 
the  wife  of  John  Wilson,  Sen.,  John  Wilson,  Jr.,  Timothy  Brooks, 
Francis  Wiman,  Aaron  Cleaveland,  and  Hopestill  Foster,  are  ad- 
monished, and  ordered  to  pay  costs  for  a  similar  charge. 

Benanuel  Bowers,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  are  ordered  to  pay  £5 
each,  or  be  whipped  openly  fifteen  stripes  apiece,  for  reproaching 
and  slandering  Thomas  Danforth.  They  are  to  be  committed  till 
their  sentence  is  executed. 

Daniel  Gookin,  of  Cambridge,  dates  his  account  of  the  praying 
Indians  to  the  Society  in  England,  who  support  missions  among 
them.     The  same  month,  it  was  approved  by  John  Eliot  as  correct. 

22.  Thomas  Shepard,  minister  of  Charlestown,  dies  of  the  small 
pox.  He  was  son  to  Thomas,  of  Cambridge,  born  in  London, 
April  5,  1635,  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1653,  and  ordained 
colleague  with  Mr.  Symmes,  April  13,  1659.  He  married  Hannah 
Tyng,  November  3,  1656.  She  and  three  children,  Thomas,  Anna 
and  Margaret,  survived  him.  His  Election  Sermon  of  1672,  is 
quoted  under  that  year.  There  are  several  volumes  of  his  manu- 
script sermons  in  the  American  Antiquarian  Library.  An  elegy 
of  his,  on  John  Norton,  is  published  in  Morton's  Memorial.  The 
disease  which  proved  his  death,  was  prevalent  among  his  parish- 
ioners. It  was  then  dreaded  as  the  plague.  One  of  his  •flock 
sick  with  it,  desired  a  visit  from  him.  He  complied,  expecting 
that  the  contagion  would  attack  him,  and  fearing  that  it  would 
terminate  his  life.  One  of  the  elegies,  occasioned  by  his  decease, 
says : 

"  Rather  than  run  from  his  work,  he  chose  to  die, 
Running  on  death,  sooner  than  duty  fly." 

At  the  next  commencement,  President  Oakes,  in  a  Latin  oration, 
spoke  of  him  as  follows  :  "  He  was  possessed  of  undissemblecl  piety 
and  uncommon  learning,  united  with  modesty,  amiable  manners, 
and  noted  industry.  His  countenance  was  grave,  his  words  well 
considered  and  weighty,  and  his  gestures  becoming  and  unaffected. 
He  was  of  a  very  sedate  turn,  sincere  and  open,  possessed  of  a 
fertile  mind,  and  a  penetrating  judgment,  and  distinguished  for  the 
mildness  and  sweetness  of  his  manners." 

28.  The  Council  address  letters  to  ministers  and  selectmen  of 
towns,  as  to  bringing  in  the  remainder  of  subscriptions  for  the 
College  brick  edifice. 

This  year  Increase  Mather  publishes  a  discourse  on  the  renewal 
of  the  covenant,  the  duty  of  decaying  and  distressed  churches. 

*  MS.  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec. 


QUESTION    OP   RE  BAPTISM.  681 

ier&] 

1678.  January.  The  Baptists  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  who 
had  agreed  to  form   themselves  into  two  churches/  com  lui 

defer    BUch  B  separation    till    they  ran    obtain   B  suitable    ministry. 

They  also  decide  to  have  a  new  meeting-house.     They  had  the 

labors  of  Messrs.  Russell  and  .Miles,  and  thought  of  settling  one 

or  the  other  of  them. 

21.  Thomas  Thacher,  minister,  of  Boston,  dates  "a  brief  rule 
to  guide  the  common  people  of  New  England  how  to  order  them- 
selves and  theirs  in  the  small  pox  or  measles."  It  is  printed  on 
one  aide  of  a  sheet  of  paper. 

February  21.  A  publie  Fast  is  observed,  because  of  small  pox 
in  some  towns  ;  fears  of  further  trouble  with  hostile  Indians  ;  and 
in  behalf  of  the  agents  in  England,  by  order  of  Council. 

March  7.  Elders,  met  at  the  lecture  in  Boston,!  have  the  following 
question  laid  before  them  by  some  brethren  of  the  church  at 
Woburn.  "  There  being  one  that  was  in  his  infancy  in  Woburn 
church,  that  when  adult,  did  receive  rebaptization  from  a  person 
belonging  to  that  disorderly  society  of  Anabaptists,  lately  com- 
bined amongst  us.  This  rebaptizate  now  desiring  to  join  the 
church  in  Woburn,  the  question  is  whether  the  church  ought  to 
receive  him  into  their  communion  until  such  time  as  he  doth 
acknowledge  his  offence  in  the  matter  mentioned."  The  Elders 
reply:  "The  person  in  question  hath  been  guilty  of  violating 
plain,  clear  rules  in  the  Scripture,  which  he  ought  to  see  and 
acknowledge  before  admission  into  the  church.  He  hath  made 
himself  one  with  that  disorderly  society  of  Anabaptists,  combined 
to  the  disturbance  both  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  order.  Anabap- 
tism,  though  a  pretended  friend,  hath  been  a  fatal  enemy  to  the 
interest  of  the  Reformation,  wherever  it  hath  sprung  up.  Witness 
Stockholm,  Munster  and  other  places.  Mr.  Baxter,  in  his  treatise 
of  Infant  Baptism,  testifieth,  that  when  he  lived  at  Coventry,  they 
were,  at  first,  very  indulgent  towards  the  Anabaptists,  as  hoping 
they  might  be  honest,  well-meaning  men,  but  afterwards,  they  saw 
a  sad  consequence  of  their  too  much  indulgence.  It  is  famously 
known  that  an  excess  of  indulgence  towards  Socinian  Anabaptists 
hath  been  the  ruin  of  the  churches  in  Transylvania."  This  shows 
the  reason  why,  at  this  period,  the  ministers  of  the  allowed  order, 
were  so  opposed  to  Baptists,  lest,  if  becoming  sufficiently  nume- 
rous, they  would  overturn  the  institutions  of  the  country.  But, 
happily  for  the  general  good,  such  fears  were  not  realized  in  those 
Baptists,  w7ho  were  the  occasion  of  them,  nor  have  they  been  in 
their  successors.  It  is  true  that  the  most  of  these  deny  the 
churches  who  practice  infant  baptism,  and  this  ordinance  by  way 
of  sprinklings  to  be  of  regular  foundation,  and  not  admissible 
to    communion    with   them.     Had    they  first  settled  our  Puritan 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  480.  f  Mather  MS. 


(322  POPISH  RECUSANTS. 

[Mass. 

churches,  and  had  no  greater  light  than  the  age  afforded,  and 
perceived  others  coming  among  them,  who  renounced  their  close 
communion  and  thus  declared  all  their  churches  to  be  without 
true  foundations  ;  there  can  be  little  doubt,  that  such  intruders 
would  have  experienced  treatment  severe  as  that  of  their  fathers, 
when  first  setting  up  here  their  claims  to  immersion. 

March  27.  In  the  correspondence  of  Increase  Mather,  a  note 
says  there  is  "  an  engrossed  bill  for  the  better  and  more  speedy 
discovery  of  Popish  recusants,  read  and  ordered  to  a  second  read- 
ing" in  Parliament.  Soon  after  this,  another  letter  to  him  states 
that  Parliament  are  more  against  Papists  than  the  Non-conformists. 
The  cause  of  this  was  the  discovery  of  what  was  called  the  Popish 
plot  "  to  take  away  the  King's  life,  to  subvert  the  constitution,  to 
introduce  Popery  and  to  extirpate  the  Protestant  religion,  root 
and  branch."  The  King  disbelieved  it,  and  remarked  to  Lord 
Halifax,  "  that  it  was  not  probable  that  the  Papists  should  conspire 
to  kill  him,  for  have  I  not  been  kind  enough  to  them?"  (says 
his  Majesty.)  "Yes,"  (says  his  Lordship,)  "you  have  been  too 
kind  indeed  to  them  ;  but  they  know  you  will  only  trot,  and  they 
want  a  prince  that  will  gallop."  The  Papists  were  well  aware 
that,  however  Charles  was  of  their  religion  at  heart,  yet  he  was 
not  so  strenuous  for  it  as  his  brother  James.  They  too  often  acted 
on  the  principle,  that  the  end  justifies  the  means. 

The  Elders  of  the  Boston  Lecture,  continue  their  remarks. 
"  Different  apprehensions  among  ourselves  about  the  subjects  of 
baptism  are  alleged,  some  being  for  the  immediate  seed,  some  for 
the  grand-children,  and  some  no  children." 

"  Our  ministers  have  pressed  for  a  well-bounded  toleration." 
Answer.  "  This  plea  ought  not  to  be  used  for  all  toleration.  If 
bounded,  it  must  not  exceed ;  and  what  shall  stop  it,  if  scandal 
do  not." 

"  Whereas  it  is  intimated  as  if  that  extent  of  baptism,  which 
is  pleaded  for  in  the  late  Synod-book,  were  a  declension  from  the 
principles  of  our  fathers,  the  contrary  is  sufficiently  evinced  in  a 
book,  printed  three  years  ago,  called  the  first  principles  of  New 
England,  concerning  the  subject  of  baptism  and  communion  of 
churches." 

"  It  is  scandalous  for  any  to  say,  men  are  fined  for  their  judg- 
ments." 

April.  Among  answers  of  our  Agents,  Bulkley  and  Stoughton, 
in  London,  to  Royal  authorities,  is  the  following :  "  The  doctrines 
of  religion  fully  agree  with  the  church  of  England ;  but  the  disci- 
pline and  government  are  congregational." 

Replies  are  given  by  William  Jones  and  Francis  Winnington  to 
objections  laid  before  them  by  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  of  trade 
and  plantation. 

1.   "The  people  of  Massachusetts  Colony  have  not  any  legal 


ROYAL  GOVERNOR    PROP08ED,  U  S3 

1678,] 

charter  at  all."  Answer.  M  Whether  the  case  should  qoI  be  truly 
stated'1  to  his  Majesty's  two  chief  Justice-.  whom  it  had 

been  laid. 

&.  "Thai,  by  reason  of  several  irregularities  there  was,  about 
L635,  a  quo-warranto  brought  for  the  dissolution  of  such  charter 
as  they  had.  That  the  prosecution  thereof  went  far,  and  stopped 
only  on  account  of  the  public  troubles  ensuing."  Answer.  That 
such  a  process  did  not  dissolve  the  Charter. 

■  I.  [f  the  Charter  be  good,  yet  has  not  the  conduct  of  its  pos- 
sessors forfeited  "  the  same,  so  as  to  be  now  in  his  Majesty's  mercy 
and  disposal."  Answer.  Were  the  misdemeanors,  charged  upon 
Massachusetts,  committed  since  the  act  of  oblivion  and  proved, 
they  would  be  sufficient  to  vacate  the  charter  through  a  quo- 
warranto. 

The  Committee  of  Plantations  make  various  requisitions  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, which,  if  enforced,  must  impair  their  Church  as  well  as 
State  liberties.  Part  of  them  follow.  Though  his  Majesty  may 
grant,  on  due  application,  a  charter  to  the  Colony,  which  shall 
allow  the  coining  of  money,  "  yet  they  must  solicit  his  Majesty's 
pardon,"  for  having  done  this  thing.  "  The  acts  of  navigation  for 
the  future,  be  rigidly  observed.  That  no  taxes  should  be  raised 
but  with  his  Majesty's  approbation,  in  his  name,  and  applied  by 
his  appointment  to  the  use  of  the  government.  And  above  all, 
that  the  method  of  swearing  all  to  be  true  to  that  government, 
should  be  abolished."  The  Committee  propose,  that  for  rendering 
the  rulers  of  Massachusetts  more  obedient  to  the  Crown,  they  must 
be  under  a  "governor  wholly  supported  by  his  Majesty."* 

April  8.  In  his  reply  to  the  queries  of  the  Lords  of  Plantations,f 
Andros  says  that  Massachusetts  tolerate  only  "  Presbyterians  and 
Independents,"  and  that  they  had  no  Episcopal  church  among 
them. 

9.  The  Agents  of  New  England  are  required  by  the  King's 
Council  to  answer  the  petition  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  £  making 
the  following  statement.  In  the  late  war,  he  subjugated  the  East- 
ern Indians  at  the  cost  of  his  Royal  Highness,  and  strictly  prohib- 
ited the  sale  of  powder  and  other  ammunition.  Yet  Massachusetts 
in  their  declaration,  issued  1675,  and  in  books  printed  since,  assert- 
ed that  Phillip  and  his  followers  were  supplied  with  ammunition 
by  people  of  Albany.  Of  this  Andros  complains  and  asks  satisfac- 
tion, which  he  says  Massachusetts  will  not  render  him.  Still  there 
is  proof  in  the  minutes  and  papers  of  Andros's  New  York  Council, 
that,  though  he  may  not  have  tolerated  such  a  supply,  it  was  furn- 
ished by  traders  of  that  place. 

21.  The  King  writes  to  the  Governor  and  Council.  §    He  forbids 

*  Chalmers,  p.  436-41.  f  Plantation  Roc.  %  Royal  Council  Rec. 

Easton's  Philip's  War.  §  Hutchinson's  Coll.  p.  515,  (J. 


624  COLONIAL   LIBERTIES  THREATENED. 

[Mass. 

the  continuance  of  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  country  here,  revived 
the  last  October,  as  disrespectful  to  him,  and  a  snare  to  some  of  his 
subjects  in  the  Colony.  He  commands  them  to  have  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  as  established  by  law  in  England,  administered  to  all 
the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts. 

May  8.  A  committee  are  appointed  by  General  Court  to  inquire 
after  the  persons,  who  by  word  or  writing,  have  slandered  the  Gov- 
ernment here,  in  England.* 

9.  Joseph  Brown  dies.  He  was  son  of  William  Brown,  of 
Salem.  He  graduated  at  Harvard,  1666,  where  he  became  a  Fel- 
low, 1672.  This  office  he  resigned  September  15,  1673.  He  was 
made  freeman  the  same  year.  After  the  decease  of  Mr.  Symmes, 
of  Charlestown,  he  assisted  the  surviving  colleague,  Mr.  Shepard, 
in  the  ministry.  He  was  dismissed  February  19,  1675,  from  Salem 
church  to  the  Charlestown  church.  He  married  Elizabeth  Brenton, 
daughter  to  Gov.  Brenton,  of  Rhode  Island.  She  deceased  Sep- 
tember 14,  1676.  Soon  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Shepard,  December 
22,  1677,  Mr.  Brown  was  renewedly  and  unanimously  called  to 
settle  over  the  bereaved  flock.  On  further  consideration,  he  gave 
a  negative  answer  and  soon  moved  to  Boston,  where  he  closed 
his  life.     He  was  distinguished  as  a  scholar,  Christian  and  preacher. 

June  3.  The  Artillery  Election  Sermon  is  preached  by  Samuel 
Nowell.  It  was  printed  from  notes  of  an  auditor,  because  the 
preacher's  right  hand  had  mostly  lost  its  use.  The  text  was  from 
Genesis  xiv.  14, — "Abraham  in  arms."  The  author  observed  in 
a  note,  that  he  allowed  the  discourse  to  be  published  "  to  revive  our 
military  discipline,  and  the  spirit  of  soldiery,  which  seems  to  be  in 
its  wane,  in  an  age  when  never  more  need  of  it."  A  passage  seems 
to  bear  on  the  violent  proceedings  in  England  to  take  away  the 
Colony  from  the  rule  of  our  fathers.  "  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
liberty  and  property  given  to  us,  both  by  the  laws  of  God  and  men. 
When  these  are  invaded,  we  may  defend  ourselves.  God  hath  not 
given  great  ones  in  the  world,  that  absolute  power  over  men,  to 
devour  them  at  pleasure.  He  hath  set  rulers  their  bounds,  and  by 
his  law  hath  determined  liberties  and  property.  If  we  have  that, 
that  is  our  right  and  due  ;  it  is  not  another's  being  stronger  can 
make  our  right  null  and  void."  He  remarks,  that  as  nations  were 
providentially  left  in  Canaan  to  try  Israel  and  keep  them  prepared 
for  defence,  so  it  was  with  the  Indians  left  in  New  England  for 
similar  purposes  relative  to  the  Colonists.  "  The  wall,  the  strength 
of  this  little  Commonwealth,"  under  God,  have  been  our  soldiers. 
"Our  readiness  and  expertness  in  military  exercise,  is  that  for 
which  we  have  been  famed  abroad  in  other  countries,  both  among 
Dutch  and  French.  What  the  Governor  of  Manadus  saw  in  that 
little  time  when  he  was  here,  gave  us  no  small  credit  in  Holland." 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


si'ilis  on   NEW   ENGLAND.  685 

ie78.] 

The  preacher  assigns  reasons  why  the  people  should  be  prepared 

for  war.  "  There  are  none  of  the  Princes  of  note  in  Europe,  that 
have  any  interest  in  America,  but  have  long  had  their  Espysalfl 
upon  us.  Rome  will  have  no  peace  with  you,  and  you  ought  to 
have  no  peace  with  it.  That  Rome's  agents  are  abroad  at  work  is 
plain.  It'  their  counsels  should  sway  the  world,  it  is  a  vain  thing 
for  us  to  promise  ourselves  peace."  The  continuance  of  Indians 
in  the  land,  "  as  thorns  in  our  sides,"  demands  military  discipline. 
The  policy  of  intermarrying  with  them,  as  done  by  the  French, 
M  not  far  from  us,"  is  not  likely  to  be  exercised  by  the  English. 
"  So  servile  are  some,  that  they  will  pay  tribute  to  heathens,  rather 
than  endure  a  little  difficulty.  Low  spirited  men.  Let  them  have 
Issachar's  lot,  that  make  his  choice."  "  Put  on  the  whole  armor* 
of  God.  That  is  the  way  to  make  a  good  soldier.  If  the  breast- 
plate of  righteousness  be  not  on,  if  men  have  guilty  consciences, 
they  will  find  and  feel  the  sad  effects  of  it,  when  they  come  to  be 
in  danger." 

87,  In  a  communication  of  Mrs.  Jane  Hook,  in  England,  she 
mentions  that  she  had  previously  sent  over  second-hand  clothes  for 
poor  ministers  here,  and  that  she  now  repeats  the  like  kindness.* 

July  28.  Being  the  Lord's  day,  the  congregation  at  Charles- 
town  "  were  staid  to  desire  their  consent  to  the  action  of  the 
church,"  who  had  recently  given  a  call  to  Messrs.  Daniel  Russell 
and  Thomas  Shepard  to  settle  in  the  ministry  with  them.f 

August  4.  Mrs.  Baldwin,  a  French  lady,  from  the  Isle  of  Jersey, 
who  had  testimonials  from  French  ministers,  and  had  resided  in 
Salem  several  years,  reads  a  confession  of  faith,  in  her  own  lan- 
guage, to  the  church  of  this  town,  which  was  translated  by  Richard 
Croad  and  read  by  the  pastor.  After  such  a  requisition,  she  is 
admitted  as  a  member  of  the  church. + 

9.  Richard  Blinman  dates  a  letter  §  to  Increase  Mather.  He 
says :  "  I  shall  adventure  to  give  you  this  hint  under  the  rose,  that 
I  fear  an  inhabitant  of  your  country  would  fain  be  Lord  paramount 
over  all  the  Colonies.  Sat.  verb,  sap."  The  writer  probably 
intended  Edmund  Andros,  then  Governor  of  New  York,  in  con- 
nection with  Pemaquid,  Nantucket  and  Martha's  Vineyard. 

22.  An  account  is  given  by  the  Council,  of  contributions  by 
towns  in  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  amounting 
to  £345  Is.  4:d.,  for  charges  in  redeeming  and  bringing  back  the 
captives,  who  were  taken  at  Hatfield,  September  19,  1677,  and 
carried  to  Canada.  Other  donations  had  been  made  in  several 
western  towns,  which  were  not  received. 

Increase  Mather  dates  an  introduction  to  his  discourse,  entitled, 
"  Pray  for  the  rising  generation."  He  observes  :  "  Our  fathers 
were,  some  of  them,  eminent  confessors,  and,  in  a  degree,  martyrs 

*  Mather  MS.        f  Ch.  Rec.        }  First  Ch.  Rec.  Salem.        $  Mather  MS. 
79 


626  A   CASE   OF   CONSCIENCE. 

[Mass. 

of  Jesus,  who  leit  a  pleasant  land  and  fathers'  houses,  to  follow 
the  Lord  into  a  wilderness,  into  a  land  which  was  not  sown.  Yea, 
and  they  came  hither  partly  with  respect  to  their  offspring,  that 
they  might  leave  their  children  under  the  special  blessing  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Hath  not  the  Lord  peculiar  blessings  for  such 
children  ?  Let  us  pray  them  down  from  heaven."  With  regard 
to  this  sermon,  the  author  made  the  subsequent  remark  :  "  Four 
years  ago  you  set  apart  a  day  for  no  other  cause,  but  only  that  so 
you  might,  by  fasting  and  prayer,  cry  unto  the  Lord  for  convert- 
ing grace  to  be  poured  down  upon  the  souls  of  our  poor  children. 
You  were  told,  that  within  seven  years  before,  near  eighty  persons 
had  presented  themselves  and  declared  before  the  church  what 
God  had  done  for  their  souls."  "  Since  that  day  upwards  of 
seventy  persons,  mostly  young,  have  given  evidence  of  piety,  and 
a  considerable  number  more  are  serious." 

31.  A  Council  assemble  composed  of  Rev.  John  Woodbridge, 
Seaborn  Cotton,  John  Richardson,  Samuel  Phillips,  Thomas 
Cobbet,  John  Hale,  Joseph  Gerrish,  and  John  Higginson.  In 
their  result,  they  say  :  u  Hugh  March,  of  Newbury,  having  pro- 
posed a  question  to  us,  as  a  case  of  conscience,  desiring  our  resolu- 
tion of  it,  we  shall  first  state  it,  and  then  do  our  endeavor  to 
resolve  it.  He  married  a  wife,  supposed  to  be  a  widow,  which 
her  friends  confidently  affirmed  to  him  that  she  was,  and  coming 
to  Mr.  Symonds,  the  Deputy  Governor,  and  being  demanded  after 
the  usual  manner,  and  charged,  that  if  she  knew  any  just  impedi- 
ment of  their  marriage,  she  should  discover  it,  she  answered  none. 
Whereupon  the  said  March  completed  the  marriage,  enjoved  her 
as  his  wife  for  some  time,  but  hearing,  not  long  since,  that  her 
former  husband  was  alive,  which  when  he  fully  understood,  he 
abstained  from  her  as  his  wife.  Her  former  husband  had  lived 
away  from  her  for  some  years,  being  employed  in  such  affairs  in 
Virginia  and  elsewhere,  as  pertained  to  his  livelihood,  but  being  very 
lately  at  Boston,  the  said  March  saw  him,  brought  them  together ; 
they  discoursed  one  with  the  other,  whereby  it  is  infallibly  evi- 
denced, that  he  is  alive.  Whence  the  question  proposed  is  this  : 
Whether  the  said  March  may  in  conscience  accept  and  retain  her 
as  his  wife  ?"  In  the  course  of  their  remarks,  the  Council  do  not 
seem  to  have  understood  that  the  absent  husband  willfullv  nesrlect- 
ed  his  wife,  or  that  any  misconduct  was  imputed  to  either  of  them. 
Their  conclusion  was,  that  she  was  the  lawful  wife  of  him  and  not 
of  [March.  In  connection  with  this,  they  remark  :  "  Though  it 
should  be  alleged  that  the  second  (husband)  may  keep  her  with 
the  consent  of  the  first,  we  suppose,  that  wives  are  not  such 
possessions  as  may  be  parted  with  at  men's  pleasure ;  they  are  one 
flesh."     They  state  that  no  similar  case  had  occurred  among  them. 

September  80.   John  Higginson  addresses  a  letter  to  Increase 


BXCOMMUNIGATED   PRINCES   MURDEfiBD.  627 

Mather.*      He  states  that    he    has   not    read    the    law  respecting  the 

Sabbath,  to  his  congregation,  since  the  last  September  and  March, 

because  ho  thinks  that  such  services  tend  to  lessen  the  UM'fulness 
of  ministers  on  account  of  the  penalties  which  the  act  demands, 
and  that  it  should  be  done  by  civil  officers,  lie  desires  Mather,  if 
looking  at  the  case  as  he  does,  to  consult  with  the  Boston  ministers 
about  petitioning  the  Legislature  for  a  corresponding  alteration. 
He  remarks  that  he  has  read  his  First  Principles  on  Baptism,  and 
that  the  churches  are  obligated  to  him  for  the  work;  that  he  had 
heard  Mr.  Bond  ("  who  they  say  is  coming")  had  answered  it,  and 
that  its  author  had  replied,  and  that  he  wished  to  peruse  both  of 
these  productions. 

October  2.  A  session  of  the  General  Court  commences.  The 
Governor  reads  to  them  his  Majesty's  letter  and  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance with  which  it  was  accompanied,  and  which  he,  the  Deputy, 
Assistants,  and  Secretary,  took  in  August.  He  also  communicates 
letters  to  them  from  our  agents  in  London.  In  view  of  their  ex- 
traordinary trials  in  reference  to  the  Government  of  England,  the 
Court  designate  the  9th  of  the  month  to  seek  the  face  of  the  Lord. 
They  desire  Elders  to  conduct  the  services  of  the  occasion,  and  Mr. 
Oakes  to  give  them  a  word  of  exhortation.  They  order  all  his 
Majesty's  subjects  of  the  Colony,  being  sixteen  years  old  and 
upwards,  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  as  required  by  the  law  of 
his  kingdom.  A  passage  of  this  oath  follows :  "  I  do  from  my 
heart  abhor,  detest  and  abjure,  as  impious  and  heretical,  this  posi- 
tion, that  Princes,  who  be  excommunicated  or  deprived  by  the 
Pope,  may  be  deposed  or  murthered  by  their  subjects,  or  any  other 
whatsoever :  and  I  do  believe,  and  in  my  conscience  am  resolved, 
that  neither  the  Pope  nor  any  person  whatsoever  hath  power  to 
absolve  me  of  this  my  oath,  or  any  part  thereof,  which  I  acknowl- 
edge, by  good  and  full  authority  to  be  lawfully  ministered  unto 
me,  and  do  renounce  all  pardons  and  dispensations  to  the  contrary." 

Having  accepted  the  contract  for  the  Province  of  Maine,  they 
impower  the  Treasurer  to  pay  the  amount  stipulated. 

In  compliance  with  the  suggestion  by  Commissioners  of  the 
Confederacy,  at  Hartford,  in  September,  the  Court  appoint  a  public 
Fast  the  21st  of  November,  for  the  subsequent  purposes.f  That 
the  people  may  be  humbled  before  God  for  the  tokens  of  his  dis- 
pleasure against  them ;  that  they  may  be  pardoned  and  reconciled 
with  him ;  that  he  would  be  with  them  as  with  their  fathers  ;  that 
he  would  not  remove  the  gospel  from  them,  and  would  continue 
their  civil  and  religious  privileges ;  that  "  a  spirit  of  conversion 
may  be  poured  out  upon  "  their  "  children,  that  they  may  give  up 
themselves  and  their  seed  after  them  to  be  the  Lord's,  willingly 
subjecting  themselves  to  all  his  holy  rules  and  government  in  his 
house,"  and  that  he  would  be  with  them  in  their  low  estate. 

*  Mather  MS.  "-  f  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


628  ADDRESS  TO   THE   KING. 

[Mass. 

16.  The  Court  agree  on  an  address*  to  the  King.  They  speak 
of  his  having  confirmed  their  Charter,  forgiven  the  errors  which 
he  charged  against  them,  and  declared  his  disposition  to  promote 
the  trade  and  happiness  of  the  Colony.  They  engage  to  manifest 
their  regard  for  him,  and  hope  that  he  will  cherish  no  evil  impres- 
sions against  them,  through  false  representations.  They  had  acted 
for  accomplishing  the  ends  of  the  Plantation,  and  had  lately  defend- 
ed it  at  great  expense  of  blood  and  treasure,  at  their  own  charge, 
which  ends,  they  believe,  cannot  be  advanced  by  any  alteration  in 
their  present  Government.  They  desire  that  their  agents  may  be 
dismissed,  and  not  be  compelled  to  answer  complaints  "  made  by 
unquiet  spirits."  They  engage  to  satisfy  his  Majesty,  with  regard 
to  complaints  against  the  Colony,  since  the  act  of  oblivion.  For 
mistakes  of  forty-eight  years,  especially  of  their  infancy  or  of  "  the 
times  of  the  late  confusion,"  meaning,  as  we  remember,  the  period 
between  the  deposition  of  Charles  I.,  and  the  restoration  of  his  son, 
they  crave  pardon  of  the  latter.  They  mention  to  the  King  that 
they  have  repealed  their  oath  of  fidelity,  which  was  offensive  to 
him,  and  have  taken  the  one  of  allegiance,  as  prescribed  by  a  law 
of  England,  and  ordered  it  to  be  administered  to  the  rest  of  the 
Colonists. 

The  Court  consider  objections  to  them,  made  by  the  Crown 
Solicitor.  As  to  applying  the  word,  Commonwealth,  to  the  Colony, 
they  observe,  that  though  it  has  not  been  thus  used  in  contempt  or 
opposition  to  royal  authority,  they  have  not  lately  applied  it  so, 
and  intend  to  have  it  discontinued.  Concerning  the  case  of  the 
Quakers,  they  remark  as  follows :  When  this  denomination  first 
came  hither,  they  trampled  on  civil  and  ecclesiastical  laws ;  de- 
nounced the  authorities  with  fearful  curses  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ; 
insinuated  their  heresies,  making  divisions  among  the  people.  The 
Rulers,  for  the  sake,  of  preserving  the  Colony  from  ruin,  were  com- 
pelled to  make  a  law,  banishing  them  on  pain  of  death,  which  they 
transgressed,  and  some  suffered  the  penalty,  "yet  so  that  till  the 
very  last,  it  was  offered  them,  that  if  they  would  quietly  depart  and 
promise  not  to  return,  they  should  be  dismissed,  which  they  re- 
fused." The  individuals  who  were  executed,  were  thus  dealt  with 
no  more  for  their  religion,  than  the  Jesuits  and  Seminary  Priests 
were  in-  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  or  King  James,  who,  as  well 
known,  suffered  justly  for  contempt  of  the  laws  of  the  Realm. 

With  regard  to  allegations  from  the  Lords  of  trade  and  planta- 
tions against  them,  the  Court  observe  as  follows:  Laws  accounted" 
contrary  to  those  of  England,  were  not  thought  to  be  so  when 
passed,  and  they  shall  be  repealed,  "  except  such  as  the  repealing 
thereof  will  make  us  to  renounce  the  professed  cause  of  our  first 
coming  hither."     This  proviso,  expressing  the  firm  purpose  of  our 

*  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


DECEASE  OF  THOMAS  THACHER.  68fl 

fathers  to  keep  their  religious  Commonwealth  alive  as  long  as 
possible,  must  have  been  offensive  to  the  Court  party,  who  had 
strong  checks  upon  them,  and  meant  to  drive  them  at  their  pleasure. 
The  Legislature  add.  No  laws  shall  be  enacted  in  the  Colony  with- 
out the  hang's  M  express  and  particular  license." 

The  Court  vote  a  communication  for  the  Agents  in  England. 
They  remark  that  however  beneficial  the  occupation  of  New  Eng- 
land by  the  fathers  was,  in  keeping  it  from  the  hands  of  the  French 
and  Dutch,  and  however  the  Crown  exchequer  was  much  profited 
by  the  commerce  of  this  country,  yet  such  considerations  were  of 
far  less  importance  than  u  the  interest  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  his 
churches  in  this  wilderness."  They  hope  the  King  will  allow 
them  to  continue  the  coining  of  money,  because  useful  to  their 
trade,  and  that  they  will  change  the  impress  of  it  if  he  desire. 
They  observe  that  the  country  is  greatly  impoverished  by  the  late 
Indian  war,  sickness  and  mortality  ;  that  they  owe  many  thousands 
of  pounds,  borrowed  here  and  in  England.  They  state  that  the 
King's  arms  are  ordered  "  to  be  carved  by  an  able  artist  and  erected 
in  the  court  house." 

The  Legislature  designate  a  committee  to  meet  other  committees 
from  the  twro  confederates  at  Plymouth,  to  agree  on  the  sale  of 
lands  conquered  from  the  Indians,  as  proposed  by  Commissioners 
of  the  Union. 

Thomas  Thacher,  first  minister  of  the  Old  South  church  in 
Boston,  dies.  He  was  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Thacher,  of  Old  Sarum, 
England,  and  was  born  May  1,  1620.  He  came  to  Boston,  June 
4,  1635,  and  was  educated  by  Pres.  Chauncy.  He  was  ordained 
as  successor  of  Mr.  Newman,  at  Weymouth,  January  2,  1645. 
He  moved  to  Boston,  where  he  was  installed,  February  16,  1670. 
He  married  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Ralph  Partridge,  May  11,  1643. 
She  died  June  2,  1664.  He  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 
The  last,  named  Elizabeth,  was  married  to  Capt.  Nathaniel  Daven- 
port, killed  while  storming  Narragansett  fort,  in  1675,  and  she 
was  contracted  to  become  the  wife  of  Samuel  Davis,  in  1677,  who 
belonged  to  Boston,  and  was  commander  of  the  ship  Gabriel. 
His  Fast  Sermon,  and  Guide  in  the  small  pox  and  measles,  have 
been  mentioned.  He  was  well  skilled  in  the  Hebrew  and  Arabic. 
In  the  former  language  he  composed  a  lexicon  of  the  principal 
words.  He  was  noted  as  a  scholar,  physician  and  divine.  The 
great  end  of  his  desires,  prayers  and  labors,  was  to  benefit  his 
fellow-beings  and  honor  the  cause  of  God. 

November  5.  A  Council  meet  at  Charlestown  to  compromise 
difficulties  there  in  the  church,  relative  to  the  calling  of  Daniel 
Russell  and  Thomas  Shepard,  to  settle  in  the  ministry  with  them. 
It  consisted  of  three  Boston  churches,  and  those  of  Cambridge 
and  Watertown.     The  result  is  not  known.     One  unintentional 


630  RELATION   OF   CHRISTIAN   EXPERIENCE. 

[Mass. 

cause  of  the  trouble,  Mr.  Eussell,  was  removed  by  death  in  a  few 
weeks. 

1&  Thomas  Cobbet,  of  Ipswich,  writes  to  Increase  Mather.  "  I 
know  no  other  external  means  left  to  further  our  reformation,  but 
a  solemn  renewing  of  covenant  with  God,  by  all  and  every  of  our 
respective  churches  ;  which,  alas !  I  see  little  likelihood  to  be 
fully  and  freely  yielded  unto.  For  my  own  part,  I  did,  in  con- 
science to  my  duty,  essay  to  persuade  unto  it  here,"  but  two  lead- 
ing men  prevented. 

December  18.  Benanuel  Bowers,*  still  neglecting  lawful  worship, 
continues  to  be  fined. 

The  Old  South  church  vote,f  this  year,  that  if  any  exhibit 
evidence  of  piety,  and  are  indisposed  to  give  a  relation  of  their 
experience  before  the  church,  they  may  be  excused  in  this  par- 
ticular, provided  they  do  it  to  the  elders,  and  these  certify  their 
approbation  to  the  church,  and  they  may  be  received  as  members 
thereof,  with  the  proviso,  "  that  in  other  cases  the  common  and 
constant  practice  shall  be  attended."  Mr.  Wiener  says  that  this 
rule  was  not  complied  with  only  in  having  the  verbal  or  written 
relations  made  before  the  church,  until  about  1700,  when  it  became 
common  for  the  minister  to  hand  in  such  relations. 

The  missionary,  Eliot,  publishes  his  "  The  Harmony  of  the 
Gospels  in  the  holy  history  of  the  humiliation  and  sufferings  of 
Jesus  Christ,  from  his  incarnation  to  his  death  and  burial."  A 
short  description  of  this  work  is  given  as  follows,  by  the  super- 
visors of  the  press  :  "  We  having  perused  this  pious  discourse 
concerning  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  observed  the  diligence  and 
prudence  of  the  gracious  and  worthy  author  in  compiling  it,  it 
having,  in  reading  it,  both  affected  and  edified  us  :  We  are  per- 
suaded, through  the  blessing  of  Him  that  hath  put  it  into  the 
heart  of  the  reverend  author  to  lay  himself  this  way,  it  will  serve 
to  promote  the  honor  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  good  of  souls,  and 
do  therefore  affix  our  Imprimatur e." — Thomas  Thacher,  Urian 
Oakes,  James  Allen,  Increase  Mather. 

The  History  of  Baptism  is  published  in  London  by  J.  St.  N. 
He  describes  himself  as  having  been  "  an  adventurer  in  the  first 
plantation.  A  sympathizer  in  their  joys, .fears  and  sorrows."  He 
addresses  the  work  to  the  governors  and  ministers  of  "  the  colonies 
and  plantations  in  New  England,  especially  such  of  the  old  planters 
as  are  yet  living." 

Benjamin  Blackman,  after  preaching  for  the  people  of  Maiden 
four  years,  discontinues  his  labors  among  them  and  leaves  the 
place.  He  was  son  of  Rev.  Adam  Blackman,  of  Stratford,  Ct., 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1663,  and  married  Sarah  Scottow, 
April  1,  1675.     He  went  to   Scarborough,  Maine,  and  preached 

*  Middlesex  Ct.  Rec.  t  "SVisner's  Discourses,  p.  58,  9. 


DBGBASB  OP  BLACK8TONB.  631 

Ki7.-).] 

there.  He  wm  repreaentatiTe  from  Saco,  1683,  where  he  was  ■ 
large  land-holder.  In  L688,  he  presented  his  claim  on  Maiden 
for  arrears.     When  his  stirring  Life  closed,  we  arc  not  informed. 


PLYMOUTH. 

1675.  March  1.  Mary  Atkinson,  on  petition  of  her  father,* 
Edward  Jcnkcns,  is  divorced  from  her  husband,  Marmaduke 
Atkinson,  who  had  absented  himself  seven  years  from  her  and 
made  no  provision  for  her  support. 

On  petition  of  proprietors  of  lands  at  Saconett  and  adjacent 
places,  they  are  allowed  to  form  a  township  there  and  establish 
orders  for  the  well-being  thereof,  "  especially  for  the  settling  of 
a  society  for  the  worship  of  God  and  matters  in  the  Common- 
wealth." 

April  1.  By  consent  of  the  First  church  at  Scituate,f  their 
pastor,  Nicholas  Baker,  "  signed  an  instrument  of  reconciliation 
with  the  Second  church"  of  the  same  town.  This  church  now 
returned  to  the  sprinkling  of  infants  in  baptism,  from  which  they 
had  been  drawn  by  the  arguments  of  President  Dunster.  Thus 
closed  a  controversy  of  thirty-three  years  standing. 

May  26.  William  Blackstone  dies.  When  coming  to  New 
England  about  fifty  years  before,  he  was  an  Episcopal  clergyman. 
In  1634,  he  received  from  each  inhabitant  of  Boston,  6/.,  and 
from  some,  more,  for  his  claim  as  the  first  occupant  of  the  place. 
With  the  amount  so  received,  he  bought  cattle  and  moved  to  Paw- 
tucket  river,  afterwards  known  by  his  own  surname,  a  few  miles 
northward  from  Providence,  Rhode  Island.  He  married  the 
widow  Sarah  Stephenson,  July  4,  1659,  as  the  Boston  record 
states.  She  died  in  the  middle  of  June,  1673.  He  left  a  son-in- 
law,  John  Stephenson,  Mho,  in  June  of  1675,  was  granted  land 
by  Plymouth  Colony,  where  probate  wTas  had  on  his  estate.  He 
lived  a  retired  and  studious  life.  His  dissatisfaction  with  Con- 
gregationalism, as  well  as  wTith  Episcopacy,  was  a  probable  cause 
wrhy  his  intercourse  with  the  prominent  men  of  his  time,  was  so 
very  limited.  Still  he  enjoyed  the  privilege  to  know  from  Rev- 
elation, that  right  motives  and  life,  whether  hidden  from,  or 
exposed  to  the  gaze  of  the  world,  were  sure  passports  to  heavenly 
glory. 

In  compliance  with  advice  from  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Union,  the  General  Court  J  of  Plymouth  appoint  Thomas  Hinckley 
to  call  and  keep  courts  among  the  praying  Indians  of  their  juris- 

*  Plymouth  Col.  Rec.       f  History  of  Scituate.       %  Plym.  Rec.  and  Laws. 


632  MURDER   OF   SASSAMON. 

[Plym. 

diction,  and  "  with  the  chief  "  of  them  to  make  orders  for  their 
government. 

They  order  that  every  town  shall  have  a  house  "  comfortably  to 
meet  in  to  worship  God ; "  and  if  any  such  corporation  neglect 
the  duty,  the  Governor  and  magistrates  are  empowered  to  have 
it  done  "  according  to  the  ability  and  necessity  of  the  people,"  and 
the  charge  thereof  to  be  paid  by  the  proprietors  and  inhabitants 
of  the  town.  During  the  season  of  public  danger,  all  who  bear 
arms,  shall  bring  them,  with  ammunition,  to  meeting  on  the  Lord's 
day.  William  Wood,  of  Marshfield,  for  speaking  contemptuously 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arnold,  on  the  Sabbath,  is  sentenced  to  sit  two 
hours  in  the  stocks,  the  next  training  day  at  that  town. 

John  Arther,  Matthew  Boomer  and  John  Leyton,  charged  with 
living  in  the  Colony  without  leave,  neglecting  public  worship, 
"  living  lonely  and  in  a  heathenish  way  from  good  society," — -are 
ordered  to  reform  in  these  respects  or  depart  from  the  jurisdiction. 

June  1.  Three  Indians,  charged  with  the  murder  of  John  Sassa- 
mon,  preacher,  on  the  29th  of  January,  at  Assawamsett  pond, 
"  by  striking  him,  or  twitching  his  neck  until  he  was  dead,  and 
did  cast  his  body  through  a  hole  in  the  ice,  into  the  said  pond," — 
are  tried  at  Plymouth,  brought  in  guilty  and  condemned  to  be 
executed.  As  well  known,  the  cause  of  this  crime  was,  that 
Sassamon,  as  his  oath  of  fidelity  required,  informed  Governor 
Winslow  that  Philip  had  planned  an  insurrection  to  destroy  the 
Colonists  of  New  England.  The  names  of  the  three  criminals 
are  Tobias,  Waumpassaum  his  son,  and  Mattushamama.  The  first 
and  third  were  hung  on  the  8th  of  June.  The  son,  being  re- 
prieved for  a  month,  was  shot  within  this  time.  Thus  tragedy, 
commenced  by  hatred  to  the  Christian  religion,  opens  her  dark 
scene  to  involve  the  whole  of  New  England. 

The  person  so  murdered,  as  Increase  Mather  informs  us,  had 
parents  who  dwelt  at  Dorchester,  and  died  Christians.  He  was 
educated,  and  in  part  of  his  course,  at  the  College,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Missionary  Society  in  England.  He  was  after- 
wards schoolmaster  with  the  Indians  of  Natick.  For  some  offense 
he  left  that  place  and  went  to  live  with  Philip,  who  made  him  his 
secretary  and  one  of  his  counsellors.  Remaining  here  several 
years,  he  was  prevailed  on  by  Eliot,  his  spiritual  father,  to  change 
his  situation.  Mr.  Mather,  already  named,  relates  that  Sassamon 
became  reconciled  with  "  the  praying  Indians,  was  baptized  and 
received  as  a  member  into  one  of  their  churches,  yea  and  employed 
amongst  them  every  Lord's  day."  This  society  dwelt  at  Middle- 
borough,  near  Assawamsett  pond,  where  he  lost  his  life.  He  had 
married  the  daughter  of  Tuspequin,  a  sachem,  one  of  his  hearers, 
who  had  given  him  land  there  for  his  own  use.  From  Philip  and 
other  conspirators,  who  called  on  him,  he  learned  their  design, 
and  he  felt  bound  to  give  the  information  to  Plymouth  authorities, 


REPORT   OP    PLYMOUTH   COMMISSIONERS.  638 

Itw.-i.l 

"that  not  only  the  Wampanoags,  but  Narragansetts,  yea  and  the 
Mohegana  were  Involving  themselvea  in  this  conspiracy."  Eie 
desired  the  Governor  to  keep  the  discovery  secret,  or  else  he 
should  perish.  His  prediction  was  sadly  verified.  Being  Boon 
missed,  his  remains  were  sought  and  found,  as  previously  stated, 
and  Left  to  a  jury,  who  confirmed  the  suspicion.  An  Indian. 
named  Patuckson,  standing  on  a  hill,  saw  the  deed  committed. 
For  some  time,  fear  kept  him  silent ;  but  at  length,  he  testified 
that  he  beheld  Tobias,  a  counsellor  of  Philip,  and  the  two  others 
killing  Sassamon.  Gookin  remarked  :  "  Thus  much  I  may  say, 
that  this  John  Sassamon  was  the  first  Christian  martyr  of  the 
Indians  ;  for  it  is  evident  he  suffered  death  on  account  of  his 
Christian  profession  and  fidelity  to  the  English." 

Morton  in  his  MS.  speaks  of  Samuel  Hicks  as  dying  about  the 
time  of  the  Indian  war  ;  that  as  a  deacon  of  Plymouth  church,  he 
had  embraced  "the  error  of  anabaptistry ;  "  absented  himself  from 
worship  at  times  ;  become  a  Quaker  and  was  excommunicated. 
Hicks  expected  Apostles  would  appear ;  doubted  government  of 
the  church ;  singing  psalms  in  a  book  ;  ordination  of  church  offi- 
cers ;  administration  of  the  seal  of  baptism  ;  preaching  ;  support 
of  ministers  by  parishioners ;  the  settlement  of  a  church  and  ordi- 
nances without  a  ministry  sent  from  God. 

July  4.  Governor  Winslow  writes*  to  Governor  Leverett.  "We 
know  not  any  thing  from  us,  that  might  put  Philip  upon  these 
motions,  nor  have  heard  that  he  pretends  to  have  suffered  any 
wrong  from  us,  save  only  that  we  had  killed  some  Indians  and 
intended  to  send  for  himself  for  the  murder  of  John  Sassamon. 
The  last  that  wras  executed  this  week,  confessed  that  he  saw  the 
other  two  do  the  murder.  Neither  had  we  any  thoughts  to  com- 
mand him  about  it." 

26.  Another  letter  of  Winslow  is  addressed  to  the  same  corres- 
pondent. "  My  person,  I  hear,  has  been  much  threatened  by  In- 
dians. I  have  about  twenty  men  at  my  house ;  have  sent  my  wife 
and  children  to  Salem,  that  I  may  be  less  incumbered;  have 
flanked  my  house,  and  resolve  to  maintain  it  as  long  as  a  man  will 
stand  by  me."  * 

September  9.  The  Plymouth  Commissioners  make  a  report  f  be- 
fore those  of  the  other  two  Colonies,  in  session  at  Boston,  deeply 
involving  the  interest  of  both  Church  and  State. 

Last  winter,  John  Sassamon,  a  faithful  Indian,  informed  that 
Philip  was  exerting  himself  to  "engage  all  the  Sachems  round 
about  in  a  war  against  us."  Some  of  the  English,  living  near 
Philip,  expressed  their  fears  of  like  import.  Sassamon  was  killed 
about  a  week  after  he  had  made  such  a  communication.  Having 
heard  that  the  Governor  of  Plymouth   had   received   information 

*  Hutchinson's  MS.  f  Hazard's  Coll.  p.  532-4. 

80 


634  HOSTILITIES   OF   PHILIP. 

[Plym. 

against  him,  and  intended  to  have  him  arraigned  at  the  next  Court, 
Philip  came  to  Plymouth  shortly  before  the  session  of  the  Court, 
in  the  beginning  of  March.  "  The  Council,  upon  a  large  debate 
with  him,  had  great  reason  to  believe  that  the  information  against 
him  might  be  in  substance  true."  They  stated  to  him,  that  if 
further  proof  should  appear,  they  might  require  him  to  deliver  up 
his  arms  for  their  security.  Hoping  that  the  discoveries  unfavora- 
ble to  him  would  make  him  desist  from  further  attempts  at  insur- 
rection, they  dismissed  him  in  a  friendly  manner. 

Soon  after  this  interview,  when  many  Indians  were  examined  as 
to  the  death  of  Sassamon,  but  gave  no  positive  testimony,  an  Indian 
appeared  who  saw  three  men  kill  him.  These  persons  were  secured 
for  trial  at  the  next  Court  in  June.  A  short  time  before  the  session 
in  this  month,  Philip  began  to  keep  his  men  in  arms,  and  collect 
strangers  about  him,  and  march  them  towards  the  upper  part  of 
the  neck  on  which  he  lived,  and  near  to  English  houses.  In  con- 
sequence, a  military  watch  was  kept  in  the  adjacent  towns,  as 
Rehoboth  and  Swansey. 

While  the  murderers  were  being  tried,  the  authorities  of  Plym- 
outh were  told  that  Philip  was  in  arms  with  his  people.  But  they 
supposed  that  he  did  this  in  fear  of  being  apprehended  himself  and 
brought  to  trial,  and  that  if  the  Court  closed,  and  he  should  be 
unmolested,  he  would  lay  aside  his  hostile  appearance.  But  they 
were  mistaken.  John  Brown,  of  Swansey,  informed  them  that 
Philip  and  his  men  had  sent  their  wives  to  Narragansett ;  were 
collecting  strangers  for  a  contest ;  alarmed  the  English  in  the  night ; 
"  invaded  their  passage  to  Plymouth ;  "  and  that  the  young  Indians 
were  for  war. 

On  June  7,  Benjamin  Church,  being  on  Rhode  Island,  was  told 
by  Weetanno  and  some  of  her  chiefs,  that  Philip  meant  to  begin 
speedy  hostilities  ;  that  some  of  them  would  assist  him ;  and  that 
he  had  granted  them  leave  to  kill  the  cattle  and  rob  the  houses  of 
the  English.  On  the  14th  and  15th  of  June,  Mr.  James  Brown 
went  twice  to  Philip  and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  give  up  his 
purpose,  but  in  vain.  At  the  former  date  the  Council  wrote  by  Mr. 
Brown  to  Philip,  advising  him  to  pursue  a  peaceful  course,  and  not 
to  be  deceived  by  reports  that  they  meant  to  injure  him.  He  gave 
no  reply.  On  the  17th,  John  Paine,  of  Rehoboth,  and  several  other 
Colonists,  went  unarmed  to  find  their  horses  at  Mount  Hope,  as 
requested  by  Philip.  His  Indians  presented  guns  at  them  and 
treated  them  otherwise  roughly.  On  the  18th  and  19th,  the  house 
of  Job  Winslow  was  robbed  by  Philip's  men,  who  the  next  day, 
being  Sabbath,  alarmed  the  people  of  Swansey,  robbed  and  burned 
two  houses  there.  Being  entreated  to  send  help,  the  Council 
ordered  a  detachment,  on  the  21st,  to  that  place.  On  the  23d,  a 
dozen  more  houses  in  Swansey  were  robbed,  and  the  day  following, 
Thomas  Layton  was  killed  at  Fall  River.     On  the  25th,  many 


PRIVILEGES  OP  a    FREEMAN    RESTORED.  {>>:> 

1675.] 

houses  were  burntj  ami  eight  or  nine  slain  at  Swansey.  CJp  to  this 
time,  though  forces  from  Plymouth  ami  Massachusetts  were  there, 

yet  no  attack  was  made  mi    the    Indians,  because  it,  was  honed    that 

forbearance  would  prevent  a  war  with  them."  The  Commissioners 
having  hoard  the  report,  declare  the  war  against    Philip  as  "just 

and  necessary."  Of  one  thousand  men  to  he  raised,  they  put  the 
quota  of  Plymouth  at  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight. 

October  4.  .James  Cudworth  is  "re-established"*  as  General 
of  the  Plymouth  forces.  As  before  stated,  he  had  been  denied 
the  privileges  o(  a  freeman  for  his  opposition  to  the  authorities  in 
their  measures  to  suppress  the  Quakers.  .  .  .  "  The  Court  pro- 
claim a  solemn  day  of  humiliation,  to  be  observed  by  fasting  and 
prayer  (on  the  14th)  throughout  this  jurisdiction,  to  humble  our 
souls  and  seek  and  beg  the  Lord's  help  in  our  present  troubles,  by 
reason  of  the  Indians,  their  persisting  in  their  hostility  and  bar- 
barous cruelty  and  outrage  against  the  English."  .  .  .  None 
shall  build  houses  or  cottages  without  proper  leave,  except  they 
are  conveniently  near  the  place  of  public  worship.  .  .  .  The 
principal  men  of  the  "  Southern  Indians  "  appear  before  the  Court 
and  renew  their  treaties  of  fidelity.  They  are  from  the  following 
places  :  Paomett,  Nausett,  Saquatuckett,  Nobscussett,  Mannamoiett, 
Wequahutt,  Mattacheesett,  "  South  Sea  "  and  Mannomett. 

As  the  people  of  Dartmouth  had  lost  most  of  their  houses  and 
suffered  much  by  the  Indians,  they  are  ordered  to  build  their 
houses  nearer  together,  so  that  they  may  be  better  able  to  defend 
themselves.  They  are  also  required  to  be  more  dutiful  in  attend- 
ance on  public  worship,  and  make  exertion  to  obtain  a  faithful 
minister,  for  the  neglect  of  which  the  Court  fear  that  they  have 
been  divinely  chastised.  Similar  instructions  are  given  to  Middle- 
borough,  who  were  alike  afflicted  by  the  enemy. 

December  2.  A  public  fast,  appointed  by  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Union,  is  observed  for  divine  aid  in  "  repelling  the  rage  of  the 
enemy." 

24.  The  Rev.  John  Holmes,  of  Duxbury,  dies.f  He  was  a 
student  under  the  care  of  President  Chauncy,  in  1658.  He  suc- 
ceeded, in  1663,  Ralph  Partridge,  in  the  ministry  here.  One  of 
his  parishioners,  being  sentenced  to  stand  in  the  stocks,  1668,  for 
falsely  accusing  him,  is  released  from  this  punishment  at  Mr. 
Holmes's  request.  The  last  person  is  granted  land,  June  1,  1675, 
in  right  of  his  father,  at  Pinguinhole,  on  condition  of  paying  the 
Indian  claim. 

John  Cotton,  of  Plymouth,  in  relating  this  decease  to  Increase 
Mather,  remarked  as  follows  :  His  "  poor  people  are  desolate.  I 
have  many  serious  thoughts  what  the  meaning  of  the  providence 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  f  Baylies,  vol.  ii.  p.  256.  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  Fanner's 
Gen.  Reg,. 


636  KINDNESS   DULY  APPRECIATED. 

[Plym. 

of  God  is  in  his  death.  I  mean  especially  as  to  the  season  of  it, 
he  being  one  of  those  who  impute  these  dreadful  frowns  of  Provi- 
dence to  our  dealing  with  the  Quakers ;  and  the  late  public  Fast, 
December  2,  (which  was  his  last  public  work,  except  the  Sabbath 
after,)  he  said  in  his  sermon  he  was  of  the  same  mind  as  to  that 
matter  as  formerly." 

1676.  March  26.  Thomas  Tupper,  sen.,  of  Sandwich,  dies  the 
second  month  of  his  ninety-ninth  year.  Baylies'  Memoir  of  Ply- 
mouth (2  v.  282)  says  that  he  and  Richard  Bourne,  after  Mr. 
Leveridge  went  to  Long  Island,  officiated  as  ministers  at  Sandwich 
without  ordination.  Who  of  the  two  should  preach  on  the  Sab- 
bath was  decided  by  the  majority.  Such  an  arrangement,  if  con- 
tinuing so  long,  was  interrupted  by  the  employment  of  Mr.  Smith 
to  preach,  who  became  pastor  of  the  town,  and  was  there  in  1675. 
The  same  author  quoted  above  states  that  Mr.  Smith  had  formerly 
preached  at  Barnstable,  went  to  Long  Island,  then  to  New  Jersey 
and  returned.  He  adds  that  after  Mr.  Smith  came  to  Sandwich, 
Tupper  and  Bourne  labored  as  missionaries  with  the  Indians  ;  that 
the  former  gathered  a  church  among  them,  who  resided  west  and 
north  of  Sandwich,  and  had  a  meeting-house  built  for  them  at 
Herring  river  ;  that  the  latter  moved  to  Marshpee  and  was  ordained, 
1670,  over  an  Indian  church  here.  Mr.  Tupper  left  a  wife,  Anne, 
who  died  the  next  June  4th,  in  her  ninetieth  year.  His  great  pur- 
pose was  evidently  to  benefit  his  fellow-beings  in  their  highest 
concerns.  Though  he  moved  not  with  the  great  of  this  world  in 
such  important  action,  it  made  no  difference  in  his  reception  and 
station  among  the  perfected  servants  of  Christ. 

April  20.  A  committee  from  the  towns  of  Barnstable,  Sandwich, 
Yarmouth  and  Eastham  had  invited  the  people  of  Taunton, 
Bridgewater  and  Rehoboth,  who  were  much  exposed  to  the  enemy, 
to  come  and  reside  with  them  till  the  danger  should  pass  away.* 
Such  kindness  was  duly  appreciated  and  acknowledged.  But  the 
population  so  treated  in  their  peril  declined  the  invitation  with  fit 
expressions  of  gratitude.  The  answer  of  Taunton  follows  :  "  We 
bless  God  that  he  hath  given  us  so  much  room  in  your  hearts,  that 
you  so  freely  tender  to  us  a  part  with  you  in  your  houses,  fields 
and  provisions,  at  such  a  time,  when  the  Lord  is  threatening  us 
with  the  bereavement  of  our  own.  It  much  comforteth  us  in  this 
day  of  darkness  and  distress,  we  shall  want  no  succor  you  are  able 
to  afford  us.  We  therefore  return  you  all  serious  thanks  for  your 
sincere  and  abundant  love,  beseeching  the  Lord  to  continue  and 
increase  your  peace  and  ability  and  promptness  to  relieve  the  dis- 
tresses in  this  evil  day.  Nevertheless,  upon  our  serious  and 
mature  deliberation  upon,  and  consideration  of,  your  great  offer, 
we  cannot  at  present  comply  with  a  motion  to  remove  and  quit  our 

*  Hubbard's  Indian  War,  p.  168. 


COVENANTS   RENEWED   B1    CHI  BCHBS.  631 

1676.] 

places,  and  Leave  oar  habitation  to  be  a  desolation,  and  that  because 

we  fear  we  should,  in  bo  doing,  be  wanting  to  the  name  of  God 
and  the  interest  of  Christ,  in  this  place,  and  bewray  much  diffi- 
dence and  cowardice,  and  give  the  adversary  occasion  to  triumph 

over  ns,  to  the  reproach  of  that  great  and  fearful  name;  of  God 
that  is  called  on  us."  The  replies  of  Kehoboth  and  of  Bridge- 
water,  the  last  by  their  minister,  James  Keith,  was  of  the  like 
resolute  and  Christian  character. 

May  1.  In  a  letter  written  by  Governor  Winslow,*  he  relates 
that  there  was  no  cause  for  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Indians, 
in  that  Plymouth  Colony  had  unlawfully  taken  any  of  their  terri- 
tory. His  language  is  :  "I  think  I  can  clearly  say  that  before 
these  present  troubles  broke  out,  the  English  did  not  possess  one 
foot  of  land  in  this  Colony  but  what  was  fairly  obtained  by  honest 
purchase  of  the  Indian  proprietors.  We  first  made  a  law  that 
none  should  purchase  or  receive  of  gift  any  land  of  the  Indians, 
without  the  knowledge  and  allowance  of  our  Court.  And  lest 
yet  they  should  be  straitened,  we  ordered  Mount  Hope,  Pocassett, 
and  several  other  necks  of  the  best  land  in  the  Colony,  because 
most  suitable  and  convenient  for  them,  should  never  be  bought  out 
of  their  hands." 

June  26.  Hezekiah  Willet,  of  Swansey,  is  shot  dead  by  some 
lurking  Indians,  who  cut  off  his  head,  and  also  carried  away  a 
negro  of  the  family.  He  was  grandson  of  Thomas  Willet,  Mayor 
of  New  York.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  particular  friend  of  the 
Rev.  VVTilliam  Adams,  settled  at  Dedham. 

29.  By  recommendation  of  the  General  Court,f  "  All  the 
churches  of  the  Colony  solemnly  renewed  their  covenants  with 
God  and  one  another,  on  a  day  of  humiliation,  wherein,  after  con- 
fession of  the  prevailing  evils  of  the  times,  they  entered  into  strict 
engagements,  through  the  assistance  of  divine  grace,  for  personal 
and  family  reformation.  The  •children  of  the  church  bore  a  part  in 
this  transaction." 

July.  Edward  Randolph,  agent  of  the  Crown,  visits  Plymouth 
and  calls  on  Governor  Winslow.  He  represents  the  latter  as 
saying,  +  that  New  England  could  not  flourish  unless  brought 
under  the  immediate  government  of  the  King,  or  in  other  words, 
that  the  Colonial  Charters  should  be  taken  away,  and  the  whole 
country  be  subject  to  a  general  Governor.  But  he  probably,  as  in 
other  cases,  mistook  a  civil  treatment  of  his  declared  opinions  by 
Winslow,  as  more  favorable  to  them  than  he  really  was.  He  evi- 
dently committed  a  similar  error  in  his  conclusions  about  the  preju- 
dice of  the  majority  in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  against  the 
Massachusetts  authorities. 


*  P.  S.  Inc.  Mather's  Indian  War,  p.  1,  2.  f  Baylies'  Plymouth,  vol.  ii. 

part  3,  p.  16-5.  {  Hutchinson's  Coll.  Papers,  p.  508,  9. 


638  CAPTIVES   FOR   PERPETUAL    SERVITUDE. 

[Plym. 

22.  The  Council  order  that  the  children  of  Indian  prisoners  may 
be  bound  out  to  the  English,  who  will  treat  them  well  until  they 
shall  be  twenty-four  or  twenty-live  years  old.  They  allow  that 
volunteer  companies,  at  their  own  charge  against  the  enemy,  shall 
have  one  half  of  the  captives  whom  they  take. 

26.  The  council  of  war*  order,  that  male  Indian  captives  above 
fourteen  years  old,  shall  be  disposed  of  by  their  owners  out  of  the 
Jurisdiction.  The  General  Court,  of  November  4,  confirm  this 
rule,  and  require  it  to  be  fulfilled'  by  all  who  had  not,  by  the  first 
of  December,  on  penalty  of  forfeiting  to  the  Colony  every  such 
captive  in  their  hands.  An  exception  is  allowed  in  favor  of  five  or 
six  Indians,  who  were  promised  by  Capt.  Benjamin  Church,  that 
they  should  abide  in  the  Jurisdiction,  if  they  behaved  well,  unless 
it  should  appear  that  some  of  them  had  killed  any  of  the  English, 
particularly  one  Crossman,  accused  of  having  a  hand  in  the  murder 
of  Hezekiah  Willet. 

August  6.  The  squaw  sachem  of  Pocassett,  named  Weetanno, 
fled  and  was  drowned  f  in  attempting  to  cross  the  river  on  a  raft. 
She  had  united  with  Philip  against  the  English.  Her  head  was 
cut  off  and  set  upon  a  pole  at  Taunton. 

9.  Governor  Winslow  grants  a  license  to  Thomas  Smith,  Captain 
of  the  ship  Sea  Flower,  to  transport  and  sell  seventy  Indians,  men, 
women  and  children,  who  had  "  been  sentenced  and  condemned 
to  perpetual  servitude,"  for  being  concerned  in  the  rebellion  of 
Philip.  On  September  2,  the  council  of  war  sentence  fifty-seven 
more,  and  on  the  28th,  an  order  is  given  to  ship  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight,  so  condemned,  on  board  of  a  vessel,  Capt.  Sprague, 
bound  to  "  Cales." 

12.  While  Philip  is  in  the  act  of  relating  to  his  attendants  a  dream 
of  the  last  night,  that  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  pursuers,  these 
have  entered  the  swamp  and  are  upon  him,  and  he  attempts  to 
escape  on  the  opposite  side.  But  here  he  is  met  by  Caleb  Cook 
and  a  Saconet  Indian,  called  Alderman.  Cook  attempts  to  fire  on 
the  sachem,  but  his  gun  flashes  in  the  pan.  Alderman  tries  and 
kills  the  chief. 

17.  This  being  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  for  success  against 
the  enemy,  the  head  of  Philip  is  triumphantly  brought  to  Plymouth,^ 
where  it  was  exposed  to  public  view  for  over  twenty-four  years. 
Alderman,  who  shot  this  sachem,  preserved  his  right  hand  in  rum, 
and  exhibited  it  through  the  country.  In  a  letter  of  the  next  year, 
June  26,  written  by  Governor  AVinslow  to  Charles  II. ,  trophies  are 
mentioned,  "  being  the  best  of  our  spoils,  the  ornaments  of  sachem 
Philip,  the  grand  rebel ;  the  most  of  them  were  taken  from  him 
by  Capt.  Benjamin  Church,  when  he  was  slain  by  him,  being  his 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  t  Inc.  Mather's  Ind.  War,  p.  44-7. 

J  Thacher's  Plymouth,  p.  389. 


QUE8TI0N   .\^  TO   PHILIPS  son.  639 

i«;7ti.] 

crown,  his  gorge,  and  two  belts  of  their  own  making,  of  their  gold 
and  silver. M 

October  80,  A-  the  authorities  of  Plymouth  wished  for  advice 
from  ministers  on  the  question,4  What  should  be  done  with  the  son 
of  Philip?  Increase  Mather,  of  Boston,  writes  to  John  Cotton,  as 
follows:  "  It  is  accessary  that  sonic  effectual  course  should  be 
taken  about  him.  lie  makes  me  think  of  lladad,  who  was  but  a 
little  child  when  his  lather  (the  chief  sachem  of  the  EdomitesJ 
was  killed  by  Joab  ;  and  had  not  others  fled  away  with  him,  1  am 
apt  to  think  that  David  would  have  taken  a  course  that  lladad 
should  never  have  proved  a  scourge  to  the  next  generation." 

The  united  opinion  of  Messrs.  Cotton  of  Plymouth,  and  Arnold 
of  Marshiield,  was  of  the  subsequent  purport.  "  They  humbly 
conceive,  on  serious  consideration,  that  children  of  notorious 
traitors,  rebels  and  murderers,  especially  such  as  have  been  prin- 
cipal leaders,  and  actors  in  such  horrid  villainies,  and  that  against 
a  whole  nation,  yea,  the  whole  Israel  of  God,  may  be  involved  in 
the  guilt  of  their  parents,  and  may,  salva  republica,  be  adjudged 
to  death,  as  to  us  seems  evident  by  the  Scripture  instances  of  Saul, 
Achan,  Haman,  the  children  of  whom  were  cut  off  by  the  sword 
of  justice  for  the  transgressions  of  their  parents,  although  concern- 
ing some  of  those  children,  it  be  manifest  that  they  were  not 
capable  of  being  co-actors  therein." 

James  Keith,  of  Bridgewater,  took  a  different  view  of  this 
matter.  His  words  to  Mr.  Cotton,  follow  :  "  I  long  to  hear  what 
became  of  Philip's  wife  and  son.  I  know  there  is  some  difficulty 
in  that  exxxvii.  Psalm,  8  and  9,  though  I  think  it  may  be  con- 
sidered whether  there  be  not  specialties,  and  somewhat  extraordi- 
nary in  it.  The  law,  Deuteronomy  xxiv.  16,  compared  with  the 
commended  example  of  Amaziah,  2  Chronicles  xxv.  4,  doth  sway 
much  with  me,  in  the  case  under  consideration.  I  hope  God 
will  direct  those  whom  it  doth  concern  to  a  good  issue.  Let  us 
join  our  prayers  at  the  throne  of  grace  with  all  our  might,  that 
the  Lord  would  so  dispose  of  all  public  motions  and  affairs,  that 
his  Jerusalem  in  this  wilderness  may  be  the  habitation  of  justice, 
and  the  mountain  of  holiness,  that  so  it  may  be  also,  a  quiet 
habitation,  a  tabernacle  that  shall  not  be  taken  down." 

Though  there  was  much  leaning  in  the  Government,  towards 
the  practice  of  the  Jews,  in  the  treatment  of  their  captives,  espe- 
cially, at  times,  of  children  whose  parents  had  committed  what 
they  adjudged  capital  offenses,  still  it  spared  the  life  of  Philip's  boy, 
though  it  decided  that  he  should  be  sold  into  perpetual  servitude  ; 
and  he  was  thus  disposed  of  at  Bermuda. 

November  4.  The  Court  order,  that  Shawamett  neck  shall  be 
sold  to  relieve  the  wants  of  maimed  soldiers  and  others,  impover- 

*  Thacher's  Hist.  Plym.  p.  396,  7. 


640  QUESTION    ON   RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION. 

[Plym. 

ished  by  the  recent  war,  and  poor  widows  who  have  lost  their 
husbands  therein,  and  also  to  assist  in  discharging  the  debts  of 
the  Colony.  A  committee  are  appointed  to  make  sale  of  conquered 
lands  at  Shawamett,  Mount  Hope  and  Pocassett. 

1677.  March  1.  Edward  Perry,  of  Sandwich,  dates  an  address* 
to  New  England,  well  written  as  to  chirography  and  expression  of 
ideas,  on  the  treatment  of  the  Quakers.  He  takes  the  ground 
that  the  blood  shed  by  the  Indians,  who  fought  for  the  cause  of 
Philip,  was  a  retribution  for  such  treatment. 

6.  The  Court  distribute  £117  10s.  among  sufferers  f  by  the 
late  war  in  their  towns,  which  had  been  sent  over  to  Plymouth 
Colony,  as  contributions  by  "  divers  Christians  in  Ireland." 

Mary,  wife  of  Thomas  Ingham,  of  Scituate,  is  tried  on  the 
charge  of  witchcraft,  but  cleared  by  a  jury  of  twelve  men. 

April  2.  John  Cotton  writes X  to  Increase  Mather:  "Good  Mr. 
Newman  preaches  our  election  sermon.  It  is  not  his  turn,  but 
because  he  is  newly  come  out  of  the  fire,  ergo,  he  was  chosen." 
The  trial  here  alluded  to,  was  probably  the  brave  pursuit  made  by 
Mr.  Newman  and  his  people  after  Philip  and  his  followers.  The 
correspondent  further  observes  :  "  Philip's  boy  goes  to  be  sold." 
This  lad  and  other  prisoners  were  ordered  to  be  transported  and 
disposed  of  as  slaves. 

June  7.  The  Legislature  desire  the  opinion  of  their  churches  § 
on  the  following  questions,  viz  :  "  What  are  those  due  bounds  and 
limits  which  ought  to  be  set  to  a  toleration  in  matters  of  religion, 
as  may  consist  with  the  honor  of  Christ,  the  good  and  welfare  of 
the  churches  and  of  the  civil  government." 

Capt.  Church  is  appointed  for  the  precincts  of  Saconett  and 
Pocassett,  to  issue  warrants  against  all  who  profane  the  Lord's  day, 
or  indulge  themselves  in  other  vicious  practices  there  contrary  to 
law,  so  that  they  may  answer  for  them  at  the  next  Court.  He  is 
also  authorized  to  terminate  differences  amonsr  Indians  and  see  that 

o 

they  conduct  themselves  orderly. 

As  George  Barlow,  of  Sandwich,  threatens  to  make  such  further 
disturbance  as  wrill  drive  their  minister  (John  Smith)  away,  the 
Court  notify  him  to  appear  and  answer  the  complaint.  He  apol- 
ogized before  the  Court  for  trials,  and  promised  to  pay  his  share 
of  Mr.  Smith's  salary,  and  encourage  others  to  do  likewise.|| 

June  19.  John  Cotton,  in  a  letter  to  Increase  Mather,  mentions  *[ 
that  10/.  a  Sabbath  is  asked  by  a  candidate  preaching  at  Plymouth. 
He  desires  advice  about  the  renewal  of  their  covenants  by  the 
churches  of  the  Colony,  and  whether  they  (Baptists)  should  be 
tolerated,  who  declare  it  a  sin  for  any  of  their  number  to  commune 
with  churches  of  another  denomination. 


*  Hutchinson  MS.  f  Plym.  Col.  Rec. 

§  Plym.  Col.  Rec.  ||  Ibid.  •'  Mather  MS. 


TEMPERANCE  REGULATIONS.  <H1 

1678.] 

July  10.  John  Uauce,  of  Scituate,*  for  railing  against  Mr.  Baker, 
the   minister,   and   calling   Major   Cudwoith   a  "  false,  hypocritical 

man,"  anil  for  "  going  up  and  down  from  house  to  house,  to  entice 
young  persons  to  come  to  hear  their  false  teachers;"  is  sentenced 
to  be  publicly  whipped. 

13.  To  prevent  the  growing  intolerable  abuse  by  wine  and 
strong  liquors,  etc.,  amongst  the  Indians  and  English,  the  former 
lawf  against  the  sale  thereof  without  license,  shall  apply  to 
strangers  as  well  as  others.  No  ordinary  keeper  shall  sell  such 
liquids  to  any  but  strangers,  except  in  manifest  cases  of  sickness 
and  necessity.  No  seller  of  these  drinks,  including  cider,  shall 
deliver  any  of  them  to  persons  who,  he  suspects,  will  abuse  them, 
nor  to  children,  unless  they  bring  a  note  from  some  sober  person, 
that  they  are  needed  for  sickness,  on  penalty  of  5/.  for  each  tres- 
pass. No  person  shall  let  Indians  have  "  silver  money,"  which 
tempts  "some  covetous  or  evil-minded  English"  to  sell  them 
liquors,  "on  pain  of  five  times  the  value  thereof."  Two  men  are 
appointed  for  every  town,  to  see  that  these  rules  are  executed. 

Although  measures  have  been  taken,  as  the  Legislature 
remark,  for  "the  comfortable  and  certain  maintenance  J  for 
ministers  of  the  gospel,"  still  some  plantations  "  remain  destitute 
of  the  public  preaching  of  the  Word,  unto  the  great  prejudice  of 
their  own  souls  and  continued  grief  of  all  well  affected  among  us," 
while  others  continue  to  support  their  ministers  in  an  unfixed  and 
difficult  manner.  The  Court  enact  that,  for  these  evils  to  be  rec- 
tified, "all  the  ratable  inhabitants  of  the  several  plantations"  shall 
be  assessed  their  due  proportion  and  shall  pay  it  to  the  constables, 
as  they  do  their  taxes  for  "ordinary  country  charges." 

October  30.  The  sum  of  £5  is  allowed  §  to  Mr.  Hinckley  and 
Major  Cudworth  for  their  expenses  in  journeying  to  and  fro,  to 
comply  with  his  Majesty's  command,  "as  to  the  business  of 
William  Harris,  of  Pawtucket,  near  Providence." 

November  1.  The  Court  required  that  every  town  of  fifty 
families  or  more,  shall  raise  £12  towards  the  support  of  a  gram- 
mar school,  and  the  rest  of  its  expenses  shall  be  paid  by  those 
who  send  their  children  to  it,  except  £5  to  be  allowed  from  the 
Cape  fishing,  and  £5  besides,  of  this  revenue,  if  the  trustee  of  it 
see  fit.  This  fund  was  devoted  to  one  such  institution  in  the 
Colony.  "  Each  town  of  seventy  families  or  upward,  if  failing  to 
have  a  grammar  school,  shall  pay  £5  annually  to  the  next  town, 
which  has  one." 

1678.  April  16.  Noah,  son  of  Samuel  Newman,  dies  of  a  lin- 
gering complaint.  He  succeeded  his  father  in  the  ministry  of  Re- 
hoboth,  where  he  was  numbered  among  its  freemen  in  1670.  He 
married  Joanna,  daughter  of  Rev.  Henry  Flint,  December  3,  1669. 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec.         f  Plym.  Col.  Laws.         J  Ibid.         §  Ibid.         ||  Ibid. 
81 


(342  MEMORIAL   AGAINST   CLERICAL  TAXES. 

[Plym. 

As  stated,  he  preached  the  Election  Sermon  of  the  Spring  preced- 
ing that  of  his  decease.  He  seems  to  have  been  thus  early  noticed, 
particularly  for  exemplary  courage  and  activity  against  hostile  In- 
dians, as  well  as  for  his  pastoral  qualifications.  His  wife  was  kindly 
treated  by  his  parish.  On  the  29th  of  the  month  in  which  he 
departed,  they  voted  that  she  "have  £15  for  the  year,  and  a  suffi- 
ciency of  wood  brought  to  her  gate,  and  June  20th,  the  use  of  the 
pasture  and  teacher's  lot  of  meadow  and  upon  the  plain,  if  she 
please  to  abide  "  with  them.  On  the  5th  of  the  month  last  named, 
the  Legislature  granted  her  £5.  In  reference  to  his  death,  Mr. 
Bradstreet,  of  New  London,  wrote  in  his  Journal :  "  Mr.  Newman, 
pastor  of  Rehoboth,  a  young  man  of  very  great  worth,  exchanged 
this  life  for  a  better."  He  honored  the  example  of  his  worthy 
father. 

June.  The  Quakers  present  a  memorial  to  the  General  Court, 
against  paying  taxes  for  maintenance  of  ministers,*  whom  they  call 
the  "  present  established  preachers."  Extracts  from  the  paper  fol- 
low :  "  We  suppose  it  well  enough  known,  we  have  never  been 
backward  to  contribute  our  assistance  in  our  estates  and  persons, 
where  we  could  act  without  scruple  of  conscience,  nor  in  the  par- 
ticular case  of  the  country  rate,  according  to  our  just  proportion 
and  abilities,  until  this  late  continuance  of  mixing  your  preachers' 
maintenance  therewith,  by  the  which  we  are  made  uncapable  to 
bear  any  part  of  what  just  charge  may  necessarily  be  disbursed,  for 
the  maintenance  of  civil  government,  a  thing  we  could  always 
readily  do  until  now."  Reasons  are  given  for  not  paying  clerical 
taxes.  1.  The  Jews  paid  tithes  to  their  Priests,  the  Levites.  The 
Pope  instituted  such  taxes,  786,  in  the  reign  of  OfTa,  king  of  Mercia. 
(See  Selden's  History  of  Titles.)  The  former,  Plymouth  authori- 
ties considered  as  abolished,  and  the  latter,  as  of  no  force.  2.  The 
gospel  ought  to  be  freely  preached.  3.  Ministers  should  get  their 
living  as  other  men.  4.  True  ministers  never  received  any  thing, 
except  from  those  whom  they  had  spiritually  profited.  5.  They 
did  not  esteem  the  Congregational  ministers  of  Plymouth  Colony, 
as  true  ministers,  and  therefore  they  cannot  conscientiously  assist 
in  supporting  them.  They  remark  :  "  You  will  please  to  consider 
whether  you  may  not  prejudice  yourselves,  in  your  public  interests 
with  your  King,  having  your  liberty  but  upon  sufferance,  if  you 
should  compel  any  to  conform,  in  any  respect,  either  by  giving 
maintenance  or  otherwise  to  such  a  church  government  or  ministry, 
as  is  repugnant  to  the  Church  of  England.  Desiring  that  you 
please  to  distinguish  between  the  country  rate  and  your  preachers' 
maintenance,  and  that  we  may  not  be  imposed  upon  against  our 
consciences." 

June  5.  Transactions  of  the  General  Court.    Wherever  meeting- 

*  Hinckley  Papers. 


DECEASE  OP   -Nicholas   BAKER.  643 

1678.] 

houses,  in  town  or  village,  Deed  be ere*  ted,  or  enlarged,  or  repaired,* 
for  public  worship,  they  shall  be;  and  if  the  inhabitants  and  pro- 
prietors neglect  this  duty,  the  Court  will  appoint  persons  to  have 
it  done,  and  the  expense  be  collected  by  rate  from  such  delinquents* 
If  any  towns  are  incompetent  to  pay  "able  and  faithful  "  ministers 
sufficient  salaries,  the  proprietors  of  such  towns  shall  be  taxed  for 
this  purpose,  a  just  proportion,  and  the  Government  will  pay  the 
rest 

As  "the  voting  of  persons,  that  have  not  taken  the  oath  of 
fidelity,  doth  much  obstruct  the  carrying  on  of  religion  in  the  pub- 
lic weal,"  no  person  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  in  town  meeting,  who 
has  not  taken  such  an  oath  and  refuses  so  to  do. 

To  hinder  "  profaneness  increasing  in  the  Colony,  which  is  so 
provoking  to  God  and  threatening  to  bring  judgments  upon  us," 
intruders  into  any  town  without  leave,  as  stated  in  a  previous  order, 
shall  be  warned  to  depart,  and  if  not  speedily  obeying,  each  of  them 
shall  pay  5/.  a  week  so  long  as  they  remain  in  the  jurisdiction  after 
being  notified  to  be  gone.  Whatever  inhabitant  contravenes  this 
regulation,  by  selling  or  letting  accommodations  to  such  intruders, 
or  entertaining  them,  shall  pay  a  fine  of  ten  pounds,  or  more,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  Court,  it  being  hoped  that  the  Government 
"  will  be  careful,  that  whom  they  accept  of,"  to  be  new  residents, 
"  are  persons  orthodox  in  their  judgments." 

8.  Edward  Wanton,  for  uniting  himself  in  marriage  with  his 
present  wife  contrary  to  the  legal  form,  is  fined  £10. 

August  22.  Rev.  Nicholas  Baker,  of  the  First  church  in  Scituate, 
dies.  He  had  a  grant  of  land  at  Hingham,  1635.  He  was  dep- 
uty to  the  General  Court,  1636  and  '38.  He  afterwards  was  a 
large  landholder  at  Hull,  where  he  resided.  After  the  decease  of 
President  Dunster,  he  was  invited  to  preach  in  his  place,  and  was 
ordained  1660.  He  had  two  wives.  The  first  died  1661,  and  the 
next  year  he  married  the  other,  whose  name  was  Grace,  and  who 
survived  him.  He  left  children — Samuel,  Elizabeth,  Nicholas, 
Sarah,  Deborah,  and  Mary,  and  a  brother,  Nathaniel  Baker. 
Cotton  Mather  wrote  of  him :  f  "  Honest  Nicholas  Baker,  who, 
though  he  had  but  a  private  education,  yet  being  a  pious  and 
zealous  man,  or  (as  Dr.  Arrowsmith  expresses  it)  so  good  a  logician 
that  he  could  offer  up  to  God  a  reasonable  service ;  so  good  an 
arithmetician,  that  he  cquld  wisely  number  his  days ;  and  so  good 
an  orator,  that  he  persuaded  himself  to  be  a  good  Christian." 

26.  A  letter  from  John  Cotton  to  Increase  Mather,  says  :  J  "  Mr. 
Thornton  hath  begun  and  practiced  the  Synod's  fifth  proposition  in 
baptizing  sundry.  There  are  five  or  six  dissenting  brethren.  Your 
book  of  the  Eleven  Principles  and  de  Bap,  I  wish  twrenty  of  them 

*  Plym.  Col.  I^ec.  and  Laws.  f  Mather's  Magnalia,  vol.  i.  p.  542. 

t  Mather's  MS. 


644  NOTICE   OF  THOMAS   THORNTON. 

[Me. 

in  Yarmouth.  They  might  be  of  great  use  to  establish  the  unset- 
tled." 

The  Thomas  Thornton  here  named,  was  of  the  ministers  who 
had  been  settled  in  England,  were  ejected  on  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II.,  and  obliged  by  persecution  to  seek  a  field  of  labor  in 
our  country.  The  mirror  rightly  exhibits  the  person,  and  action 
the  character.  The  individuals  who  give  up  the  endearments  of 
home,  who  subject  themselves  to  the  severities  of  relentless  law, 
and  escape  to  a  strange  land,  not  knowing  the  trials  which  await 
them  for  the  cause  of  their  Redeemer,  win  from  our  judgment  high 
approbation.  Thus  classed,  and  accompanied  by  his  wife,  more 
than  a  common  helper  in  the  ministrations  of  the  gospel,  and  his 
children,  he  resumed  his  duties  at  Yarmouth,  in  Plymouth  Colony, 
about  1663.  Here,  though  a  retired  position,  he  was  privileged  to 
realize  the  consolations  of  his  mission,  and  to  participate  in  the 
promotion  of  its  immortal  blessings.  Worn  down  with  age,  so 
that  he  needed  rest  from  his  calling,  he  withdrew  about  1693,  to 
the  family  of  his  son  Timothy,  in  Boston,  where  he  died,  February 
15,  1700,  nearly  ninety-three  years  old.  Cotton  Mather,*  while 
speaking  of  Mr.  Thornton's  daughter,  Priscilla,  remarkable  for  her 
piety,  who  died  when  eleven  years  of  age,  gives  his  character  in 
the  few  expressive  words  :  "  The  faithful  pastor." 

October  30.  The  General  Court  approve  of  Samuel  Fuller's 
being  likely  to  settle  as  minister  of  Middlebury. 

Note. — September  11. — Solomon  Blackleich,  commander  of  the  ship  James 
Frigate,  seized  on  suspicion  of  being  employed  as  a  pirate  at  Plymouth,  and 
about  to  die,  gives  the  command  of  her  to  Robert  Daniel.  His  will,  made  Sep- 
tember 24,  mentions  his  wife  Sindeniah  and  child,  in  "  Catalina."     (Carolina  ?) 

October  11.  Three  Indians,  Canootus,  Symon  and  Joel,  having  broken  open 
the  house  of  Zachariah  Allin,  at  Sandwich,  stolen  from  his  chest  £25,  and 
squandered  it  away,  are  sentenced  to  be  sold  into  perpetual  servitude  by  the 
said  Allin,  and  the  price  of  them  to  be  for  his  compensation. 


MAINE. 


1675.  February  16.  Robert  Thomson  writes  to  Governor  Lev- 
erett  concerning  the  purchase  f  of  the  Gorges  claim.  "  For  the 
business  of  Mr.  Gorges,  I  should  willingly  have  disbursed  the 
money  you  mention,  but  they  are  now  in  the  clouds,  and  expect  as 
much  a  year,  secured  here,  for  their  interest.  The  copy  of  this, 
with  others  their  petition,  I  gave  Mr.  Collins  to  send  you,  and  is 
here  inclosed.  The  Council  of  Trade  have  done  nothing,  so  it 's 
remanded  to  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council." 

March  19.  The  Rev.  John  Collins,  of  London,  informs  Governor 

*  Magnalia  vol.  ii.  p.  483.  f  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  470,  2. 


CATECHISM  TAUGHT  TO   cilll.DKKN.  645 

1676L]  • 

Leyerett  that  such  is  the  high  price  for  the  Gorges  territory,  Major 
Thomson  has  do  encouragement  to  bid  for  it,  and  that  the  King  is 
petitioned  to  purchase  it  lor  the  Duke  of  Monmouth. 

May  12.  Humphrey  Daw,  (apt.  Thomai  Lake,  Richard  Col- 
licut,  Capt.  Thomas  Gardner  and  George  Mountjoy,  are  appointed  * 
to  keep  the  County  Court  in  Devonshire. 

Bryan  Pendleton,  Humphrey  Warren  and  others,  are  granted  a 
Plantation,  six  miles  square,  above  Saco. 

July  (5.  The  Selectmen  of  Kittery  are  presented f  "for  not 
taking  care  that  their  children  and  youth  be  taught  their  catechism," 
and  educated  as  the  law  prescribes. 

The  Selectmen  of  Cape  Porpus,  Scarborough  and  Falmouth,  are 
severally  presented  for  a  similar  deficiency.  The  first  of  these 
three  towns  had  been  lately  complained  of  for  living  without  an 
orthodox  minister.     But  they  are  cleared. 

1676.  January  11.  A  considerable  number  of  persons  had 
escaped  from  Maine.  +  Part  of  them  sought  refuge  at  Salem. 
The  records  of  this  place  say,  they  "  being  driven  from  their 
habitations  by  the  barbarous  heathen,  are  added  as  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  though  most  of  them  affirming  they  have  provision  for 
themselves  and  families  a  year." 

May  5.  An  additional  cause  of  complaint  made  by  the  Indians  § 
living  at  Pemaquid  and  Kennebec  was,  that  in  this  spring,  agents 
commissioned  by  Major  Waldron  to  arrest  any  Indians  at  the  East- 
ward who  had  killed  or  spoiled  English  people  there,  had  enticed 
some  Cape  Sable  Indians  on  board  of  a  vessel,  carried  them  away 
and  sold  them  as  slaves.  The  last  Indians,  in  consequence  of  such 
conduct,  became  hostile  to  the  English.  The  agents  so  accused, 
were  subsequently  called  to  an  account. 

August  13.  An  extract  of  a  letter  from  Bryan  Pendleton,  at 
Winter  Harbor,  to  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Massachusetts, 
after  relating  the  disaster  ||  at  Casco,  follows  :  "  How  soon  it  will 
be  our  portion  we  know  not.  The  Lord  in  mercy  fit  us  for  death, 
and  direct  the  hearts  and  hands  to  act  and  do  what  is  most  needful 
in  such  a  time  of  distress  as  this." 

September  6.  The  Massachusetts  Legislature^  in  their  appeal  to 
the  King,  with  regard  to  their  claims  against  those  by  the  heirs  of 
Gorges,  state  that  a  new  enemy  had  sprung  up  at  the  Eastward, 
assisted  by  others  who  had  fought  for  Philip.  They  proceed  : 
"  We  are  necessitated  once  again  with  the  uttermost  hazard  of  our 
person  and  great  expense  of  our  estate  (so  deeply  exhausted  before), 
to  defend  the  lives  of  your  Majesty's  subjects  in  those  places, 
crying  aloud  for  succor,  and  dispute  your  Majesty's  and  our  own 
possessions  in  the  dismal  deserts  with  a  bloody  and  barbarous 
enemy." 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.  f  York  Rec.     Willis's  Maine,  p.  285. 

%  Annals  of  Salem,  p.  252.  §  Hubbard's  Ind.  War,  p.  302-4. 

||  Council  Rec.  H  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


646  PURCHASE   OF  MAINE. 

•  [Me. 

1677.  June  1.  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  write  to 
Connecticut  for  their  quota  of  men  to  aid  in  reducing  the  Indians  of 
Maine.  They  recount  that  these  have  killed  people,  hurnt  houses, 
depopulated  a  considerable  part  of  the  settlements,  gotten  supplies 
from  the  French,  are  insolent,  threaten  to  spend  the  summer  in 
ranging  and  laying  waste  the  western  borders  of  Massachusetts. 
They  estimate  the  charges  of  defending  Maine  in  the  present  war 
"  some  thousands  of  pounds." 

September.  Walter  Gendall,  having  exposed  himself  to  sus- 
picion, while  in  captivity  with  the  Indians,  of  having  betrayed  the 
English,*  is  tried  at  Boston  and  found  guilty.  He  was  sentenced 
to  run  the  gantelope  on  the  10th  inst.,  through  the  military  com- 
panies of  Boston,  with  a  rope  about  his  neck  ;  to  forfeit  all  his 
lands  to  the  country,  be  banished  from  his  jurisdiction,  and  be 
gone  by  the  6th  of  next  October,  on  penalty  of  perpetual  impris- 
onment if  he  come  back  again,  discharging  the  costs  of  his  prose- 
cution. It  is  evident  that  he  was  falsely  accused,  for  his  sentence 
of  banishment  was  soon  revoked,  his  lands  returned  to  him,  and 
he  was  restored  to  public  confidence,  being  elected  to  important 
public  offices. 

October  IT.  The  Court  of  Massachusetts  reply f  to  Governor 
Andros,  that  his  purpose  to  make  prizes  of  all  vessels  which  fish 
at  Pemaquid,  unless  they  have  entries  and  clearances  at  his  custom 
house  there,  is  contrary  to  their  charter  rights. 

1678.  March  13.  John  Usher,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  having 
negotiated  with  Mr.  Gorges,  a  grandson  of  Sir  Ferdinando,  for  the 
province  of  Maine,  and  bought  it  of  him  the  year  before,  by  the 
request  of  Massachusetts,  now  conveys  it  to  them  for  £1,2-30. 
For  this  transaction,  the  Bay  authorities  were  much  censured  by 
the  King,  as  if  they  purchased  the  province  while  knowing  that 
he  had  thoughts  of  doing  the  same.  The  truth  is,  they  were  in- 
formed by  Robert  Thomson,  of  London,  1674,  that  they  could 
buy  Maine  if  they  chose.  At  the  same  time,  the  King's  project 
of  buying  it  and  New  Hampshire  for  the  Duke  of  Monmouth, 
whom  Chalmers  calls  "  the  most  beloved  of  all  his  sons,"  so  that 
the  latter  personage  might  send  over  his  governor  and  reap  a  great 
income  from  them,  was  exploded  as  a  mere  bubble  of  imagination 
by  all  sensible,  and  practical  men  who  looked  at  the  matter.  The 
rulers  of  Massachusetts  purchased  the  patent,  with  all  its  liabilities, 
to  be  seized  by  the  Crown  or  otherwise,  not,  as  they  subsequently 
say,  with  any  "  intention  to  infringe  his  Majesty's  royal  preroga- 
tive, or  to  prevent  his  Majesty's  taking  the  same  into  his  own 
hands,  but  upon  real  desire  to  accommodate  his  Majesty's  subjects, 
the  inhabitants  of  that  province,  and  their  own  mutual  peace  and 
safety,  and  with  good   advice  first  had   that  they  might  do  so." 

*  Willis's  Portland,  vol.  i.  p.  163.  f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


PRACE   WITH    INDIAN   CHIEFS.  647 

1675-6.] 

.Maine,  so  obtained,  could  no  longer  be  retained  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion  of  Massachusetts,  as  a  part  of  their  territory,  hut  required  to 
bo  under  the  form  of  a  proprietary  government,  which  it  had  in 
due  course. 

April  L&  Much  to  the  relief  of  anxious  fears  entertained  by  the 
people  of  .Maine,*  a  peace  is  made  at  Casco,  with  Squando  and 
other  Indian  chiefs,  who  give  up  the  rest  of  the  captives  in  their 
hands.  As  a  solution  of  the  mystery  where  the  hostile  Indians 
had  obtained  the  most  of  their  arms  and  ammunition  to  cany  on 
their  destructive  warfare,  it  was  subsequently  found  that  Baron  de 
St.  Castine,  who  had  been  a  French  officer,  had  a  trading  house  at 
Penobscot,  and  been  married  to  a  daughter  of  Madokawando,  sup- 
plied them  in  the  way  of  barter. 

October  £.  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  hear  the  inden- 
ture f  relative  to  the  purchase  of  Maine  read.  They  deliver  it  in 
a  black  box  to  the  secretary,  for  safe  keeping.  They  vote  to  accept 
such  a  contract  made  by  their  agents,  and  that  money  be  raised  to 
pay  the  amount  stipulated.  They  desire  the  Governor  and  Council 
to  take  order  for  the  improvement,  government  and  disposal  of 
Maine,  by  sale  or  otherwise,  as  may  seem  best  to  them. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

1675.  Oyster  Eiver,  part  of  Dover,  is  allowed  by  Massachusetts 
to  be  a  parish.  John  Buss,  who  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Bradbury,  of  Salisbury,  May  12,  1673,  and  freeman  1674, 
when  he  belonged  to  Concord,  is  stated  by  Lawrence's  New  Hamp- 
shire churches,  to  have  been  employed  at  the  said  river  in  the  year- 
last  named,  as  preacher  and  physician,  and  that  he  so  served  them 
for  thirty-three  years.  He  lost  a  valuable  library  with  his  house, 
when  burnt  by  Indians  in  1694.  His  decease  wras  here,  1736. 
Some  have  set  his  age  at  one  hundred  and  eight,  but  he  gave  it 
himself  in  a  petition,  as  represented  by  Farmer's  Genealogy,  so  as 
to  make  it  ninety-six.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  worthy  laborer 
for  the  bodily  and  spiritual  welfare  of  his  people. 

1676.  .  February  21.  As  several  Indians  had  come  in  and  sub- 
mitted themselves  to  mercy,  +  and  others  are  expected  to  do  it, 
Majors  Puchard  Waldron  and  Nicholas  Shapleigh  are  appointed  by 
the  Bay  Legislature  to  attend  such  business,  and  treat  wTith  the 
Eastern  Indians  for  peace,  and  if  they  cannot  effect  this,  they  may 
ship  off  the  enemy  who  come  in,  so  that  they  may  not  do  further 
damage. 

*  Williamson,  vol.  i.  p.  552,  3.     f  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     ;  Mass.  Col.  Ilec. 


648  DEFENSE  OF  THE  BAY  POLICY. 

[N.  H. 

July.  The  beginning  of  this  month,  Randolph  visits  New  Hamp- 
shire.* He  reads  Mason's  letter  to  the  inhabitants.  He  speaks 
"  of  the  whole  country,"  (as  mostly  Episcopalians,)  "complaining 
of  the  usurpation  of  the  magistrates  of  Boston,"  (Massachusetts,) 
"  imposing  ministers  upon  them,  not  admitting  them  to  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  supper,  denying  baptism  to  their  children,  and 
liberty  of  choosing  their  own  magistrates  and  officers  because  they 
were  not  members  of  their  congregations.  They  have  been  for  a 
long  time  earnestly  expecting  to  be  delivered  from  the  Government 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  do  now  humbly  hope  your  Majesty 
will  not  permit  them  any  longer  to  be  oppressed,  but  will  be  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  give  them  relief."  The  writer  undoubtedly  had 
incorrect  views  as  to  the  denominational  character  of  the  people  of 
whom  he  here  speaks,  supposing  their  number  to  be  much  larger 
than  they  really  were. 

In  connection  with  this,  Belknap  adds :  f  "  Some,  Randolph 
found  ready  to  complain  of  the  Bay  authorities,  but  the  body  of 
the  people  were  much  dissatisfied  with  him,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Dover,  in  public  town  meeting,  protested  against  the  claim  of 
Mason  ;  declared  they  had  bona  fide  purchased  their  lands  of  the 
Indians ;  recognized  their  subjection  to  the  Government  of  Massa- 
chusetts, under  whom  they  had  lived  long  and  happily,  and  by 
whom  they  were  now  assisted  in  defending  their  estates  and  fam- 
ilies against  the  savage  enemy."  The  people  of  this  town  appointed 
Major  Waldron  to  petition  the  King  that  they  may  not  be  dis- 
turbed by  Mason  or  any  other  claimant,  and  be  allowed  to  remain 
under  the  present  government  of  their  preference. 

When  Randolph  returned  to  Boston,  +  Governor  Leverett  gave 
him  a  severe  rebuke  for  publishing  his  errand  and  endeavoring  to 
produce  disaffection  among  the  colonists  here.  To  which  he  re- 
plied, if  he  had  acted'  amiss,  they  might  make  it  known  to  the 
King. 

August  9.  A  special  General  Court  assemble  in  Boston,  to  con- 
sider the  King's  letter  about  the  claims  of  Mason's  heirs  to  this 
Colony.  A  committee  are  appointed  to  obtain  depositions  on  this 
subject.  In  their  petition  to  his  Majesty,  the  Court  say  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Maine  :  "  Sure  we  are,  that  no  intention  of  wrong 
to  the  claimers,  no  unlawful  design  of  enlargement  of  our  borders, 
no  profit  or  advantage  thereby  accruing,  (the  contrary  whereof  we 
have  hitherto  found,)  but  a  grounded  apprehension  of  our  interest, 
real  compassion  to  the  inhabitants  in  an  unsettled  and  ungoverned 
condition,  together  with  a  sense  of  duty  incumbent  to  be  faithful  to 
our  Patent  trust,  did  cause  us  to  receive  them  under  the  wing  of 
your  Majesty's  Government  in  this  Colony." 

October  12.  A  letter  of  the  Bay  Legislature  to  Sir  Joseph  Wil- 

*  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  507,  8.     f  Farmer's  Belknap,  p.  86.     %  Hutch.  Coll.  p.  510. 


ARBITRATORS  PROPOSED  TO   l'liii.ii'.  649 

1677-8.] 

liamson,*  one  of  the  King's  principal  secretaries,  refers  to  this  ter- 
ritory, claimed  by  the  heir  of  .Mason,  as  of  no  great  value,  and 
still   less  ^o  now,  infested  with  hostile  Indians. 

1677.  July  80,  The  case  between  Mason  and  Massachusetts,  as 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Hampshire,  having  been  tried  in  Eng- 
land and  the  decision  confirmed  by  the  royal  sanction,  the  result  is 
as  follows :  "  The  right  of  soil,  as  claimed  by  Mason,  remains 
unsettled,  because  the  ter-tenants  had  not  been  summoned  to  defend 
their  titles,  but  his  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  cannot  be  sustain- 
ed, and  that  the  towns  of  Portsmouth,  Dover,  Exeter  and  Hampton 
are  not  comprised  in  Massachusetts,  as  their  agent's  claim  is,  accord- 
ing to  their  Charter,  three  miles  northward  of  the  river  Merrimac." 
"All  parties  are  ordered  to  acquiesce  therein,  and  contribute  what 
lies  in  them,  to  the  punctual  and  due  performance  of  the  said 
report,  as  there  shall  be  occasion." 

1678.  April  12.  Francis  Champernoon,  and  Nathaniel  Fryer, 
of  Portsmouth,!  as  commissioners  with  Major  Shapleigh,  of  Kittery, 
make  peace  with  Squando  and  other  chiefs  at  Casco. 

May  8.  For  the  continuance  of  order  in  New  Hampshire,  Mas- 
sachusetts still  appoint  Magistrates  to  administer  the  laws,+  until 
instructions  arrive  from  the  Crown  to  the  contrary. 

October  16.  The  authorities  of  the  Bay,  referring  to  charges  of 
the  Lords  for  trade  and  plantations,  remark  that  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  were  not  constrained  to  come  under  their  jurisdiction, 
as  Randolph  had  declared,  but  did  it  voluntarily. 


RHODE    ISLAND. 

1675.  June.  When  the  Wampanoags,  under  Philip,  whose 
principal  residence  was  at  Montaup,  or  Mount  Hope,  near  Bristol, 
Rhode  Island,  rebelled  against  the  English,  they  sent  part  of  their 
wives  and  children  to  the  Narragansetts  for  protection.  The  chief, 
Canonchet,  §  being  required  to  surrender  them  to  the  English,  said, 
"Not  a  Wampanoag,  nor  the  paring  of  a  Wampanoag's  nail, 
shall  be  delivered  up."  However  strong  his  purpose,  the  revolu- 
tion of  a  few  months  showed  its  ultimate  inefficacy. 

17.  John  Easton,  of  the  Quakers,  says  that  three  magistrates, 
another  person  and  himself,  crossed  over  from  Rhode  Island  ||  to 
persuade  Philip  to  settle  his  difficulty  with  Plymouth ;  that  they 
proposed  it  should  be  left  to  Governor  Andros,  of  New  York,  and 
an  Indian  King ;  but  that  he  would  not  comply.  He  observes  that 
Philip  remarked,  "  they  had  great  fear  to  have  any  of  their  Indians 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.        f  Adams's  Portsmouth,  p.  62,  3.         %  ^lass.  Gen. 
Ct.  Rec.         §  Staples' s  Prov.  p.  159, r60.         ||  Easton's  Philip's  "SVar. 
82 


650  SALVATION  THROUGH  CHRIST. 

[R.I. 

be  called  or  forced  to  be  Christians,"  assigning  as  one  of  the  reasons, 
it  made  them  less  obedient  to  their  kings. 

As  Rhode  Island  was  not  a  member  of  the  Union,  they  did  not 
feel  so  much  of  an  immediate  concern  in  this  outbreak  of  Philip,  as 
the  other  Colonies  of  New  England ;  still  they  could  not  but  be 
anxious,  lest,  before  brought  to  its  last  result,  it  might  involve  the 
question  of  their  very  existence. 

July.  Messrs.  Joseph  Torrey  and  Samuel  Hubbard,  alarmed  lest 
their  friends  at  Westerly  should  be  injured,  sent  a  boat  and  had 
them  brought  to  Newport.  These  guests,  so  favored,  remained  on 
the  Island  during  the  war. 

December  19.  The  strong  fortification  of  the  Narragansetts  is 
attacked  by  the  English  forces.  After  a  long  battle,  disastrous  to 
both  sides,  the  Indians  are  defeated. 

The  English,  thus  victorious,  rested  at  the  garrison  house  of 
Richard  Smith,  near  Wickford,  and  their  wounded  were  conveyed 
to  Rhode  Island.  In  the  year  1679,  Roger  Williams  testified  of 
this  Smith  as  son  of  Richard  Smith,  Sen.,  who  for  conscience  "  left 
fair  possessions  in  Gloucestershire,"  came  to  Taunton,  and  thence 
to  Narragansett.  "  In  the  late  bloody  pagan  war,  it  pleased  the 
Most  High  to  make  use  of  him  in  person,  housing  goods,  corn, 
provisions  and  cattle,  for  a  garrison  and  supply  of  the  whole  army 
of  New  England,  for  the  service  of  his  Majesty's  honor  and  country 
of  New  England." 

20.  Habakkuk  Glover  writes  from  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  to 
Increase  Mather.*  He  speaks  of  something  he  had  written  and 
printed,  which  Mr.  Mather  had  noticed.  He  observes  :  "  Upon 
perusall  of  Mr.  Norton's  explication  of  the  way  of  Redemption  in 
his  answer  to  Mr.  Pinchon,  I  fmde  in  his  explication  hee  partly . 
ownes  that  Christ  in  fallen  man's  place  and  stead  suffered  and  satis- 
fied for  them ;  but  that  Christ,  and  God  in  Christ,  bought  fallen 
mankind  by  his  satisfying  for  them.  Mr.  Norton  doth  not  owne, 
(in  all  his  explication  of  the  way  of  redemption,)  and  therefore  hee 
and  many  others  for  the  like  reason  have  fallen  into  an  opinion, 
that  a  discharge  from  suffering  for  sin  and  salvation  is  bought  and 
merited,  and  a  debt  due  unto  all  for  whom  Christ  died,  and  that  it 
would  be  injustice  in  God  for  to  punish  any  of  them  for  their  sins 
for  whom  Christ  died.  Hence  men  are  carried  violently  either  to 
conclude  that  all  must  bee  saved,  or  else  to  conclude  that  Christ 
did  never  die  for  all."  This  and  other  errors  would  "  easily  be 
avoided  if  men  really  owne  that  Christ,  and  God  in  Christ,  bought 
mankind  by  satisfying  for  them.  And  so  because  God  bought  all 
fallen  mankinde  by  satisfying  for  them,  therefore  hee  may  of  his 
justice  require  of  them  the  whole  debt  which  was  due  from  them 
unto  God  as  theire  creditour  at  the  first,  or  of  his  free  grace,  hee 
may  forbeare  or  forgive  the  debt."  * 

*  Mather  Papers. 


PREJUDICE  AGAINST  CLERGY.  661 

n;7<;.] 

1676.  January  (<>.  William  Coddington,  Governor  of  Rhode 
[aland,  writes*  to  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Massachusetts. 

ilc  mentions  the  thanks  sent  to  him  and  his  colleagues  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, by  the  Commissioners  of  the  Confederation  and  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  of  Massachusetts,  for  transporting  their  provision 
and  soldiers  and  wounded. 

16.  About  this  date,  the  scouts  bring  in  an  Indian,  and  Joshua 
Tift,  who  had  gone  from  Providence f  and  united  with  the  Indians, 
and  married  a  squaw.  Tift  was  charged  with  wounding  Captain 
Sealy,  tried  and  executed  as  a  traitor. 

February  5.  Easton  closes  his  pamphlet  on  the  existing  wrar,f 
with  terms  of  strong  prejudice  against  the  Congregationalists.  "I 
am  persuaded  of  New  England  priests,  they  are  so  blinded  by  the 
spirit  of  persecution  to  maintain  to  have  hire  and  to  have  name  to 
be  mere  hirelings ;  that  they  have  been  the  cause  that  the  law  of 
nations,  and  the  law  of  arms  have  been  violated  in  this  war,  and 
that  the  war  had  not  been,  if  there  had  not  been  a  hireling,  and 
that  for  his  money,  giving  what  he  called  the  Gospel,  by  violence 
to  have  it  chargeable  for  his  gain  from  his  quarter,  and  if  any  mag- 
istracy be  not  so  as  their  pack  horses,  they  will  be  trumpeting  for 
innovation  or  war." 

28.  Governor  Walter  Clark  answers  an  application  of  Providence 
for  defensive  aid.  J  He  remarks  :  "  My  advice  is  unto  you,  seek 
not  help  from  other  Colonies,  lest  it  be  your  utter  ruin.  The  Con- 
federate Colonies  cannot  support  themselves  and  friends."  This 
opinion  was  more  positive  than  correct. 

March  13.  The  Assembly  at  Newport,  in  answer  to  petitions 
from  Providence  and  Warwick  for  defense  against  the  Indians, 
state  that  the  Colony  is  unable  to  "  maintain  sufficient  garrisons  for  " 
its  "  out  plantations,"  and  invite  the  people  of  them  to  come  and 
reside  on  the  Island,  as  the  safest  practical  means.  They  add : 
"  Newport  and  Portsmouth  inhabitants  have  taken  such  care,  that 
those  of  the  Colony  that  come  and  cannot  procure  land  to  plant  for 
themselves  and  families'  relief,  may  be  supplied  with  land  by  the 
towns,  and  each  family  so  wanting  ability,  shall  have  a  cow  kept 
upon  the  commons."  The  Assembly  remark,  that  if  any  decide  to 
continue  on  the  Main,  it  is  their  opinion  that  they  and  their  prop- 
erty will  become  a  prey  to  the  enemy,  "  except  more  than  ordinary 
providence  prevent."  Staples  informs  us  that  a  large  proportion 
of  the  Providence  inhabitants  complied  with  such  a  proposal,  and 
that  a  considerable  number  of  those,  so  changing  their  abode,  did 
not  return.  §  •  Among  the  persons  who  remained  to  encounter  the 
doubly  increased  perils,  was  Roger  Williams.  As  the  Government 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Quakers,  now  as  well  as  several  years 

*  Eastern's  Philip's  War,  p.  132-5.  f  Hubbard's  Ind.  War,  p.  59. 

|  Easton,  p.  123.  §  Staples's  Prov.  p.  162,  3. 


652  DECEASE   OF  JOHN   CLARK. 

[R.I. 

before  and  after  this,  this  time  may  account  for  the  laxity  of 
enterprise  in  defending  the  two  towns  on  the  Main. 

18.  Habakkuk  Glover  writes  from  Rhode  Island  to  Increase 
Mather.*  "  Lest  I  should  fall  short  of  my  duty,  I  must  tell  you 
plainly,  that  it  is  time  for  you  to  open  and  explain  your  dark  doc- 
trine and  open  your  eyes,  that  you  may  see  and  understand,  if  so 
be  that,  which  it  is ;  for  the  land  is  under  an  anathema  maranatha, 
for  ministers'  preaching  principles,  and  people's  embracing  another 
gospel  than  that  which  is  revealed  in  the  scriptures."  What  Mr. 
Glover,  who  had  resided  in  Boston,  here  refers  to,  he  gives  no  clue. 

29.  Council  of  Massachusetts  write  to  Council  of  Connecticut  in 
relation  to  Providence :  "  One  Wright  was  killed,  that  was  neither 
Quaker  nor  Anabaptist,  well  versed  in  the  scriptures,  but  opinion- 
ated ;  would  not  retire  to  any  garrison,  listless  to  meddle,  nay, 
refused  to  have  to  do  with  any  civil  business."  Roger  Williams 
had  had  a  long  discourse  with  the  hostile  Indians. 

April  20.  John  Clark  closes  his  life  in  his  66th  year.  He  was, 
by  tradition,  from  Bedfordshire  in  England :  f  born  October  8,  1609, 
and  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Harges,  Esq.,  of  the  same 
country.  In  a  power  of  attorney,  subscribed  1656,  he  signed  him- 
self as  a  physician  of  London,  to  receive  a  legacy  given  by  his 
wife's  father  out  of  the  manor  of  Wreslingworth,  of  the  same  shire. 
His  wife  died  at  Newport,  without  issue,  February  1,  1671.  He 
married  Mrs.  Jane  Fletcher,  February  14,  1672.  She  had  a  daugh- 
ter, who  died  May  18, 1673,  and  she  herself  deceased  the  preceding 
April  19.  He  married  the  widow  Sarah  Davis,  with  children,  who 
survived  him.  As  related,  he  was  sent  in  1651,  by  the  people  of 
the  Island,  to  obtain  a  new  Charter  in  England.  Here  he  spent 
twelve  years  in  difficult  and  untiring  effort  to  accomplish  his 
mission.  To  meet  the  costs  of  obtaining  the  Charter,  1663,  he 
mortgaged  his  estate  at  Newport.  He  returned  the  next  year  and 
resumed  his  pastoral  labors.  As  previously  stated,  while  abroad, 
he  published  his  "  111  News  from  New  England,"  1652.  Backus 
informs  us  that  "after  Mr.  Clark's  return,  he  was  improved  in 
various  public  offices;  was  elected  deputy  governor  three  years 
successively,  in  two  of  which  he  accepted  the  office,  but  all  the 
concerns  of  the  state  did  not  prevail  with  him  to  neglect  the  affairs 
of  religion."  He  said  in  his  will,  with  regard  to  his  burial,  let 
"  this  frail  body  be  decently  interred,  without  any  vain  ostentation, 
between  my  loving  wives,  Elizabeth  and  Jane,  already  deceased, 
in  hopeful  expectation  that  the  same  Redeemer,  who  hath  laid 
down  a  price  both  for  my  soul  and  body,  will  raise  up  at  the  last 
day  a  spiritual  one,  that  they  may  together  be  singing  hallelujah 
unto  him  to  all  eternity."  After  making  various  bequests,  he 
secured  the  use  of  his  house  and  farm  to  his  wife  while  she  lived, 

*  Mather  MS.  Papers,     f  Farmer's  Gen.  Reg.    Potter's  Narragansett,  p.  313. 


QUAKERS   utkr.most  IN  GOVERNMENT.  658 

i<;7<;.] 

and  then  to  trustees,  with  power  to  fill  vacancies  in  their  Dumber, 
and  to  pay  the  income  of  the  property  "  for  the  relief  of  the  poor 
or  bringing  Up  children  unto  learning."  In  this  way,  he  provided 
for  public  usefulness  to  the  end  of  time.  The  books  of  his  library, 
given  to  Richard  Bailey,  who  came  with  him  from  London,  1664, 
indicate  that  the  donor  was  learned  as  well  as  that  the  legatee  was 
a  preacher.  He  left  an  exposition  of  his  creed,  which  was  decidedly 
evangelical.  As  he  lived,  so  he  died,  the  benefactor  of  his  fellow 
beings,  and  the  faithful  servant  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  hope  of  a 
blessed  immortality,  which  consoled  him  in  trials  and  bore  him 
onward  in  the  constant  discharge  of  duty,  we  have  cause  to  believe, 
has  long  been  a  glorious  reality  in  his  experience. 

May.  Mr.  S.  Hubbard  writes  to  Boston  :  *  "  The  Quakers  are 
still  uppermost  in  government  among  us — I  mean  in  outward  rule 
— though  we  have  put  out  the  chief,  Mr.  John  Easton,  from  being 
Deputy,  and  now  Major  John  Cranston  is  Deputy  Governor." 

June  14.  The  Assembly  vote  to  have  one  of  the  garrisons  at 
Providence,  selected  and  kept  in  the  King's  name,  at  the  Colonial 
expense.  Each  soldier  of  it  to  have  6/.  a  week  in  "  money  pay," 
and  their  commander  to  have  12 j.  of  the  like  tenor.  The  latter  is 
Capt.  Arthur  Fenner,  of  Providence.  The  Assembly  order  that 
the  garrison  have  a  great  gun  "  belonging  to  the  owners  of  the  ship 
Newport."  They  mention  Soger  Williams  as  having  the  com- 
mand of  a  train-band  at  Providence. 

24.  The  Council  of  Connecticut  state,  that  of  the  contributions 
by  their  churches,  one  hundred  and  ten  bushels  of  corn  are  to  be 
distributed  in  Rhode  Island,  Swanzey,  etc. 

30.  The  clause  of  the  law  passed  May  7,  1673, — "  Persons  de- 
claring that  it  is  against  their  conscience  to  bear  arms  in  a  military 
manner,"  shall  not  be  liable  to  such  duty  nor  to  any  fines, — is 
repealed,  because  "  several  under  pretence  decline  their  duty, 
whereby  great  disturbance  is  in  the  several  train-bands." 

August  7.  The  Assembly  vote  that  Lt  Edward  Richmond  and 
company  shall  have  one  half  of  the  produce  of  the  seven  Indians, 
whom  they  brought  in ;  and  Capt.  Andrew  Edmonds  and  his  com- 
pany shall  have  the  same  ratio  of  what  the  thirty-five  Indians  whom 
they  brought  shall  bring.  They  order  that  Indian  men  and  women, 
capable  of  service,  shall  be  sold  for  nine  years.  They  except  In- 
dians from  such  sale,  who  are  notoriously  guilty.  They  mention 
that  the  Act  of  Council  for  this,  on  July  24,  and  "  other  acts, 
orders,  commissions,  verbal  orders,"  etc.,  for  the  present  war,  shall 
be  lawful,  "  as  if  the  General  Assembly  or  General  Council  of  this 
Colony  had  been  in  lawful  being  to  act  the  same." 

14.  A  town  meeting  is  held  by  the  men  of  Providence,!  to  dis- 
pose of  Indian  prisoners.     Roger  Williams,  and  twenty-four  more, 

*  Backus,  p.  465.  f  Staples's  Providence,  p.  170,  1. 


654  DISPOSAL  OF  INDIAN   CAPTIVES. 

[R.I. 

are  to  have  a  whole  share  a-piece  ;  two  others,  three-fourths  of  a 
share ;  and  five  more,  half  a  share  each,  in  the  amount  of  sales.  If 
any  inhabitant  wishes  to  purchase  one  or  more  of  the  captives,  he 
is  allowed  to  do  it  at  the  prices  on  Rhode  Island  or  elsewhere. 
The  terms  of  service  for  which  the  prisoners  were  to  be  sold,  fol- 
low :  Those  under  5  years  old,  for  30  years ;  above  5  and  under 
10,  till  they  were  20  years  old,  for  20  years  ;  above  10  to  15,  till 
27 ;  above  15  to  20,  till  26  years  old  ;  from  20  to  30,  they  were  to 
serve  8  years.  There  were  thirty-six  sold  at  a  low  rate.  Five  of 
them,  great  and  small,  were  disposed  of  for  £8,  and  two  more  for 
twenty-two  bushels  of  corn.  They  were,  most  likely,  women  and 
children,  because  the  warriors  were  sentenced  to  speedy  death,  or 
to  perpetual  servitude  out  of  the  country. 

24.  A  Court  Martial  at  Newport,*  try  the  case  of  Quonopen,  or 
Sowagonish,  a  Narragansett  Sachem,  second  in  power  to  Nenante- 
nett.  He  confessed  that  he  was  at  the  swamp  fight,  the  assault  on 
William  Carpenter's  garrison  house  at  Pawtuxet,  the  burning  of 
Nashaway,  and  carrying  off  about  twenty  English  captives.  He  is 
condemned  to  be  shot  the  next  day  but  one. 

25.  Sunkeejunasuck,  brother  of  Quonopen,  who  was  at  the  de- 
struction of  Warwick,  receives  a  like  sentence.  Wenanaquabin,  of 
Pawtuxet,  and  John  Wecopeak,  on  a  similar  charge,  are  adjudged 
to  the  same  punishment. 

Chuff,  a  ring-leader  of  Indians  f  against  the  Colonists,  being 
wounded  by  some  men  from  Providence,  had  been  brought  in 
thither.  "  The  inhabitants  of  the  town  cried  out  for  justice  against 
him,  threatening  themselves  to  kill  him,  if  the  authority  did  not. 
For  which  reason,  Capt.  Roger  Williams  caused  the  drum  to  beat, 
and  the  town  council  and  council  of  war  called."  Sentence  was 
passed  and  the  prisoner  was  shot  to  death. 

The  captives  who  remained  at  Providence,  and  were  to  be  ship- 
ped off,  set  sail  on  the  29th  inst.,  in  a  sloop  belonging  to  Provi- 
dence Williams,  son  of  Roger. 

31.  It  is  ordered,  that  Malosses,  Mamaxuat  and  Quanachuagat, 
be  transported  and  sold  for  slaves.  The  day  after,  the  Governor 
orders  these  three  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  Captain  Benjamin 
Church,  and  seven  more  to  Captain  Anthony  Low,  and  another  to 
Henry  Lilly,  so  they  may  be  carried  out  of  the  Colony.  Though  a 
plea,  honestly  presented,  has  been  made,  as  though  Rhode  Island 
was  more  merciful  to  Indian  prisoners  than  the  Confederate  Colo- 
nies, yet  there  was  no  essential  difference  in  this  respect.  The 
stern  usages  of  war,  as  then  existing,  were  resorted  to  by  all  the 
Colonies  who  had  suffered  its  desolating  effects. 

September  18.  Elder  Hiscox  and  Mr.  Hubbard  are  carried  in 
a  boat  from  Newport  to  New  London.  Here  the  Elder  baptized 
the  father  of  the  Rogers  family,  his  wife  and  daughter.  + 

*  Gen.  Ct.  for  Trials,     f  Staples's  Prov.  p.  171,  2.     +  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  474. 


REFUSAL  TO   BEAR   ARMS.  055 

IC77.] 

October  25.  The  Assembly  writing  to  Connecticut  say*  that  no 
Colony  has  received  so  much  loss  from  the  Indian  war,  in  pro- 
portion to  population,  as  Rhode  Island.  They  expostulate  against 
Connecticut  taking  possession  of  their  frontier  settlements  in  Nar- 
ragansett  country  and  holding  them,  because  they  were  deserted 
by  their  inhabitants.  They  say  that  if  not  allowed  to  have  such 
towns  re-occupied  by  their  proprietors,  they  shall  apply  to  his 
Majesty  for  redress. 

27.  The  Assembly  order  that  Indians  who  come  or  are  brought 
upon  an  island  of  Narragansett  bay,  without  the  legal  authority, 
shall  be  "  liable  to  be  disposed  of  for  the  benefit  of  the  Colony." 

The  Assembly  perceiving  that  there  has  not  been  made  the 
essential  difference  between  those*  who  conscientiously  refuse  to 
bear  arms  in  war  and  those  who  do  not,  as  it  should  be,  and  that 
the  former  class  "  are  fined  and  then  inconsiderate  persons  are 
employed  who  enter  into  their  houses  and  take  some  of  their  best 
things  ;  and  sometimes  five  times  the  value  that  they  should  by 
law  take  ;"  therefore  the  clause  of  the  law,  May  3,  1676,  which 
infringeth  liberty  of  conscience,  is  repealed,  and  the  law  of  May  7, 
1673,  which  promotes  such  liberty,  is  revived  and  in  full  force. 

November  29.  Samuel  Hubbard,  of  Newport,  writes  to  Dr. 
Stennet  of  London.f  "  As  for  the  other  side,  over  against  us  on 
the  Main,  many  are  killed  by  the  Indians.  The  rest  came  to  us 
with  what  they  could  bring.  Connecticut  army,  Plymouth  and 
Bay  armies,  being  there,  wasted  very  much.  When  they  left  it, 
the  Indians  burnt  near  all  that  was  left." 

December.  In  this  month,  Mark  Luker,  one  of  the  first 
founders  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Newport,  and  a  ruling  elder 
thereof,  dies.     He  adorned  his  profession  as  a  follower  of  Christ. 

During  the  current  year,  Williams's  "  George  Fox  Digged  out 
of  his  Burrowes,"  is  printed  at  Cambridge.  It  goes  over  the 
ground  of  controversy  between  the  two  parties,  as  previously 
described. 

1677.  January  22.  The  Governor  and  Council,  considering  f 
the  perils  to  the  inhabitants  from  drunken  Indians,  who  have  set 
up  wigwams  in  different  parts  of  the  Island,  order  these  dwellings 
to  be  torn  down  and  no  more  to  be  erected.  They  empower  the 
inhabitants  to  take  away  from  Indians  all  "  strong  drink"  found 
upon  them,  and  break  the  vessels  containing  such  liquor  ;  and  to 
bring  Indians  whom  they  meet  with  guns  and  ammunition  before 
the  Governor,  or  his  deputy,  for  examination. 

April  21.  The  Assembly  write  to  Governor  Leet,  of  Connecti- 
cut. They  complain  §  that  "  divers"  of  their  people  have  been 
taken  from  their  homes  in  the  Narragansett  and  carried  to  prison 

*  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  433-5. 

X  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  $  Ibid. 


656  QUAKERS  YIELD  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

[R.I. 

in  Connecticut,  for  refusing  to  comply  with  the  laws  of  the  latter 
Colony.  They  assert  that  if  such  force  is  continued,  they  shall 
be  constrained  to  retaliate.  They  hope  that  his  Majesty's  decision 
will  soon  terminate  such  inconveniences. 

May  2.  As  some  have  petitioned  the  Assembly,*  that  the 
market  day,  kept  on  the  seventh  day,  or  Saturday,  be  changed, 
"  it  being  consistent  [inconsistent]  to  their  opinion  to  be  then 
kept,"  the  Court  decline  compliance,  but  order  that  an  additional 
market  may  be  kept  every  Thursday  in  Newport. 

The  Quakers,  who  held  the  reins  of  government  in  Rhode 
Island  from  the  election  of  16T5,  are  now  left  out  of  the  promi- 
nent ofnces.f  Roger  Williams  was  chosen  magistrate,  but  he 
excused  himself.  Yet  he  wrote  to  Providence,  "desiring  that 
the  old  custom  of  order  be  kept  in  our  meetings,  and  those  unruly 
be  reproved,  or,  upon  obstinacy,  cast  out  from  sober  and  freemen's 
company ;  that  our  ancient  use  of  arbitration  be  brought  into 
esteem  again ;  that  it  being  constantly  reported,  that  Connecticut 
is  upon  gaining  his  Majesty's  consent  to  enslave  us  to  their  parish 
worship,  we  consider  what  we  ought  to  do."  The  writer  was 
often  called  to  experience  the  unruliness  of  which  he  speaks. 
Still  he  stood  for  regularity,  against  the  reproaches  of  many  who 
took  their  will  as  the  rule  of  right.  The  enslavement  alluded 
to  by  him,  was  the  endeavor  of  Connecticut  to  have  the  towns  in 
Narragansett,  which  they  claimed  counter  to  the  protestations  of 
Rhode  Island,  secured  to  them  by  royal  permission.  Of  course, 
the  former  Colony,  if  successful  in  their  purpose,  would  have 
parish  taxes,  as  well  as  others,  raised  to  support  ministers  in  the 
places  for  which  they  were  contending. 

A  military  law  is  passed.  +  This  subject  had  been  much  neg- 
lected by  the  Quakers,  while  they  were  at  the  head  of  Govern- 
ment, consistently  with  their  profession.  As  a  matter  of  necessity 
in  the  war  of  Philip,  they  granted  commissions  to  arm  vessels  and 
garrisons  for  defense  against  the  enemy. 

The  law  says :  "  Some  under  pretence  of  conscience,  have 
taken  liberty  to  act  contrary  and  make  void  the  power  and  author- 
ity of  the  military,  so  necessary  to  be  upheld  and  maintained,  that 
the  civil  power,  (in  which  the  whole  freedom  and  privileges  of  his 
Majesty's  subjects  are  kept  and  preserved,)  cannot  without  it  be 
executed,  and  have  so  far  acted  therein,  that  this  his  Majesty's 
Colony  at  this  time  is  in  effect  wholly  destitute  of  the  military 
forces  for  the  preservation  thereof,  and  inhabitants  therein,  and 
may  thereby  be  made  a  prey  unto  the  weakest  and  meanest  of  his 
Majesty's  enemies." 

The  law  proceeds  to  specify  the  means  whereby  the  military 
art  shall  be  more  fully  understood  and  practiced.    It  then  expresses 

*  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  466.  J  Rec.  of  R.  I. 


CODDINGTON  TO   Fo\.  B51 

[677.] 

the  subsequent  clause:  "Provided  always,  and  this  Assembly  do 
hereby  declare  that  it  is  their  full  and  unanimous  resolution  to 
maintain  full  liberty  in  religious  concerns  relating  to  the  worship 

of  God,  and  that  no  person,  inhabiting  in  this  jurisdiction,  shall  be 
any  wise  molested,  punished,  disquieted,  or  called  in  question  for 
any  difference  in  opinion  in  matters  of  religion,  who  does  not  act- 
ually disturb  the  civil  peace  of  this  Colony."  The  last  part  of 
this  sentence  might  be  so  construed  by  a  majority,  as  to  be  called 
oppression  or  persecution  by  a  minority.  The  other  neighboring 
Colonies  asserted  that  they  arraigned  no  man  for  his  faith,  except 
it  was  manifested  to  the  injury  of  the  public  peace.  It  is  true 
that  they  made  their  definition  of  such  peace  cover  more  points 
than  Rhode  Island  did. 

10.  Connecticut  reply.  They  say  to  Rhode  Island,  you  mis- 
represent "our  loyal  proceedings  with  your  manner  of  forcible 
taking  and  accounting  the  lands,  which  so  lie  within  the  known 
and  unknown  limits  of  our  charter,  to  be  circumscribed  in  yours, 
because  of  a  surreptitious  procurement  of  a  grant  from  our  sove- 
reign, upon  an  agreement  by  your  agent  pretended  to  be  made  with 
the  Honorable  John  Winthrop,  Esq.,  after  he  had  done  the  busi- 
ness of  his  agency  for  this  Colony,  according  to  his  commission. 
We  have  no  cause  to  believe  that  your  pretended*  non  obstante 
will  be  countenanced,  to  prejudice  our  previous  and  positive  firm 
charter  of  so  just  a  prince." 

June  28.  Governor  Coddington  writes  to  George  Fox  about 
Williams's  book  against  him.  As  a  specimen  of  his  style,  we 
have  the  following  extract :  *  "  There  is  a  lying,  scandalous  book 
of  Roger  Williams.  I  have  known  him  about  fifty  years,  a  mere 
weathercock,  constant  only  in  inconstancy.  Poor  man  !  that  doth 
not  know  what  should  become  of  his  soul,  if  this  night  it  should 
be  taken  from  him."  Bitter  language,  like  this,  was  very  preva- 
lent among  the  Quakers,  whenever  expressing  themselves  against 
their  opponents.  They  evidently  imagined  it  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  gospel,  though  far  from  savoring  of  the  mildness  incul- 
cated by  such  a  divine  dispensation,  and  from  giving  the  best 
influence  to  their  belief.  As  coming  from  the  pen  of  its  author,  it 
may  have  had  a  deeper  infusion  of  gall,  from  the  probability  that 
Williams's  book  had  been  a  principal  means  of  diminishing  the 
numbers  of  his  party,  and  recently  ejecting  him  and  them  from 
political  power. 

August  16.  William  Coddington  writes  f  to  Ralph  Fretwell 
of  the  proceedings  against  Margaret  Brewster  and  other  Quakers 
in  Boston.     John  Easton,  Jr.,  was  one  of  her  abettors. 

September  1.  Letters  of  this  date  are  directed  by  Dr.  Peter 
Chamberlain,  of  England,  J  a  Seventh-day  Baptist,  to  the  Newport 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  445.     f  Besse,  vol.  ii.  p.  261.     t  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  475. 
83 


658  NOTICE  OF   SAMUEL   GORTON. 

[R.I. 

church,  under  Elder  Hiscox.  One  of  them  was  for  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  on  the  subject  of  religious  freedom. 

15.  In  their  instructions  to  James  Richards,*  bound  to  England, 
and  commissioned  to  obtain  the  royal  confirmation  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  territory  to  them  if  he  could,  Connecticut  say  of  it :  "  The 
country  was  planted  in  such  a  dissolute,  forlorn  and  heathenish 
manner,  as  was  both  to  the  dishonor  of  God,  our  King  and  nation, 
and  so  forlornly  situate  as  exposed  it  to  ruin  by  the  heathen." 

Between  November  27  and  December  1,  Samuel  Gorton  closed 
his  long  career.  He  was  born  at'Groton,  England,  1600.  His 
sons  were  Samuel,  John  and  Benjamin,  and  daughters,  Maher, 
Mary,  Sarah,  Ann,  Elizabeth  and  Susanna,  all  of  whom  had  hus- 
bands. Aside  from  the  events  of  his  life,  coming  to  our  notice  in 
course,  others  present  themselves.  When  his  supporters  at  War- 
wick united  with  those  of  Providence,  Newport  and  Portsmouth, 
in  1649,  for  guarding  against  the  apprehended  effects  of  Codding- 
ton's  exertions  in  London  to  obtain  the  government  of  the  Island 
for  life  in  himself,  they  sent  him  and  others  to  attend  the  General 
Court.  So  it  was  in  1652.  In  1651,  he  was  a  commissioner  or 
deputy  from  Warwick  to  the  Assembly  of  members  from  this  town 
and  Providence,  and  was  their  moderator.  To  the  like  body 
he  was  appointed  the  next  year.  For  the  Legislature,  of  repre- 
sentatives from  four  towns,  the  people  of  Warwick  chose  him  from 
1655  to  1660,  and  1662-3,  being  eight  years ;  then  deputy,  1664 
to  ^df  three  years,  Block  Island  being  added  to  the  places  repre- 
sented there  for  the  last  two  years.  Besides  the  general  duties 
here  implied,  he  had  others  to  discharge.  In  1655,  Mr.  Gorton 
was  on  a  committee  to  sign  letters  to  the  Lord  President  and  Rev. 
John  Clark,  in  London.  It  was  so  in  1658.  In  1656,  he  was 
designated  on  a  committee  to  treat  with  Pumham  and  company,  and 
1658,  to  write  to  Plymouth  Colony,  and  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies. 

By  this  review,  we  perceive  a  marked  difference  between  the 
former  and  latter  Colonial  conduct  of  Gorton, — in  that  he  in- 
dulged his  passions  with  perilous  violence,  as  at  Plymouth,  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence ;  and  Savage  calls  him  "  a  most  active  reli- 
gious disturber  of  several  places."  Dean  says,  "  Indeed,  he  was 
a  sort  of  fire-brand  in  the  midst  of  the  little  communities  into 
which  he  was  here  thrown."  But  such  fault  he  wisely  reformed. 
The  change  was  profitable  to  his  interests,  and  honorable  to  his 
reputation.  To  the  question,  in  what  particular  school  of  divinity 
must  we  look  for  his  religious  principles,  he  has  left  us  no  explicit 
direction.  Roger  Williams  charged  him  with  "  denying  all  visible 
and  external  ordinances,  in  depth  of  familism"  Norton  states, 
"  that  he  discovered  himself  to  be  deeply  leavened  with  blasphem- 

*  Conn.  Col.  Journal. 


PRINCIPLES   OP   GORTON.  669 

167a] 

ous  and  familistical  opinions."  The  most  careful  analysis  of  his 
belief,  which  has  come  to  ns,  is  that  of  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  in  1643,  when  Gorton  was  on  trial  before  them  for  heresy. 
This  body  charged  what  he  had  written  as  proving  him  an 
enemy  to  the  religion  and  ordinances  of  Christ  and  to  civil  author- 
ity.  In  the  exercise  of  his  privilege  on  trial,  he  denied  the  charge. 
Still  the  Court,  composed  of  Puritan  church  members,  decided  that 
he  was  guilty.  While  their  verdict  would  consistently  harmonize 
with  that  of  all  who  examined  the  case  from  the  like  stand-point, 
it  would  vary  in  the  judgment  of  others,  as  they  assumed  a  different 
position.  Still,  inspired  truth  is  immutable,  and  its  confirmation  in 
ju  'gment,  everlasting. 

1678.  March  2.  Elder  Hiscox,  of  Newport,*  baptizes  Naomi 
Burdick,  who  had  married  Jonathan  Rogers;  also  James  Babcock, 
George  Lamphere  and  two  others,  at  Westerly. 

April  8.  Edmund  Andros,  Governor  of  New  York,  reports  to 
the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  f  that  Quakers  are  the  most 
numerous  denomination  in  Rhode  Island,  but  "  the  government  is 
now  out  of  their  hands." 

May  5.  Joseph  Clarke  writes,  +  from  Westerly,  to  his  father 
Hubbard,  of  Newport,  that  John  and  James  Rogers,  with  their 
father,  are  imprisoned.  The  three  latter  persons,  having  persuaded 
themselves  that  it  was  their  duty  to  oppose  public  worship  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  and  to  work  upon  it,  and  having  thus  dis- 
turbed the  public  peace  in  Connecticut,  the  authorities  here  had 
them  confined.  The  church  under  Hiscox  informed  of  this,  soon 
sent  messengers  to  New  London,  so  that  they  might  learn  the  cause 
and  particulars  of  the  Rogers's  imprisonment. 

June  12.  On  petition  of  Rachel  Andress,§  that  she  may  be 
divorced  from  her  husband,  Richard  Andress,  who  has  been  absent 
from  the  Colony  several  years,  and  she  has  heard  nothing  of  him, 
and  it  being  proved  that  he  has  a  wife  in  England,  the  Assembly 
grant  her  request. 

July  3.  Petition  of  Richard  Smith  and  others  is  laid  before  the 
Council  at  White  Hall,  London.  It  states  that  about  seven  years 
ago  a  like  paper  was  presented  to  his  Majesty  by  the  hand  of  said 
Smith,  signed  by  the  principal  inhabitants  and  proprietors,  "  setting 
forth  the  many  irregularities  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Government 
of  Rhode  Island,  and  humbly  praying  your  Majesty's  relief  therein; 
but  the  wars  with  Holland  and  other  weighty  affairs  of  state  inter- 
vening, your  petitioners  were  ordered  to  a  more  convenient  time ; 
by  which  means,  your  petitioners  are  without  any  settled  Govern- 
ment ;  that  in  the  time  of  the  late  Indian  war,  the  petitioners 
sent  to  the  Government  of  Rhode  Island  for  their  protection  and 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  475.  f  Com'rs  for  X.  E.  papers. 

X  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  47<5.  §  R.  I.  Col.  Rec. 


660  COMMUNICATION  TO   LORDS  OY  TRADE. 

[R.I. 

defense,  which  was  absolutely  denied  them,  the  then  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island  being  a  Quaker,  and  thought  it  perhaps  not  lawful 
either  to  give  commission  or  take  up  arms ;  so  that  their  towns, 
goods,  corn  and  cattle,  were  by  the  savage  natives  burnt  and  totally 
destroyed  j  whereby  the  petitioners  are  become  great  sufferers  in 
their  estates  and  fortunes."  They  therefore  desire  his  Majesty  to 
order  that  Rhode  Island  cease  from  exercising  authority  over  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Narragansett  country,  and  that  they  and  other 
inhabitants  of  the  Islands  Quonaniquett,  Hope,  Patience,  and  Dutch 
Island,  may  be  restored  to  Connecticut.  This  petition  is  referred 
to  the  Lords  Committee  of  the  Board  for  Trade  and  Plantations. 

On  December  13,  the  King  orders  that  the  Rhode  Island  magis- 
trates exercise  authority  of  Justices  of  the  Peace  over  Narragansett 
country  or  King's  province. 

October  2.  A  copy  of  Randall  Holden's  and  John  Green's  com- 
munication* to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  is  laid  before 
the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  having  been  sent  to  them  by  their 
agents  in  London.  Holden  and  his  associate  call  themselves  depu- 
ties of  Warwick.  They  mention  the  Bay  agents  as  representing 
"  your  petitioners,  together  with  Samuel  Gorton,  as  vagabonds  and 
fomenters  of  disquiet ;  it  appears  by  their  own  confession,  that  the 
Government  of  the  Massachusetts,  together  with  those  of  Plymouth 
and  Connecticut,  were  the  persecutors  of  your  petitioners  and 
others,  those  loyal  persons  who  could  not  submit  to  their  new 
fangled  inventions  and  rigid  discipline."  They  proceed :  "  It  is 
matter  much  to  be  wondered  at,  that  these  agents  should  make 
complaint  to  your  Lordships  against  one  Gorton,  so  opprobriously 
stigmatizing  him  for  a  grand  heresiarch,  when,  in  the  mean  time, 
it  might  easily  be  made  to  appear  that  none  have  been  so  great 
heretics  and  schismatics  as  themselves."  They  thus  express  them- 
selves, evidently  intending  to  make  the  most  of  the  prejudice 
which  the  King  had  against  Massachusetts,  so  that  their  purposes 
might  be  accomplished.  They  even  charge  the  Colony,  last 
named,  with  being  the  cause  of  all  difficulties  with  the  Indians, 
and  propose  the  question  whether,  so  far  from  having  any  propor- 
tionate claim  to  Narragansett  or  the  King's  Province,  and  War- 
wick, by  right  of  conquest,  they  should  not  pay  Rhode  Island  for 
all  their  damages,  accruing  from  Philip's  war  !  They  petition  in 
behalf  of  the  latter  plantation,  that  their  Lordships  would  move 
"  His  Majesty  to  erect  a  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  over  all  the 
Colonies  in  New  England,  and  that  his  own  royal  authority  may 
be  there  so  established,  that  justice  may  be  equally  distributed  to 
all ;  that  the  long  disputes  and  differences  about  boundaries  may  be 
decided,  and  his  Majesty's  loyal  subjects,  who  have  too  long  groaned 
under  the  oppression  of  an  insulting  and  tyrannical  government,  may 

*  Mass.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 


FIRE   BRAND  QUENCHED.  661 

lti?S.| 

be  relieved,  without  which  ruin  and  di solution  will  inevitably  fall 
upon  the  plantations  by  a  civil  Mar."  Though  these  accusers  may 
have  had  some  ground  of  complaint,  from  the  long  collisions  of 
imperfect  human  nature,  yet  so  loose  had  been  their  ideas  of  con- 
stitutional law  and  order,  they  had  more  cause  to  blame  their  own 
erroneous  judgment  than  the  Bay  authorities.  They  go  on  to 
request  that  Connecticut  may  be  commanded  to  restore  Westerly, 
a  town  which  they  claimed  as  within  their  bounds ;  and  that  all 
sentences  given  by  Massachusetts  and  others  against  inhabitants 
of  Warwick  may  be  repealed,  and  especially  the  sentence  of 
banishment  against  Holden,  in  1643. 

October  8.  Governor  Leet,  of  Connecticut,  dates  a  letter*  to 
Elder  William  Hiscox  and  his  church  at  Newport,  relative  to  a 
communication  from  Dr.  Chamberlain,  of  London,  and  to  the  im- 
prisonment of  John  and  James  Rogers  and  their  father,  Seventh- 
day  Baptists. 

This  year,  "  A  New  England  Fire-brand  Quenched,"  being  an 
answer  by  George  Fox  and  John  Burnyeat,  to  "George  Fox 
Digged  out  of  his  Burrows,"  by  Roger  Williams,  is  printed. 
The  Appendix  of  the  work  is  subscribed  with  the  initials  of  the 
authors,  July,  1677.  It  is  principally  a  review  of  Williams's 
book.  It  states  that  on  his  visit  to  Rhode  Island,  Fox  "  did  turn 
many  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  at  Providence  and  Newport." 
In  reference  to  the  name  of  his  order,  it  remarks  :  "  Thou  say  est 
thou  hast  cause  to  judge,  that  the  word  Quaker  was  given  us  from 
that  strange  possession  of  our  bodies  of  quaking  and  shaking. 
Answer.  Gervase  Bennet,  Justice  of  Derby,  gave  us  that  name, 
because  I  and  we  bid  him  and  his  company  tremble  at  the  word  of 
God."  As  a  specimen  of  its  manner,  a  few  lines  are  given  at  the 
close  of  the  Appendix.  "  Thou  scoffingly  sayest,  1  fear  G.  F. 
is  so  taken  up  with  his  sitting  with  Christ  in  heavenly  places, 
with  immediate  dictates  of  his  supposed  Holy  Spirit,  I  fear  his 
case.  And  thou,  that  sittest  not  in  the  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus,  where  dost  thou  sit,  R.  W.,  and  ye  New  England  priests  and 
professors  ?  In  sin  and  death  and  old  Adam  ?  Thou,  that  sittest 
not  here  in  this  heavenly  place,  art  yet  dead  in  thy  sins,  unquick- 
ened ;  and  read  thy  sitting,  thy  life  and  conversation :  Ephes.  ii. 
2,  3.  And  neither  R.  W.  nor  ye  New  England  priests  can  pluck 
us  out  of  the  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus,  where  God  hath 
raised  us  up  by  his  Spirit  above  your  sin  and  death,  where  thou 
and  the  New  England  priests  sit,  and  rail  and  scoff  and  persecute 
them." 

November  1.  William  Coddington  dies,  aged  seventy-seven.  He 
came  from  Boston,  Lincolnshire,  England,  and  settled  as  a  mer- 
chant, 1630,  in  the  town  of  the  same  name,  in  Massachusetts.     He 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  477. 


662  WILLIAM   CODDINGTON. 

[R.  I. 

was  elected  an  Assistant  for  the  Colony,  before  his  emigration, 
March  18,  1630,  and  appeared  at  the  Court  in  Charlestown  the 
7th  of  next  September.  Near  this  time  he  was  called  to  mourn  the 
decease  of  his  wife.  He  was  elected  Assistant,  1632,  and  so  con- 
tinued six  years  to  1638.  He  was  appointed  Treasurer,  May  14, 
1634,  and  also  the  next  year.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1635,  he 
became  member  of  the  Board  for  military  concerns  of  the  Colony, 
and  of  a  committee  to  license  settlers  at  Cochiowicke.  On  May 
25,  1636,  he  is  united  with  others  to  hold  courts  for  Boston, 
Roxbury,  Dorchester,  Weymouth  and  Hingham. 

Shortly  before  the  expedition  from  Massachusetts  against  Block 
Island  and  the  Pequods  in  August,  1636,  he  was  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners who  made  peace  in  behalf  of  this  Colony  with  the 
Narragansetts,  through  Canonicus  and  Miantinomo,  their  chief 
sachems.  On  March  9,  1637,  he  is  put  on  a  committee  to  settle 
claims  of  soldiers  in  this  expedition. 

At  sessions  of  the  General  Court,  September  26  and  Novem- 
ber 2,  the  same  year,  he  appears  as  Deputy  from  Boston.  He 
takes  a  prominent  part  this  year,  in  favor  of  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchin- 
son's sentiments,  which  proves  the  occasion  of  his  banishment. 
"Winthrop  recorded,  "  Mr.  Coddington,  being  with  his  wife  taken 
with  the  familistic  opinions,  removed  to  Aquidnay  Island." 

A  constitution  of  government  being  formed  at  Portsmouth, 
Rhode  Island,  in  1638,  William  Coddington  is  its  first  signer. 
On  the  same  occasion,  eighteen  freemen  elect  him  the  Judge  of 
the  Colony,  and  his  council  under  the  name  of  Elders.  Such 
official  titles  were  continued  to  March  12,  1640,  when  they  were 
changed  for  Governor  and  Assistants.  Their  agreement  is,  that 
they  "  will  submit  their  persons,  lives  and  estates  unto  their  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  and  to  all 
the  perfect  laws  given  in  his  holy  word  of  truth,  to  be  guided 
and  judged  thereby." 

March  24,  1638,  he  receives  a  deed  of  Aquedneck  Island, 
from  Canonicus  and  Miantinomo,  and  also  of  other  islands, 
except  Chibbachuweset,  called  Prudence,*  "  for  forty  fathoms  of 
white  beads"  or  wampum.  His  previous  acquaintance  with  these 
chiefs  must  have  contributed  to  the  convenience  of  this  contract. 
He  also  paid  gratuities  for  such  a  purchase  in  1639,  to  several 
sachems. 

April  28,  1639,  Mr.  Coddington  is  chosen  Judge  of  the  per- 
sons who  agree  to  promote  a  settlement  at  Pocasset,  or  Newport, 
where  they  subscribe  the  constitution.  Being  continued  Governor 
into  1642,  he  is  elected  on  September  19,  of  this  year,  chairman 
of  a  committee  to  obtain  a  Patent  for  Rhode  Island,  and  correspond 
with  Sir  Henry  Vane  on  the  subject. 

*  Sold  to  Governor  Winthrop  and  Boger  Williams,  June  3.  1638. 


CODDING  1"N   <.<»\  BRNOB    FOB   LIFE.  6(W 

L678.] 

In  May,  1647,  he  is  appointed  Assistant  for  Newport,  and 
.May  16,  of  next  year,  President  of  Providence  plantations.  The 
latter  appointment  appears  to  have  been  chiefly  for  political  con- 
siderations. It  is  probable  that  he,  having  embarked  for  England 
the  preceding  January,  had  bo  begun  to  operate  for  a  Charter  of 
the  Island,  that  its  control  might  be  vested  in  himself,  the  electors 
at  home  had  heard  of  it  and  endeavored  to  win  him  from  his  pur- 
pose bv  such  a  choice. 

A  chief  inducement  for  him  to  decline  connection  in  govern- 
ment with  the  two  towns  on  the  Main,  was  his  strong  repugnance 
to  being  brought  in  immediate  relation  with  Samuel  Gorton.  But 
about  two  months  before  he  embarked  for  London,  he  expressed 
to  Governor  Winthrop  his  unyielding  opposition  to  the  allowance 
of  the  freedom  of  the  Island  to  Gorton  and  his  company. 

Coddington  remaining  in  England  till  the  summer  of  1651, 
when  he  brought  home  a  Charter  of  Rhode  Island,  which  em- 
powered him  as  Governor  for  life,  Providence  and  Warwick 
protest  against  this  privilege.  Forty-one  persons  of  Portsmouth 
and  sixty-five  of  Newport  did  not  approve  of  his  course,  and 
therefore  they  unite  in  sending  John  Clark,  one  of  their  original 
proprietors,  to  solicit  in  London,  a  repeal  of  Coddington's  com- 
mission. As  this  document  was  supposed  to  have  vacated  the 
Charter  of  Providence  and  Warwick,  Eoger  Williams  is  chosen 
by  them  to  go  on  a  similar  agency.  Clark  and  Williams  sailed 
from  Boston  in  November. 

April  14,  1652.  As  the  eighteen  associates  who  bought  Rhode 
Island  of  the  two  sachems  with  Coddington,  were  very  uneasy  that 
he  had  not  transferred  to  them  such  property,  he  now  complies  with 
their  request.  Seeing  that  he  had  obtained  a  Charter  to  govern 
the  Island  for  life,  he  could  not  be  surprised  that  they  sought  for  a 
legal  claim  of  their  rights,  so  that  they  might  enforce  them  if  he 
endeavored  to  hold  his  grant  from  the  Crown. 

May  IT,  1653.  The  General  Assembly  of  freemen  of  New- 
port and  Portsmouth,  send  two  messengers  to -Coddington  for  the 
Records  and  Statutes.  He  replies,  that  he  will  advise  with  his  coun- 
cil and  then  answer.  He  says  that  "  he  dare  not  lay  down  his  com- 
mission, having  no  order  thereto,  nor  has  he  seen  any  thing  to 
show  that  his  commission  is  annulled.  On  June  4,  Providence 
and  Warwick  remonstrate  against  the  government  of  Coddington 
and  Council.  On  the  31st  of  August,  1654,  the  four  towns  unite 
in  one  Colonial  government,  under  the  Providence  Charter,  and 
thus  practically  nullify  Coddington's  commission. 

March  11,  1656,  he  is  a  member  from  Newport,  among  the 
Commissioners.  In  their  presence,  he  publicly  agrees  as  follows  : 
"  I,  William  Coddington,  do  freely  submit  to  the  authority  of  His 
Highness  in  this  Colony  as  it  is  now  united,  and  that  with  all  my 


004  DEATH   OF   CODDIXGTON. 

[R.I. 

heart."  Oil  the  17th,  the  General  Assembly,  in  reference  to  a 
complaint  that,  as  some  difficulties  about  Mr.  Coddington  were 
not  settled  by  orders  from  England,  it  would  be  well  for  him  not 
to  sit  among  them  for  the  present,  expressing  their  wish  that  Mr. 
Clark  may  be  written  to,  "  declaring  their  good  desires  and  appre- 
hensions conceived  from  Mr.  Coddington's  demonstrations  of  good 
affection  to  the  Government,  as  also  of  their  own  satisfaction  gen- 
erally in  the  Colony,  in  the  matters  of  complaint  premised."  Thus 
the  matter  of  his  having  obtained  a  charter  to  be  Governor  for  life 
of  the  Island,  is  allowed  to  pass. 

March  9,  1665,  Coddington  and  others,  who  had  become 
Quakers,  write  from  Newport  to  the  Royal  Commissioners.  These 
reply  to  them  on  the  13th,  having  on  the  4th  dated  their  "  five 
proposals"  to  them.  On  the  3d  of  May,  Governor  Arnold  sent 
for  such  Quakers,  and  delivered  to  them  the  two  latter  communi- 
cations. 

March  27,  1666,  he  appears  in  the  Legislature  as  Deputy 
from  Newport;  May  2,  September  4,  and  October  31,  as  an 
Assistant.  1673,  he  was  Deputy  Governor;  the  next  two  years, 
he  was  Governor.  1678,  August  28,  he  is  chosen  to  succeed 
Benedict  Arnold,  deceased,  in  this  office,  and  so  continues  short  of 
three  months,  till  his  own  summons  from  earth. 

He  married,  according  to  Savage,  Mary,  daughter  to  Richard 
Moseley,  of  Ousedon,  Suffolk,  England.  She  died  a  few  weeks 
after  his  arrival  in  this  Colony.  He  married  for  his  second  wife, 
Mary,  and,  being  back  in  England,  had  a  child,  1632,  and  soon 
returned  to  Boston,  where  he  had  Mary,  born  2d  March,  1634  ; 
Benajah,  May,  1636.  His  second  wife  was  buried  at  Newport, 
30th  September,  1647.  While  in  England,  whither  he  took  his 
daughter,  he  got  a  third  wife,  Ann.  He  had  children,  William, 
born  18th  January,  1651 ;  Nathaniel,  23d  May,  1653;  Mary,  16th 
May,  1654 ;  Thomas,  5th  November,  1655  ;  John,  24th  Novem- 
ber, 1656  ;  Noah,  12th  December,  1658  ;  Ann,  6th  June,  1660, 
and  Ann,  20th  July,  1663.  He  left  widow  Ann,  who  died  9th 
May,  1708,  aged  eighty. 

Mr.  Coddington  was  a  highly  intelligent  and  respectable  mer- 
chant. His  adoption  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  opinions  drew  him 
from  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  and  brought  him  intoxthe  long 
troubled  waters  of  Rhode  Island.  His  embracing  the  doctrines 
of  George  Fox,  according  to  their  then  too  common  influence, 
increased  his  zeal  and  severity  towards  those  who  opposed  them. 
This  led  him  to  speak  of  Roger  Williams  in  a  vituperative  style, 
painful  to  such  as  respect  the  founder  of  Providence,  who,  though 
subject  to  the  common  imperfections  of  humanity,  had  remarkable 
talents  and  attainments,  and  manv  distinguished  virtues. 


RENEWAL  OP  COVENANT.  (^:> 

1675.] 

CONNFXTICUT. 

1675.  March.  Elder  Hiscox,  Samuel  Hubbard  and  his  son-in- 
law,  and  Joseph  Clark,  of  the  Newport  church,*  visit  the  Rogers 
family  at  New  London.  Jonathan,  another  son,  is  baptized.  He 
and  the  three  previously  mentioned,  were  admitted  members  of 
Elder  Hiscox's  church. 

March  2£.  In  compliance  with  instructions  from  the  Connecticut 
rulers  to  the  churches,  these  keep  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  con- 
fession of  public  sins  and  renewal  of  covenant.  A  condensation  of 
the  last,f  as  done  by  the  church  of  Norwich,  follows.  An  influen- 
tial occasion  for  such  services  was  the  desolating  war  with  Philip. 

1.  "  All  males  who  are  eight  or  nine  years  of  age,  shall  be  pre- 
sented before  the  Lord  in  his  congregation  every  Lord's  day  to  be 
catechised,  until  they  be  about  thirteen  in  age. 

2.  "  Those  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  both  male  and  female, 
shall  frequent  the  meetings  appointed  in  private  for  their  instruc- 
tion, while  they  continue  under  family  government,  or  until  they 
are  received  to  full  communion  in  the  church. 

3.  "  Adults  who  do  not  endeavor  to  take  hold  of  the  covenant 
shall  be  excommunicated. 

4.  "  Brethren  shall  be  appointed  to  admonish  those  parents  who 
are  negligent  of  their  children. 

5.  "  The  Lord's  supper  shall  be  celebrated  once  in  every  six 
weeks. 

6.  "  Erring  brethren  are  to  be  rebuked. 

7.  "  Finally,  seeing  we  feel  by  woful  experience  how  prone  we 
are  soon  to  forget  the  works  of  the  Lord  and  our  vows,  we  do 
agree  and  determine  that  this  writing  or  contents  of  it  shall  be  once 
in  every  year  read  in  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  before  the  Lord 
and  his  congregation  ;  and  shall  leave  it  with  our  children,  that 
they  do  the  same  in  their  solemn  days  of  mourning  before  the  Lord, 
that  they  may  never  forget  how  their  fathers,  ready  to  perish  in  a 
strange  land,  and  with  sore  grief  and  trembling  of  heart,  and  yet 
hope  in  the  tender  mercy  and  good  will  of  Him  who  dwelt  in  the 
burning  bush,  did  thus  solemnly  renew  their  covenant  with  God  ; 
and  that  our  children  after  us  may  not  provoke  the  Lord  and  be 
cast  off  as  a  degenerate  offspring,  but  may  tremble  at  the  command- 
ment of  God,  and  learn  to  place  their  hope  in  him,  who  although 
he  hath  given  us  a  cup  of  astonishment  to  drink,  yet  will  display 
his  banner  over  them  who  fear  him." 

May  1.  Andros,  Governor  of  New  York,  desires  the  General 
Court  of  Connecticut  to  deliver  up  the  territory  contained  in  the 
patent  of  his  Colony.     On  the  17th,  they  reply  that  they  have  no 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  474.  f  D.  C.  Gilman's  Address,  p.  30,  94. 

84 


666  LAWS  FOR  PEQUODS. 

more  soil,  under  their  authority,  than  they  justly  own.*  They  add, 
"  Therefore,  to  our  obliged  duty,  we  are  firmly  resolved  (as  hither- 
to) by  the  gracious  assistance  of  Almighty  God  to  continue  (in 
obedience  to  his  Majesty)  in  the  management  of  what  we  are  be- 
trusted  with."  He  soon  answers  them.  He  remarks  that  he  had 
been  informed  that  New  Haven  Colony  had  regretted,  when  too 
late,  that  they  had  agreed  to  merge  themselves  into  Connecticut. 
He  declares  that  if  they  refuse  compliance  with  his  wish,  he  shall 
protest  against  them  as  disobedient  and  refractory  subjects  of  his 
Majesty.  On  June  16,  the  Governor  and  Council  write  to  Andros. 
They  say  that  they  have  no  evidence  of  what  he  states  concerning 
the  union  of  New  Haven  with  Connecticut ;  they  do  not  under- 
stand the  Duke  of  York's  patent  and  their  own  as  he  interprets 
them ;  they  expected  a  friendly  conference  about  the  points  at 
issue,  before  a  protest,  and  they  still  desire  a  neighborly  corres- 
pondence. 

13.  A  petition  of  Joseph  Hawkins  and  John  Hull  is  presented 
to  the  Assembly  for  a  plantation  at  Pagawsett,  a  part  of  Milford, 
where  are  twelve  families  and  eleven  more  preparing  to  join  them  ; 
and  it  states  "  that  they  have  engaged  a  minister  to  come  and  settle 
with  them."     It  was  allowed,  and  the  place  named  Derby. 

The  Court  grant  the  request  of  Wallingford  to  become  a  church, 
with  the  approval  of  neighbor  churches.  They  "  desire  the  Lord's 
gracious  presence  and  blessing  may  crown  their  endeavors  with 
such  success  as  may  advance  the  glory  of  God  and  their  spiritual 
good  and  edification." 

22.  In  view  of  blastings  and  mildews  on  the  fruits  of  the  field, 
unseasonable  weather,  great  rains,  and  of  threatened  judgments, 
Fast  is  ordered  on  first  Wednesday  of  June. 

31.  On  the  petition  of  Robin  Causacinnamon,f  overseer  of  the 
Pequods,  the  General  Court,  through  their  Committee,  appoint 
laws  for  the  government  of  these  Indians.  Among  such  laws  are 
the  following :  "  That  whosoever  shall  oppose  or  speak  against  the 
only  living  and  true  God,  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  all  things, 
shall  be  brought  to  some  English  Court  to  be  punished,  as  the 
nature  of  the  offense  may  require.  That  whosoever  shall  powow, 
or  use  witchcraft,  or  any  worship  to  the  devil  or  any  false  god, 
shall  be  convented  and  punished."  Whoever  profanes  the  Sab- 
bath shall  be  fined  10/.,  or  "  be  sharply  whipped." 

"  It  is  ordered  that  a  ready  and  comely  attendance  be  given  to 
hear  the  word  of  God  preached  by  Mr.  Fitch,  or  any  other  min- 
ister sent  amongst  them." 

July  1.  Council  of  War  write*  to  magistrates  of  New  Haven,  that 
the  insurgents  "  are  engaging  the  Indians  round  about  by  sending 

*  Conn.  Col.  Rec.  App.  xix.  f  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec. 

%  Conn.  Council  Journal,  p.  332. 


HOSTILITY  OP  ANDRos.  (](J7 

1675.] 

locks  of  some  English  they  have  slain,  from  one  place  to 
another." 

4.  Andros,  Governor  of  New  York,  replies*  to  Winthrop,  Gov- 
ernor of  Connecticut.  "  I  received  yours  of  the  1st  inst.,  of  the 
Indians  being  in  arms  in  Plymouth  Colony,  and  their  having  de- 
stroyed several  Christians  to  the  eastward  of  you,  and  apprehen- 
sion of  their  trending  further  to  you  wards.  I  am  very  much 
troubled  at  the  Christians'  misfortunes  and  hard  disasters  in  these 
parts,  being  so  overpowered  by  such  heathen."  He  states  his 
coming  with  a  force  to  "  Connecticut  River,  his  Royal  Highness's 
bounds  there."  This  was  news  unwelcome  to  Connecticut,  because 
they  suspected  his  intention  to  take  possession  of  Saybrook,  as  he 
soon  manifested,  under  the  occasion  of  resistance  to  the  Indians. 

On  the  10th,  the  Assembly  protest  against  Andros's  coming  with 
force  into  their  jurisdiction,  to  take  the  territory  claimed  by  the 
Duke  of  York's  Patent,  especially  "  when  the  heathen  rage  against 
the  English,  and  by  fire  and  sword  have  destroyed  many  of  his 
Majesty's  good  subjects,  our  neighbors  of  Plymouth  Colony,  and 
still  are  carrying  their  heads  about  the  country  as  trophies  of  their 
good  success." 

11.  Major  Andros  draws  nearer  to  the  fort  of  Saybrook,  with 
several  armed  sloops,  and  displaying  the  King's  flag,  demands  the 
surrender  of  the  place.  Captain  Bull,  who  had  arrived  with  his 
company  as  ordered,  made  preparations  to  resist,  and  also  raised 
the  royal  colors. 

12.  The  Major  desires  to  come  on  shore  and  converse  with  the 
principal  officers  and  ministers.  He  and  his  suite  are  allowed  to 
do  this.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  protest  of  the  Assembly  had  been 
handed  to  the  Captain,  who  observed  to  the  Major,  that  he  was 
empowered  by  such  a  document  to  leave  the  matters  in  controversy 
with  suitable  Commissioners.  The  Major  rejected  the  proposal, 
and  commanded,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  that  the  Duke's  Patent 
and  his  own  commission  be  read.  The  Captain  as  peremptorily 
ordered,  by  the  same  authority,  that  they  should  not  be  read. 
When  the  clerk  of  Andros  attempted  to  read  the  documents,  Bull 
forbade  this  with  such  a  look  and  tone,  that  he  stopped.  The 
Captain  then  remarked  that  he  had  a  protest  to  the  Major  and 
would  read  it,  which  he  did.  Andros  said  to  him,  "  What's  your 
name  ? "  The  reply  was,  "  My  name  is  Bull,  sir."  "  Bull," 
said  the  Major,  "  It's  a  pity  that  your  horns  are  not  tipped  with 
silver."  Andros,  perceiving  that  he  could  not  prevail  by  force, 
went  on  board  and  soon  sailed  for  Long  Island.  On  hearing  of 
this  intrusion,  the  Assembly  passed  a  resolution  which  censured  it, 
and  copies  of  which  they  forwarded  "  to  the  several  plantations." 
Though  Andros  came  to  Connecticut  under  the  plea  of  contending 

*  Easton's  Philip's  War,  p.  46. 


668  ORDER  TO   CHRISTIAN   FAMILIES. 

[Conn. 

against  Philip's  forces,  at  the  same  time  his  purpose  was,  as  he 
wrote  to  James,  successor  to  Charles  II.,  to  surprise  the  territory- 
he  claimed,  and  keep  possession  of  it,  by  a  fort  at  Saybrook. 

August  26.  The  Council,*  in  view  of  the  "  dispensation  of  the 
Most  High  against  his  wilderness  people  in  sending  forth  his  sword 
into  the  land,  and  blowing  on  the  designs  of  the  English  so  many- 
ways,"  for  "  great  neglect  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,"  and  other  sins, — 
order  that  a  Fast  be  observed  throughout  the  Colony,  "  the  same 
4th  day  of  the  week  monthly,  till  further  orders." 

27.  The  Council  desire  John  Whiting  "to  go  forth  with  our 
army,  to  assist  them  in  preaching,  prayer,  counsel  and  exhortation." 

30.  Among  the  instructions  of  Major  Treat,  about  marching  to 
co-operate  with  the  Massachusetts  forces,  is  the  subsequent  order  : 
u  In  all  places  of  your  travels,  march  or  abode,  you  are  to  see  well 
to  the  carriage  and  behaviour  of  all  under  your  command,  that  it 
be  sober,  Christian  and  comely,  both  in  words  and  deeds,  according 
to  gospel  profession,  before  the  heathen  and  in  the  sight  of  all  men ; 
that  so  the  name  of  our  God  be  not  dishonoured  by  ourselves, 
while  we  are  endeavouring  to  vindicate  the  same  against  the  heath- 
en's wickedness  and  blasphemies." 

October  5.  Rev.  Thomas  James,  settled  at  Easthampton,  writes 
to  Governor  Andros,  of  Xew  York.f  Having  stated  that  he  wrote 
a  petition  to  him  for  the  Montauk  Indians,  that  they  might  have 
their  arms  restored  to  them, — he  says  that  the  English  where  he 
lives  are  much  opposed  to  having  such  a  request  allowed,  especially 
since  the  slaughter  committed  by  Philip's  followers.  He  then  re- 
lates :  ' ( Your  Honour's  Predecessor  wrote  several  letters  to  me  to 
stir  me  up  about  instructing  the  Indians  in  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  his  Religion,  and  that  he  would  further  and  encourage  the 
business,  so  far  as  lay  in  his  power.  I  do  think  if  your  Honour  be 
pleased  to  set  in  at  this  time,  it  may  be  a  good  promotion  of  that 
work,  which,  as  I  have  seen  in  several  writings  of  his  most  excellent 
Majesty,  the  King,  his  pious  desires  expressed  for  the  putting  for- 
ward the  work."  Mr.  James  settled  at  Easthampton,  1650.  "He 
learned  the  Indian  language  and  translated  the  catechism  and  parts 
of  the  Bible  "  into  this  tongue.  He  gained  in  a  great  degree,  the 
confidence  of  the  Indians.     He  died,  June  16,  1696. 

14.  The  Assemblv  take  the  following  order:  "Whereas  reading 
...  . 

the  Scriptures,  catechising  of  children,  and  daily  prayer  with  giving 

thanks,  is  a  part  of  God's  worship  and  the  homage  due  to  him,  to 

be  attended  conscientiously  by  every  Christian  family,"  the  Court 

"  solemnly  recommend  it  to  the  ministry  to  look  into  the  state  of 

such  families  as  neglect  such  duty;  convince  them  of  and  instruct 

them  in  their  duty,  and  by  all  means  encourage  them." 

The  townsmen  are  to  aid  the  ministers  "  for  the  reformation  and 

*  Council  Rec.  t  Thompson's  Long  Is.     Easton's  Philip's  War,  p.  86,  7. 


A  COMMITTEE  TO   BEABCH   OUT  SINS. 

education  of  the  children  in  good  literature  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures." 

Heads  of  families,  -who  will  not  reform,  shall  be  presented  by 
the  Grand  Jury  to  the  County  Courts,  to  be  fined,  or  punished,  or 
bound  to  good  behavior,  as  the  case  may  demand.  Young  persona 
are  required  to  live  in  praying  families.  Excess  in  apparel  is 
forbidden. 

Israel  Chauncy,  of  Stratford,  is  appointed  chaplain  of  the  forces 
under  Major  Robert  Treat. 

19.  The  Council  reply  to  Governor  Andros,  of  New  York,  who 
wrote  them  that  there  was  a  general  confederacy  among  the  In- 
dians, and  that  they  intended  to  attack  Hartford  and  other  places 
as  far  as  Greenwich.  They  say :  "  Although  we  have  all  this 
summer  been  alarmed  and  greatly  distressed,  and  charged  by  hostile 
appearances  from  almost  every  of  the  ports  and  parts  of  this  Colony, 
wherein  our  God  hath  made  us  to  be  as  a  bush  burning,  yet  not 
consumed,  in  the  midst  of  these  flames ;  notwithstanding  which, 
we  most  thankfully  accept  your  friendly  lines  of  intelligence  posted 
to  us  so  seasonably." 

20.  Gershom  Bulkley,  of  Wethersfield,  is  appointed  chirurgeon 
of  the  army,  and  he  and  Mr.  Chauncy  to  be  members  of  the 
council  of  war. 

21.  Any  male  person,  over  fourteen,  or  under  seventy  years  old, 
who  leaves  the  Colony  without  license  from  proper  authority, 
wrhile  the  war  continues,  and  thus  "  led  by  inordinate  fear  to  dis- 
trust of  God's  providence,"  shall  forfeit  £100,  or  be  liable  to  cor- 
poral punishment  according  to  his  offense. 

November  22.  In  compliance  with  the  proposal  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, the  Council  appoint  December  2,  "as  a  solemn  day  of 
public  prayer  and  humiliation ;  to  supplicate  the  Lord's  pardoning 
mercy  and  compassion  towards  his  poor  people,  and  for  success  in 
our  endeavors  for  repelling  of  the  rage  and  insolence  of  the  enemy." 

December  11.  As  James  Noyes  could  not  attend  to  the  duty  of 
chaplain  assigned  to  him,  Nicholas  Noyes  is  appointed  to  take  his 
place. 

IT.  The  Council  appoint  a  Convention  of  the  ministers  in  Fair- 
field and  New  Haven  Counties,  with  Messrs.  Woodbridge  and 
Buckingham,  to  meet,  next  week,  at  New  Haven,  "  in  the  fear  of 
God,  to  make  diligent  search  for  those  evils  amongst  us  which  have 
stirred  up  the  Lord's  anger  against  us,  that  they,  being  discovered, 
may,  by  repentance  and  reformation,  be  thrown  out  of  our  camp 
and  our  hearts."  They  were,  also,  desired  to  send  up  their  conclu- 
sions to  the  Council,  the  following  week,  by  Mr.  YVakeman  and 
Mr.  Eliot. 

1676.  January  10.  The  Council  appoint*  regulations  for  the 
forces  under  Robert  Treat,  ordered  against  the  enemy.     Some  of 

*  Conn.  Council  Rec. 


670  RED-HOT  IRON  FOR  THE  TONGUE. 

[Conn. 

them  are  mentioned.  "  Whosoever  shall  presume  to  blaspheme 
the  holy  and  blessed  Trinity,  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  or 
God  the  Holy  Ghost,  shall  suffer  the  pains  of  having  his  tongue 
bored  through  with  a  red-hot  iron.  Unlawful  oaths  or  execrations 
and  scandalous  acts  in  derogation  of  God's  honor,  shall  be  pun- 
ished with  loss  of  pay,  and  other  punishments  at  discretion.  All 
those  who  often  and  willfully  absent  themselves  from  the  public 
worship  of  God  and  prayer,  shall  be  proceeded  against  at  dis- 
cretion." 

John  Brackett,  chirurgeon,  of  Wallingford,  is  appointed  to  take 
care  of  the  wounded,  instead  of  Gershom  Bulkley,  who  is  engaged 
as  chaplain  of  the  army.  Mr.  John  Wise,  of  Branford,  is  appointed 
chaplain  of  the  same  detachment. 

19.  The  Council  send  a  letter  to  Mr.  Fitch,  the  minister,  re- 
questing him  to  visit  New  London  and  encourage  the  soldiers 
there  concerning  the  expedition,  and  to  accompany  them,  "  if  it 
may  be,"  which  he  did. 

23.  Major  Treat  sends  information  from  New  London  to  the 
Council,  that  after  much  difficulty,  he  "  intends,  God  willing,"  to 
begin  his  march  on  the  morrow.  He  closes  thus :  "  I  beg  your 
prayers  to  the  God  of  wisdom,  courage  and  strength,  to  be  with 
me  and  all  that  turn  the  battle  to  the  gate  when  the  Lord  shall 
thereto." 

February  10.  The  Council  answer  the  inquiry  of  Andros, 
dated  the  4th  instant,  whether  they  would  admit  forces  of  New 
York,  "  Christians  or  Indians,  particularly  Maquas  and  Seneques 
to  pursue  Philip  and  his  men  into  their  Colony,  and  afford  supplies 
to  such  allies."  They  say  that  they  should  like  to  have  the  two 
nations  of  Indians,  whom  he  particularly  designates,  tried  on  this 
subject,  before  they  would  particularly  engage.  They  mention  a 
report  that  Philip  had  "  saluted  the  Mohawks  with  a  great  present 
of  £300,  to  engage  them  against  the  English,"  or  remain  neutral. 

John  W^oodbridge,  minister  of  Kenil worth,  and  freeman,  1669, 
going  to  the  Bay  with  his  wife,  is  allowed  to  transport  forty  or 
fifty  bushels  of  grain  thither. 

12.  The  following  order  is  passed  by  the  Council.  "  The  con- 
sideration of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  to  us  (in  this  day 
of  trouble)  in  continuing  of  liberties  and  precious  enjoyments,  and 
so  great  a  measure  of  health  in  our  plantations,  together  with 
preservation  of  our  provisions  and  habitations  in  time  of  such 
devastation  ;  and  for  the  special  mercy  of  God  to  us,  in  answer- 
ing the  prayers  of  his  people,  (though  by  terrible  things  in  right- 
eousness,) in  giving  such  an  overthrow  to  the  enemy  at  the  fort, 
in  the  Narragansett  fight ;  and  also,  for  the  mercy  of  God  to  us 
in  the  last  expedition,  in  causing  the  enemy  some  to  fall  and  the 
rest  flee  before  us  ;  and  returning  of  the  soldiers  with  so  little 
loss ;  these   things    have   moved   us   to   appoint  the   23d   of  this 


CASTING    Of    A    LOT.  61 1 

u;7t;.] 

instant  month,  to  be  solemnly  kept  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving 
throughout  this  Colony,  and  to  bless  God  for  those  fan  mercies, 
and  to  pray  for  his  farther  goodness  and  protection  to  be  manifest- 
ed to  us,  as  the  very  matter  may  require." 

Mr.  Belcher  has  a  permit  to  transport  four  hundred  bushels  of 
corn  and  pease  to  Boston  for  the  praying  Indians,  and  twenty 
bushels  of  wheat  and  fourteen  pounds  of  leather  for  his  own 
family. 

18.  Messrs.  Bulkley  and  John  Hull  are  requested  to  go  forth 
as  chaplains,  with  the  forces.  The  latter  person  was  presented  as 
a  freeman,  May  13,  1669,  then  of  Kenilworth. 

25,  A  lot  is  cast  to  decide  who  of  two  persons,*  Thomas  Watts 
and  John  Stanley,  should  "  go  forth  with  the  army,  captain  of  the 
county  of  Hartford  soldiers."     It  fell  on  Watts. 

March  7.  They  order  "  that  the  collections  drawn  up  by  the 
ministers,"  with  their  own  injunctions,  "  be  sent  forth  and 
attended." 

9.  The  Council  desire  that  Samuel  Hooker,  minister,  be  notified 
to  prepare  himself  for  accompanying  the  forces  under  Major  Treat 
to  Northampton  or  Hadley. 

11.  They  appoint  Mr.  Chauncy,  minister,  instead  of  Mr.  Hooker, 
as  one  of  the  council  of  the  army,  and  also  as  their  chirurgeon. 

13.  James  Fitch,  minister  at  Norwich,  writes  to  the  Council 
in  reply  to  their  proclamation  for  a  Fast.  His  words  follow  : 
"  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  hath  moved  your  hearts  in  so  necessary 
and  seasonable  a  w?ork.  We  intend,  God  willing,  to  take  that  very 
day,  solemnly  to  renew  our  covenant  in  our  church  state,  according 
to  the  example  of  Ezra's  time,  and  as  was  sometimes  practiced  in 
Hartford  congregation  by  Mr.  Stone,  not  long  after  Mr.  Hooker's 
death.  If  other  churches  do  not  see  cause  to  do  the  same,  yet  we 
hope  it  will  not  be  offensive ;  but  do  verily  conclude  if  there  be 
rule  for  that  practice,  this  is  a  time  wherein  the  providence  of  God 
does  in  a  knocking  and  terrible  manner  call  for  it." 

James  Bishop  and  Roger  Newton,  of  Milford,  propose  to  the 
Governor  and  Council  that  the  church  children  be  called  on  to 
fulfill  their  Covenant  obligations. 

For  the  encouragement  of  volunteers,  whether  English  or  In- 
dians, who  go  forth  under  Captains  Denison,  Avery,  Lieut.  Minor 
and  Ensign  Thomas  Leffingwell,  they  "  shall  have  all  such  plunder 
as  they  shall  seize,  both  of  persons  and  corn  or  other  estate,  to  be 
disposed  by  them  in  way  of  sale,  so  as  they  may  best  advantage 
themselves,  provided  authority  have  had  the  first  tender  of  their 
dispose  of  captives,  allowing  them  the  market  price." 

25.  Mr.  Fitch  has  orders  to  accompany,  as  chaplain,  the  troops 
under  Major  Treat,  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  who  were  in  Nar- 
ragansett. 

April  5.    Major  Edward  Palmes  writes  from  Newr  London  to 


672  DECEASE   OF  JOHN  WIXTHROP. 

[Conn. 

the  Council  "  of  the  good  success  God  hath  given  our  forces  in 
this  last  expedition."  This  refers  to  what  Captains  Denison  and 
Avery  and  their  men  had  achieved. 

Among  the  prisoners  was  Canonchet  or  Xanuntenoo,  the  prin- 
cipal surviving  sachem  of  Xarragansett,  and  the  son  of  Mianto- 
nomo.  He  was  condemned  at  Stonington  to  be  shot  to  death. 
The  sentence  was  executed  by  a  young  Mohegan  sachem  and  two 
Pequod  sachems.  His  head  was  cut  off  and  sent  to  Hartford,  and 
the  remainder  of  his  body  was  burnt. 

Mr.  Chauncy,  chaplain,  having  heard  that  his  child  was  dead 
and  his  wife  dangerously  ill,  asks  leave  to  visit  her.  He  remarks  : 
"  I  hope  my  brother  Bulkley,  provided  he  have  an  easy  and  able 
horse,  will  attend  the  army,  upon  their  present  motion."  In  the 
early  part  of  the  month,  Mr.  Bulkley  was  wounded  by  a  shot  from 
the  enemy. 

John  Winthrop,  the  Governor,  dies.  He  was  son  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  born  at  Groton,  Suffolk  county,  England, 
February  12,  1606,  and  studied  at  the  universities  of  Cambridge 
and  Dublin.  After  leaving  his  collegiate  course,  he  traveled  in 
France,  Holland,  Flanders,  Italy,  Germany  and  Turkey.  He 
accompanied  his  wife  to  Massachusetts,  1631.  She  was  Martha, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Henry  Painter,  and  died  at  Ipswich,  1634. 
His  second  wife  was  Elizabeth  Read,  daughter  to  Rev.  Hugh 
Peters 's  first  wife.  By  this  marriage  he  had  sons,  Fitz-John, 
Waitstill,  and  three  daughters.  He  was  elected  one  of  the 
Assistants  for  the  Bay  in  1632,  and  so  continued  till  1650.  He 
was  chosen,  1635,  Governor  of  the  plantation  owned  by  Lords  Say, 
Brook  and  others,  at  the  mouth  of  Connecticut  river.  He  was  a 
Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Essex  Regiment,  under  John  Endicott.  The 
next  year,  his  father  writes  to  him  as  still  Governor  at  Saybrook. 
As  George  Fenwick,  a  principal  proprietor  of  that  settlement,  had 
emigrated  thither  the  year  in  which  Winthrop  was  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  it,  and  the  latter  resided  at  Ipswich  of  the  Bay, 
1638  and  1639,  it  appears  that  for  these  two  last  years,  if  not  some 
time  before,  Fenwick  had  succeeded  to  the  trust  of  Winthrop  as 
chief  magistrate.  V 

In  1640,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  grant  Winthrop 
Fisher's  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  Pequod  river.  The  following 
year,  he  sailed  for  England.  He  receives  from  the  Bay  author- 
ities, 1644,  a  plantation  at  Pequod  for  iron  works.  Two  years 
afterwards,  he  and  others  begin  a  settlement  in  the  same  country, 
at  Southertown  or  Stonington.  Here  he  was  commissioned  to  rule 
the  people,  with  the  aid  of  Thomas  Peters.  This  territory,  Massa- 
chusetts considered  as  their  portion  by  right  of  assisting  to  conquer 
the  Pequods,  its  original  occupants,  though  claimed  by  Connecti- 
cut at  the  same  time.  In  1647  and  '48,  the  last  colony  authorize 
him  to  act  as  a  Justice.     He  was  nominated  for  one  of  the  assist- 


FAMILY   RELIGIOUS   DUTIKS.  678 

ants  or  magistrates  of  Connecticut,  1649,  but  was  not  elected, 
probably  because  he  was  not  one  of  their  freemen,  but  he  was 
blade  BO  the  next  year.  He  was  chosen  magistrate,  1651  to  1656, 
inclusive  ;  Governor  in  1657,  the  next  year  ;  Deputy  Governor, 
and  then  Governor,  1659*,  to  the  year  of  his  decease.  He  went  to 
England,  1(561,  and  obtained  a  charter  for  the  union  of  Connecticut 
and  New  Haven,  as  one  Colony.  He  was  long  a  Commissioner  of 
the  union,  and  in  the  discharge  of  duties  of  that  trust,  he  visited 
Boston,  where  he  died  and  was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  his  father. 
He  was  associated  with  Robert  Boyle  and  Bishop  Wilkins  in  con- 
stituting the  lioyal  Society  in  London.  He  corresponded  with 
Tycho  Brahe,  Galileo,  Kepler,  Milton,  Lord  Napier,  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  and  other  distinguished  characters 
of  Europe.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  talents,  science,  useful- 
ness and  piety.  He  not  only  wished  for  the  rest  of  immortality, 
but  he  conspicuously  complied  with  its  most  reasonable  conditions. 
A  letter  of  condolence  from  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  to 
the  like  body  of  Connecticut,  says  of  the  deceased :  "  Who  hath 
for  so  long  a  time  been  eminently  a  public  ornament,  honor  and 
blessing,  not  only  to  your  Colony  in  particular,  but  this  whole 
country." 

29.  A  letter  from  Mr.  John  Russell  and  others  of  Hadley  to 
the  Council,  says  of  the  people  there,  their  "  spirits  (were)  more 
than  ever  heightened  with  desire  and  earnestness  to  be  going  forth 
against  the  enemy." 

May  15.  The  Council  appoint  Mr.  Bulkley,  chirurgeon,  and  Mr. 
Fitch,  minister  of  forces  now  ordered.  Trumbull  says  the  former 
"  was  one  of  the  greatest  physicians  and  surgeons  then  in  Con- 
necticut." 

16.  They  order  that  every  person  "  found  sporting  in  the  streets 
or  fields  after  sunset,"  of  either  Saturday  or  Sunday  night,  or  drink- 
ing at  a  public  house  or  elsewhere,  "unless  for  necessity,"  shall  pay 
10/.  for  each  of  such  offenses.  They  require  that  "  no  servile  work 
shall  be  done  on  the  Sabbath,  viz.,  such  as  is  not  of  piety,  charity 
or  necessity,  and  no  profane  discourse  or  talk,  rude  or  unreverent 
behaviour  shall  be  used  on  that  holy  day,  upon  penalty  of  10/.  for 
every  transgression  hereof." 

Ministers  and  the  "  townsmen  "  are  to  use  means  for  inducing 
heads  of  families  who  neglect  reading  the  Scriptures,  daily  prayer, 
giving  thanks,  and  catechising  their  children,  to  reform.  They 
order  that  if  such  parents  do  not  amend,  they  shall  be  presented 
by  the  grand  jury  and  dealt  with  as  their  case  requires. 

26.  Samuel   Stone,   as   appointed   by  the   Council,  proposes  to 

Note. — May  24.  Capt.  Benjamin  Newbury  recounts  his  preparations  to  the 
Council,  and  "propounds  whether  it  may  not  do  well  that  Samuel  Cross  and 
those  dogs  he  hath,  may  not  be  advantageous  to  the  present  motion,  to  be  sent 
up."     These  animals  were  to  pursue  Indians. 
85 


674  CONTRIBUTIONS  FOR  THE  FAMISHING. 

[Conn. 

preach  for  Mr.  Bulkley  while  the  latter  is  in  public  service.  He 
was  paid  by  the  Council  20/.  a  Sabbath. 

A  letter  being  laid  before  the  Council,  from  John  Kingsley  at 
Rehoboth,  imploring  help  for  the  famishing,  they  desire  that  a  con- 
tribution may  be  made.  The  secretary,  finder  date  of  30th,  sends 
a  notice  to  the  people.  This  paper  recites  the  distresses  occasioned 
by  the  enemy  in  Plymouth  Colony,  and  says  :  "  We  have  thought 
fit  to  recommend  it  to  your  pious  consideration  to  remember  the 
poor  and  them  that  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them.  We  desire 
that  you  would  appoint  one  in  each  congregation  to  receive  your 
liberality,  and  to  take  care  for  the  speedy  and  effectual  sending  the 
same  to  Boston  and  Seaconck,  to  be  distributed  to  those  in  necessi- 
ties." It  states  that  Deacon  Walker,  of  Seaconck,  would  receive 
and  distribute  what  was  sent  thither,  and  that  Messrs.  Thacher 
and  Mather,  of  Boston,  would  see  that  the  rest  was  divided  among 
the  needy  of  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  Colonies. 

29.  Mr.  Fitch  writes  to  the  Council  that  his  health  and  his 
"  constant  occasions  with  the  Indians,"  will  not  allow  his  connec- 
tion with  the  army  as  chaplain,  and  he  desires  that  Mr.  Noyes,  of 
Stonington,  may  supply  his  place.  Still  he  continued  to  go.  He 
requests  that  his  people  and  those  of  Stonington  be  protected,  lest 
they  be  exposed  to  enemies,  provoked  with  them  for  their  late  ex- 
peditions. He  remarks :  "  The  good  will  of  Him  who  dwelt  in 
the  burning  bush,  dwell  in  the  midst  of  his  people,  and  the  angel 
of  his  presence  be  our  leader." 

The  Council,  in  their  letter  to  Major  Talbot,  say :  We  "  pray 
that  the  God  of  armies,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  may  go  before  you,  en- 
courage your  hearts,  strengthen  your  hands,  fight  your  battles  for 
you,  dash  the  devices  of  the  enemy,  dismay,  destroy  and  deliver 
them  up  into  your  hands,  and  return  you  with  good  success,  in  his 
own  best  time." 

June  7.  The  Council  write  to  Governor  Leverett.*  With  respect 
to  the  decease  of  Mr.  Winthrop,  they  say :  "  We  request  the  con- 
tinuance of  your  prayers  to  the  Lord  for  us,  that  this  solemn  dis- 
pensation may  be  so  sanctified  to  us,  that  we  may  thereby  be 
brought  to  a  deep  humiliation  for  that  which  provokes  the  Lor.d 
against  us,  and  to  a  true,  unfeigned  heart,  returning  to  the  Lord, 
from  whom  we  have  departed ;  and  that  the  Lord  would  pour  out 
a  double  portion  of  his  Spirit  upon  those  of  us  that  do  survive, 
that  if  it  be  his  holy  pleasure,  his  people  may  have  some  to  go  in 
and  out  before  them."  They  express  their  obligation  to  him  for 
having  the  corpse  of  Mr.  Winthrop  buried  from  his  house.  They 
sympathize  with  him  in  his  bodily  complaints,  pray  the  Lord 
to  rebuke  his  infirmities,  long  continue  him  a  blessing  to  His 
"  wilderness  people,"  and  carry  him  through  all  his  difficulties. 

*  Conn.  Council  Rec. 


FASTING  TURNED  TO  THANKSGIVING.  075 

it>7t;.] 

£1.  The  Council  order  that  Mr.  John  Hull  attend  the  wounded 
men  at  1 1  art  ford,  or  Wethersfield. 

£4.  They  address  a  letter  to  James  Richards  and  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Thacher,  Mather  and  Thomas  Shepard,  as  to  what  was 
contributed  by  their  churches.  "  The  deep  sense  we  would  bear 
upon  our  hearts,  of  the  great  duty  of  fellow-feeling  in  the  wants 
and  distresses  that,  at  this  day  of  Jacob's  trouble,  are  come  upon 
our  dear  friends  and  brethren  in  some  parts  of  the  Massachusetts 
and  Plymouth  Colony,  by  reason  of  the  rage  and  fury  of  the 
enemy,  who  have  laid  divers  of  their  habitations  and  some  places 
waste  by  fire,  it  hath  moved  the  spirits  of  our  people  in  this  Col- 
ony, (though  their  estates  are  already  exceedingly  exhausted  in 
aiding  their  neighbors  in  the  wars  with  the  Indians,)  according  to 
their  present  mean  capacity,  very  willingly,  through  the  mercy  of 
God  upon  us,  freely  to  contribute  their  benevolence  for  the  succor 
of  the  poor."  They  observe  that  they  shall  appoint  the  collectors 
in  the  several  churches,  to  send  on  what  is  designed  for  the  gentle- 
men already  named,  as  almoners  of  such  charity. 

July  1.  They  order  that  £8  of  the  late  contribution  be  paid  for 
forty  bushels  of  wheat,  at  Hatfield,  which  Messrs.  Russell,  Stod- 
dard and  Mather  are  to  dispose  of,  among  the  impoverished  of  that 
place. 

10.  They  desire  that  the  contributions  made  in  Windsor  be 
given  to  distressed  persons  who  have  fled  thither,  and  to  sufferers 
at  Springfield  and  of  the  "upper  towns." 

They  write  to  Mr.  Fitch :  "  We  are  very  thankful  unto  you  for 
your  great  and  good  service  you  have  done  in  marching  along  with 
our  army  these  two  last  expeditions,  and  we  find  your  service  so 
acceptable  not  only  to  us,  but  to  our  soldiers,  that  we  should  much 
rejoice  to  find  you  willing  to  go  forth  again  with  them  next  week." 
They  request  him  to  encourage  the  "  Moheags  and  Pequots"  to 
march  again  against  the  enemy. 

They  desire  Thomas  Buckingham,  of  Saybrook,  to  serve  as 
chaplain  of  the  forces,  in  their  next  march,  if  Mr.  Fitch  declines. 

This  month,  John,  son  of  John  Harriman,  of  New  Haven,  and 
a  graduate  from  Harvard  College,  1667,  begins  to  preach  for  the 
church  there.  He  taught  the  Hopkins  grammar  school  there 
several  years,  and  became  the  first  minister  of  Elizabethtown,  in 
New  Jersey. 

21.  The  Council,  in  view  of  late  successes  against  the  enemy, 
abatement  of  sickness,  plentiful  crop,  "  the  yet  preventing  foreign 
designs  against  us,  and  continuance  of  our  precious  gospel  liber- 
ties, do  see  cause  to  invert  the  next  course  of  fasting  days  through- 
out this  Colony  into  like  solemn  days  of  thanksgiving.  With  this 
thanksgiving  it  is  therefore  desired  prayers  may  be  joined  for  the 
melting  of  our  hearts  into  more  genuine  humiliation  and  perfecting 


676  TAXATION   BY  RELIGIOUS   SOCIETIES. 

[Conn. 

reformation,  that  the  Lord  may  proceed  on  in  his  saving  mercies, 
to  heal  the  land  both  of  its  breaches  and  declensions." 

August  19.  They  require  that  the  monthly  stated  Fasts  be  for- 
borne, and  that,  for  the  overthrow  of  the  enemy,  the  30th  inst.  be 
kept  as  a  day  of  public  Thanksgiving. 

September  18.  John,  James  and  Jonathan  Rogers,  and  Japheth, 
members  of  Newport  church  of  Seventh-day  Baptists,  but  residents 
at  New  London,  brought  Elder  Hiscox  and  Mr.  Hubbard  from  the 
former  to  the  latter  place,  and  then  James  Rogers,  Sen.,  his  wife 
and  daughter,  were  baptized  and  received  as  members  of  the  said 
church.  All  these,  for  such  a  transaction,  were  forthwith  arraigned 
before  a  magistrate,  but  were  speedily  released.*  From  this  date, 
the  Rogerses  were  continually  imprisoned  because  they  worked 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  otherwise  disturbed  the  public 
peace. 

October  19.  The  Assembly  order,  that  as  persons  residing  in  a 
town  where  two  separate  churches  existed,  were  legally  required  to 
be  taxed  for  charges  of  one  of  them,  it  is  now  added,  that  if  they 
do  not  elect  the  church  to  which  they  would  be  taxed,  they  shall 
be  assessed  one  half  to  each  church. 

21.  As  John  Rogers  had  adopted  religious  opinions  which  made 
his  wife  unhappy,  she  being  "under  great  distress  and  hazard,"  the 
Assembly  dissolve  her  conjugal  bond  to  him.  She  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  to  Matthew  Griswold,  of  Lyme.  On  October  18,  of  next 
year,  she  petitioned  the  Court  that  her  children  might  be  placed 
under  her  care,  because  her  husband  was  "  so  heterodox  in  his  opin- 
ion and  practice."  They,  considering  that  he  "  utterly  renounced 
all  the  visible  worship  of  New  England,  and  professedly  declared 
against  the  Christian  Sabbath,"  decide  that  she  shall  have  the  two 
children,  and  bring  them  up  in  the  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

23.  The  Assembly  grant  leave  to  Sarah  Towle,  whose  husband 
had  deserted  her  and  her  child  above  six  years,  to  marry  another 
man,  if  she  choose. 

Considering  the  goodness  of  God  in  subduing  the  enemy  and 
removing  sickness,  and  continuing  civil  and  ecclesiastical  liberties, 
the  Assembly  appoint  November  1,  for  a  public  Thanksgiving. 

In  view  of  the  sad  truth,  that  the  Lord  had  delivered  the  people 
from  judgments,  but  they  had  not  suitably  reformed,  and  "he  is 
pleased  to  hold  over  us  a  threatening  hand,  by  dark  clouds  im- 
pending afar  off  and  near,"  the  Court  recommend  that  the  ministers 
stir  up  their  congregations  to  reform,  and  appoint  a  Fast  Day  on 
the  3d  of  November. 

They  order  that  Indians  who  surrender  themselves  before  Jan- 
uary, and  cannot  be  proved  murderers,  shall  not  be  sold  out  of  the 
country,  but  in  it,  for  ten  years,  if  sixteen  years  old;  and  for 
twenty-six  years,  if  under  sixteen  years  old. 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  474. 


CONTRIBUTION    PBOM   IRELAND.  677 

U.77.J 

1677.  J  miliary 2.  The  Council  prepare  a  letter  for  Massachu- 
setts authorities.  It  gives  information  that  they  had  received  a 
communication  from  Nathaniel  Mather,  of  Dublin,  in  Ireland, 
which  said  that  a  contribution  of  £1,000,  collected  there,  wm  for- 
warded to  Boston  for  the  relief  of  distressed  persons  in  the  confed- 
erate Colonies. 

They  return  their  hearty  thanks  to  Mr.  Bulkley  for  his  useful- 
ness to  the  country,  during  the  war,  and  order  him  £30  for  what 
he  had  done,  besides  satisfying  those  who  supplied  his  pulpit. 

20.  They  agree  to  pay  Samuel  Stone  for  twenty-four  Sabbaths, 
at  20/.  each,  on  which  he  preached  for  ministers  who  were  em- 
ployed in  the  army. 

February  3.  They  write  to  Mr.  Fitch,  desiring  that  he  would 
influence  Uncas  to  send  a  messenger  to  the  Mohawks.  This  pro- 
position was  probably  made  with  the  purpose  of  reconciling  the 
Indians,  friendly  to  the  Confederates,  with  the  Mohawks,  and  thus 
prepare  the  way  for  the  latter  to  contend  more  fully  against  the 
Eastern  Indians. 

March  2.  The  Discourses  of  Bacon*  inform  us  that  until  the 
decease  of  Mr.  Street,  in  1674,  the  New  Haven  church  paid  their 
ministers  for  preaching  from  its  treasury,  which  was  supplied  by 
voluntary  contributions  from  the  congregation  ;  but  that  at  the  date 
heading  this  sentence,  the  town  voted  to  discharge  such  an  obli- 
gation by  laying  two  rates  and  a  half  on  the  inhabitants  for  the 
ensuing  year.  Further  action  was  taken  to  secure  the  collection  of 
this  tax,  and  "  to  prosecute  such  as  fail  in  the  payment."  Thus 
was  the  support  of  the  ministry  transferred  from  the  church  to  the 
town. 

13.  Two  Indians,  who  surrendered  and  had  been  "  accepted  to 
mercy,"  but  afterwards  fled  and  were  apprehended,  are  sentenced 
to  be  sold  out  of  the  Colony  for  slaves. 

May  10.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  people  injured  by  the  war 
in  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  are  far  more  so  than  in  Connec- 
ticut, the  Council  relinquish  their  proportion  of  the  Irish  charity 
for  the  latter  Colony,  to  the  two  others.  The  General  Court  pass 
a  similar  vote. 

The  General  Assembly  convene.  They  grant  leave  to  Derby, 
for  three  years,  to  levy  rates,  one  half  on  land  within  their  bounds, 
and  the  rest  on  persons  and  estates,  to  meet  expenses  of  the  min- 
istry as  well  as  of  the  town.     This  is  done  because  holders  of  land 

*  P.  489. 

Note. — A  chirurgeon's  public  service  is  set  at  16s.  a  week. 

Note. — March  2.  In  accordance  with  the  King's  instructions  of  the  last  No- 
vember 3,  the  Council  give  notice,  that  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Jr.,  headed  a  rebellion 
in  Virginia,  and  that  if  he  or  any  of  his  adherents  came  into  Connecticut,  they 
should  be  seized  and  secured. 


678  RULES  FOR  INDIAN  CAPTIVES. 

[Conn. 

in  the  place  did  not  assist  towards  such  taxes,%as  it  was  supposed 
they  should. 

They  allow  Wallingford  to  raise  their  funds  for  liquidating  the 
parish  and  municipal  charges  on  land,  until  a  majority  shall  see  fit 
to  have  it  altered. 

14.  They  thank  Mr.  Hooker  for  his  Election  Sermon,  and  ap- 
point the  Treasurer  to  have  it  printed  and  distributed,  "  by  propor- 
tion in  the  several  towns." 

15.  Each  town,  legally  bound  to  have  a  school,  that  "  neglects 
the  same  above  three  months  in  the  year,  shall  forfeit  five  pounds," 
which  shall  go  towards  the  support  of  a  Latin  school  in  their 
county. 

If  any  one  of  the  enemy,  who  submitted  at  discretion,  runs  from 
his  master,  the  latter  shall  have  power  to  sell  him  out  of  the  juris- 
diction. 

Simsbury  have  permission  to  "  raise  their  rates  for  the  ministry 
and  town  charges  only  upon  lands  for  the  next  three  years."  In 
view  of  their  loss,  they  are  freed  for  the  same  period,  from  their 
country  taxes. 

18.  As  the  law  requires  every  county  town  to  support  a  Latin 
school,  any  such  corporation  neglecting  this  duty,  shall  pay  £10  to 
the  next  town  in  the  county  which  conforms  with  the  injunction, 
and  the  same  sum  annually  till  it  obeys. 

19.  Volunteers  having  gone  forth  against  the  enemy  and  taken 
various  captives,  these  are  declared  the  lawful  prize  of  those,  and 
shall  remain  servants  where  their  captors  have  disposed  of  them. 

On  a  motion  in  favor  of  gentlemen  owning  lands  in  the  Narra- 
gansett  country,  the  Court  declare  that  they  will  endeavor  to  settle 
them,  "  as  may  conduce  to  the  honor  of  God  and  the  public  interest 
of  the  Colony  and  those  concerned  therein." 

For  this  step  they  gave  several  reasons.  They  considered  the 
act  of  the  royal  Commissioners  in  making  Narragansett  and  Rhode 
Island  a  province  for  the  King,  as  null,  because  they  had  no  such 
power ;  the  agreement  of  Mr.  Winthrop  with  Mr.  Clark  was  void, 
because  when  made,  the  former's  agency  had  ceased,  and  he  had 
already  sent  home  the  Connecticut  Charter,  and  he  had  no  instruc- 
tion for  such  a  contract.  They  also  took  the  ground  that  the  Rhode 
Island  people  forsook  Narragansett  in  the  war,  and  neglected  to 
defend  it;  that  Connecticut  volunteers  drove  the  enemy  out  of  it 
and  kept  possession  of  the  territory.  This  subject  had  been  the 
source  of  much  discussion  and  other  trouble  between  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut,  and  so  continued  to  be. 

Considering  the  remarkable  mercies  which  God  has  shown,  and 
the  needed  reformation  which  they  demand,  together  with  signs  of 
his  displeasure,  "still  impending  over  us  and  our  neighbors,  not 
only  by  the  heathen,"  but  from  other  sources,  the  last  day  of  May 
is  appointed  for  a  Fast,  "  to  humble  our  souls  before  the  Lord  for 


MINISTERS   DESIRED   FOB  NEW   YOKK.  679 

1(177.] 

all  our  many  provocations,  and  to  implore  "  his  "  gracious  presence 
to  be  with  us,  as  he  hath  been  with  our  lathers,  inclining  our  hearts 
to  observe  his  statutes  and  commandments,  and  to  make  us  a  re- 
formed people  by  raining  down  righteousness  and  mercy  upon  us, 
and  graciously  appear  to  give  a  good  issue  to  all  affairs  depending 
in  England,  respecting  this  country,  and  the  best  welfare  of  his 
.Majesty,  and  of  all  the  people  of  God,  both  in  England  and  else- 
where." 

85.  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  Sen.,  and  John  Bishop,  preachers, 
of  Stamford,  write  to  Increase  Mather,  of  Boston,  and  Thomas 
Shepard,  of  Charlestown.  They  state  that  they  had  recently  con- 
versed with  Governor  Andros,  of  New  York,  and  that  he\expressed 
a  wish  to  have  several  plantations  in  that  Colony  supplied  with 
"  honest  and  able  ministers,"  and  that  he  would  encourage  such  in 
their  profession. 

June.  James  Rogers,  and  wife  Elizabeth,  and  his  sons  James 
and  Jonathan,  are  fined  for  working  on  the  Sabbath.  John  Rogers 
confessed  that  he  had  been  hard  at  work  on  this  day,  and  that  he 
would  have  done  so,  had  his  shop  stood  under  the  meeting-house 
window.  The  Court  ordered  him  to  be  called  before  them  once  a 
month,  and  fined  £5.  Bathsheba  Rogers  was  charged  with  placing 
a  scandalous  paper  on  the  meeting-house. 

September  15.  As  James  Richards  is  bound  for  England,  the 
Council  empower  him  to  use  endeavors  for  obtaining  from  the 
King  a  confirmation  to  them  of  the  Narragansett  country,  as  com- 
prised in  their  Charter,  and  principally  conquered  by  Connecticut 
forces  in  the  late  war. 

October  15.  Thomas  Denham,  declared  to  be  a  fit  candidate  for 
the  ministry  at  Rye,  by  the  preachers  of  Fairfield  and  Stamford,  is 
allowed  £10,  "in  regard  of  his  late  loss  by  the  war,"  as  an  encour- 
agement to  settle  in  the  first  of  these  three  towns. 

As  Patrick  Murrain  had  purposely  absented  himself  from  his 
wife  Mary,  for  six  years,  and  afforded  nothing  towards  her  support 
for  this  period,  the  Court  release  her  from  her  conjugal  tie  to 
him,  and  grant  her  leave  "  to  dispose  herself  in  marriage  as  God 
shall  grant  her  opportunity." 

16.  The  Court  grant  that  a  house  and  land  at  New  Haven,  left 
to  Noadiah  Russell,  be  sold  to  pay  the  charges  of  his  education  at 
college,  judging  that  this  will  be  better  for  him,  because  he  is 
"  likely  to  prove  a  useful  instrument  in  the  work  of  God." 

18.  Gershohi  Bulkley,  employed  as  both  doctor  and  minister, 
has  license  to  transport  two  hundred  deer-skins,  which  were  among 
articles  of  currency,  to  Boston,  for  the  purchase  of  medicines. 

It  is  enacted,  "  that  no  bill  of  divorcement  shall  be  granted  to 
any  man  or  woman  lawfully  married,  but  in  case  of  adultery,  fraud- 
ulent contract,  or  willful  desertion  for  three  years,  with  total  neglect 
of  duty,  or  seven  years'  providential  absence,  being  not  heard  of 


680  NEARER  RESIDENCE  OF  FAMILIES  ORDERED. 

[Conn. 

after  due  inquiry  made  and  certified,  such  party  shall  be  counted 
as  legally  dead  to  the  other  party." 

The  Court  say,  that  whereas  the  providence  of  God,  in  the  late 
war,  seems  to  testify  against  having  families  settled  far  apart,  being 
exposed  to  destruction  from  an  enemy,  and  also,  to  have  their  chil- 
dren degenerate  to  "  heathenish  ignorance,"  they  order  future  set- 
tlements to  be  made  "  in  such  nearness  together,  that  they  be  a  help 
each  to  the  other  against  surprise  of  any  common  enemy." 

Considering  the  inadequate  improvement  made  by  the  people  of 
their  late  afflictions,  and  "  the  hour  of  temptation  already  begun  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  to  God's  people,  and  the  great  hazard  our 
dear  native  country  and  his  Majesty's  other  dominions,  especially 
the  churches  and  people  of  God  in  them,"  are  exposed  to  by  "  a 
formidable  and  prevailing  power  of  the  enemy," — the  Court  appoint 
the  21st  of  November  for  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer. 

They  further  "  recommend  it  to  all  the  churches  and  ministers 
throughout  this  Colony,  as  often  as  they  can,  to  engage  themselves, 
and  stir  up  their  people  to  the  work  of  solemn  humiliation  and 
prayer,  with  turning  to  the  Lord,  in  this  our  day  of  Jacob's  trouble." 

The  peril  of  Protestant  churches,  here  and  abroad,  so  referred  to, 
was  the  success  of  the  Romish  cause  through  the  triumphs  of  the 
French  arms,  and  the  conduct  of  Charles  II.,  whose  policy  was 
more  in  favor  of  them,  than  of  his  own  English  subjects. 

The  Court  set  apart  the  last  of  the  current  month  for  Thanks- 
giving. 

November  23.  Elder  Hiscox  and  Mr.  Hubbard,  from  Newport, 
hold  worship,  being  the  seventh  day,  at  New  London,  with  the 
members  of  their  church,  two  miles  out  of  town.  The  next  morn- 
ing, the  wife  of  Joseph  Rogers  having  given  a  "  satisfying  account 
of  her  experiences,"  John,  her  brother,  urged  that  they  should 
go  up  to  town  and  baptize  her  there.  Mr.  Hubbard  thought  it  not 
best,  because  the  authorities  advised  to  the  contrary.  But  they  did 
as  Rogers  wished.  While  Mr.  Hiscox  was  preaching,  the  constable 
appeared,  and  ordered  him  and  his  hearers  to  answer  before  the 
magistrate.  Mr.  Bradstreet  was  at  the  trial,  and  spoke  of  the  good 
way  established  by  their  fathers.  Mr.  Hubbard  replied  :  "  You 
are  a  young  man,  but  I  am  an  old  planter  of  about  forty  years,  a 
beginner  of  Connecticut,  and  have  been  persecuted  for  my  conscience 
from  this  Colony,  and  I  can  assure  you,  that  the  old  beginners 
were  not  for  persecution,  but  we  had  liberty  at  first."  Finally,  the 
accused  were  released  and  retired  to  the  house  of  Samuel  Rogers. 
Here  "  John  put  himself  forward,  prayed,  and  then  went  out  to 
the  water  and  baptized  his  sister."  As  Mr.  Hiscox  was  supposed  to 
have  performed  this  ceremony,  he  was  apprehended  for  it,  but 
Rogers  confessed  that  he  did  the  service,  and  the  remainder  were 
suffered  to  depart. 

*  He  was  of  Milford,  in  1669. 


ROGERENE  CREED.  <i*l 

L678.] 

From  this  time,  John  Rogers,  so  doing,  began  to  act  conspicu- 
ously and  draw  off  from  the  Sabbatarians,  He  preached,  baptized, 
gained  a  few  disciples,  formed  a  church,  viewed  as  a  new  sec!, 
designated  as  Rogerenes,  or  Rogerene  Quakers,  or  sometimes 
Etogerene  Baptists.  He  and  his  followers  resolved  to  pursue  a 
course  which  they  knew  was  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace, 
and  must  bring  on  them  the  penalties  of  the  law.  They  interrupted 
others  in  their  worship,  and  denounced  what  they  counted  sacred. 
They  were  strong  advocates  for  salvation  by  faith  in  Christ,  for  the 
Trinity,  regeneration,  resurrection  of  the  just  and  unjust,  and 
eternal  judgment.  They  taught  that  it  was  right  to  obey  civil 
government,  except  wherein  opposed  to  conscience  and  religion ;  to 
pay  town  rates,  but  not  those  for  ministers  ;  to  resist  all  civil  power 
in  divine  worship.  Like  Sabbatarians,  they  held  to  immersion  and 
rejection  of  the  first  day,  as  Sabbath,  but  differed  from  them  in 
other  points.  They  considered  all  days  alike,  though  they  met  on 
the  first  day  for  worship ;  still  they  worked  freely  when  such  ser- 
vice was  over,  at  any  part  of  the  day.  They  had  no  meeting-houses, 
looking  on  a  pulpit,  steeple  and  salaried  minister  with  abomination. 
They  denied  swearing  by  oath,  and  made  no  prayers  in  public 
worship  or  in  the  family.  They  believed  that  prayer  should  be 
mental,  not  vocal,  except  on  special  occasions,  when  prompted  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  They  used  no  means  to  recover  health,  except 
care,  kindness  and  attention.  They  viewed  all  application  to  drugs, 
medicines  and  physicians,  as  sinful.  Part  of  their  practices  were 
very  distasteful  to  the  Seventh-day  Baptists.* 

1678.  May  5.  Rev.  James  Fitch  writes  f  from  Norwich  to  the 
Assembly  respecting  Uncas :  "  I  shall  add  no  more,  but  only  that 
which  is  so  commonly  known  not  only  to  myself,  but  anv  who 
have  opportunity  with  him  in  the  company  of  Indians  with  him, 
so  reproachfully  to  villify  our  rulers,  our  laws  and  religion,  and  is 
the  great  opponent  of  any  means  of  souls'  good  and  concernment 
to  his  people,  and  abounding  more  and  more  in  dancings  and  all 
manner  of  heathenish  impieties  since  the  wars  ;  and  villifying  what 
hath  been  done  by  the  English,  and  attributing  the  victory  to  their 
Indian  helps." 

John  and  James  Rogers  are  in  prison.  X  They  had  excommu- 
nicated ,  their  brother  Jonathan,  "  because  he  did  not  retain  their 
judgment  of  the  unlawfulness  of  not  using  medicines,  nor  accuse 
himself  before  authority  for.  working  on  the  first  day  of  the  week." 
In  consequence  of  such  information,  the  church  of  Newport  sent 
brethren  to  New  London.  These  messengers  report  that  those  of 
their  denomination,  in  the  latter  place,  would  not  pray  in  their 

*  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  474.     Caulkins's  Xcav  London,  p.  201-21. 
f  Conn.  Col.  Rec.  X  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  475. 

86 


682  CAPTIVITY  OF  MARY  ROWLANDSON. 

[Conn. 

families,  morning  and  evening,  nor  ask  a  blessing  and  return  thanks 
before  and  after  meals,  as  Christians  did  generally,  "except  led 
forth  upon  some  special  occasion,"  because  they  find  no  command 
for  such  observances  in  the  Bible. 

May  15.  The  Assembly  grant  "  Mr.  Roger  Williams,  of  Provi- 
dence, a  gratuity*  for  his  courtesy  to  our  army,  etc.,  the  sum  of  ten 
pounds,  and  desire  Major  Talcot  to  take  care  for  the  conveyance  of 
the  corn  to  Mr.  Williams." 

October  8.  The  church  of  Seventh-day  Baptists  at  Newport, 
having  sent  a  letter  inclosing  one  from  Dr.  Peter  Chamberlain,  in 
England,  to  Governor  William  Leete,  he  replies  to  them  from 
Hartford.  "  To  be  minded  of  any  parts  of  the  Scriptures  of 
truth,  is  gratefully  received,  and  were  it  not  for  a  seducing  devil, 
and  a  deceitful  heart,  they  would  be  a  rule  of  life  unto  all  that 
have  senses  exercised  therein,  and  make  due  application  of  them. 
We  have  of  late  had  to  deal  with  Rogers  and  his  of  New  London, 
towards  whom  the  authority  have  shown  all  due  condescension 
imaginable  to  us  ;  that  if  they  would  forbear  to  offend  our  con- 
sciences, we  should  indulge  them  in  their  persuasion,  and  give 
them  no  offense  in  the  seventh  day,  in  worshiping  God  by  them- 
selves. We  may  doubt  (if  they  were  governors  in  our  stead) 
they  would  tell  us,  that  their  consciences  would  not  suffer  them  to 
give  us  so  much  liberty  ;  but  that  they  must  bear  witness  to  the 
truth,  and  beat  down  idolatry,  as  the  good  old  kings  did  in  Scrip- 
ture :  they  judging  so  of  our  Lord's  day  worship. f  It  may  be 
that  your  counsel  may  be  more  taking  with  them,  to  make  them 
forbear  than  ours." 

November  21.  In  compliance  with  the  wish  of  the  Commission- 
ers J  for  the  union,  for  a  general  Fast,  Connecticut  observe  such  an 
occasion  to  humble  themselves  before  the  Lord  and  seek  his  face, 
for  the  deliverance  of  the  country  from  the  great  peril  of  losing 
their  charter  liberties,  through  the  misrepresentation  of  enemies 
and  the  hard  pressure  of  the  prejudiced  King. 

28.  Joseph,  son  of  Thomas  Rowlandson,  of  Ipswich,  H.  C, 
1652,  dies,  aged  forty-seven.  On  the  Essex  Court  files  for  1651, 
there  was  a  satirical  piece  of  poetry,  written  by  him,  for  which  he 
was  prosecuted,  with  an  apology  of  his  to  the  Court  for  publishing 
so  offensive  a  composition.  He  went  to  Lancaster  in  1654,  and 
was  ordained  there,  1660.  Having  been  appointed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture a  chaplain  of  forces,  under  Major  Savage,  1675,  he  declined. 
While  he  was  at  Boston,  soliciting  the  Colonial  authorities  for 
some  soldiers  to  protect  his  people  against  the  enemy,  they,  on 
February  10,  1676,  destroyed  their  town.  What  made  the  rela- 
tion of  this  event  more  afflictive  to  him,  was  that  the  Indians  had 

*  Conn.  Gen.  Ct.  Rec.     f  Backus,  vol.  i.  p.  477,  8.     J  Trumbull,  vol.  i.  p.  373. 


DECEASE  OF  JOSEPH   ROWLANDSON.  683 

1(178.] 

carried  off  his  wife  Mary,  daughter  of  John  White,  and  children, 
who,  except  an  infant  killed  by  them,  after  much  suffering  were 
released  from  their  captivity.  Then  they  resided  temporarily  at 
Charlestown  and  Boston.  After  the  destruction  of  Lancaster  they 
moved  to  "Wethersfield,  where  he  preached.  Trumbull  calls  him 
the  fourth  minister  of  the  latter  town.  He  left  a  sermon  printed 
at  the  end  of  an  edition  of  his  wife's  removals.  Though  visited 
with  severe  trials,  he  wrought  faithfully  in  his  Master's  service. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES, 

COMPRISING  PERSONS,  PEOPLE,  VESSELS,  AND  PLACES. 


When  the  several  pages  referring  to  the  same  names  arc  denoted  by  tens  or  hundreds,  these 

figures  will  be  expressed  but  once,  exeept  when  intervened  by  words,. 


Aberdeen,  3S3. 
Acadia,  74,  121,  299. 
Acushenett,  316. 
Adams,  llobert,  199. 
Adderley,  William,  2. 
Adrian  oplc,  142. 
Ahaton,  William,  518,  75. 
Ains  worth,     Henry,     21, 

418. 
Albany,  347,  73. 
Alcock,  (John,)  420. 
Alden,  John,  167,  233. 
Allen,  Benjamin,  246, 313. 
Capt.,  451. 


Ames,  William,  341. 

Ammapoo,  382. 

Amsterdam  church,  25. 

Andover,  3,  103,  4,  305, 
435. 

Andover,  Eng.,  47,  413. 

Andress,  Rachel,  659. 
Richard,  659. 

Andros,  Edmund,  512, 
20,  35,  60,  7,  72, 
80,  6,  8,  94,  609, 
25,  49,  59,  65,  6, 
70,  9. 

Angel,  John,  181. 


George,  72,  166,  235,  Anglesey,  Lord,  592. 

40,  2,  4,  5.  j  Apollonius,  William,  2. 

Hope,  444.  Appledore,  323. 

James,  297,  421,  32,  Appleton,  John,  364,  75, 


3,  7,  9,  46,  82,  95, 
500,  86. 
John,  235,  42. 
Joseph,  240,  2,  4,  6. 
Matthew,   235,  8,  40, 

2,  4,  5,  6. 

Ralph,  72,  3,  166,  70, 

234,  5,  8,  40,  2,  4, 

5,  77. 

Ralph,  Jr.,  234,  5,  40. 

Thomas,    3,    59,    60, 

106,  207,  33,  72. 
William,  72, 168,  234, 
5,  6,  8,  40,  2,  4,  6. 
Allin,  Benjamin,  483. 
Daniel,  483. 
Eleazer,  483. 
John,   3,   5,   97,   113, 
49,    60,    299,    304, 
39,  40,  423,  81,  4. 
Katharine.  483. 
Allyn,  John,  410,  68,  9. 
Almy,  Martha,  511, 
Amanhunt,  John,  488. 
Amboyna,  black  hole,  94. 
Ambrose,  Alice,   320,    3, 
45,  8,  62. 
Joshua,  99. 
Nehemiah,  99. 


418. 
Archdale,  John,  389,  90, 1. 
Archer,  Henry,  178. 
Arlington,  Lord,  370,  401. 
Armine,  Lady,  109,  485. 
Arnold,     Benedict,     182, 
396,  7. 
Samuel,  315,    86,   7, 

531,  639. 
Stephen,  177. 
Thomas,  93. 
William,   21,  31,  79, 
81,  5,  124,  77,  253. 
Arrousick  Island,  249. 
Arther,  John,  632. 
Ashley,  Thomas,  121. 
Ashurst,  Henry,  207,  21, 
8,  32,  80,  6,    376, 
445,  84,  5. 
William,  283,  90. 
lAstwood,  John,  266. 
lAtherton,    Hope,  412,  3, 
76,  7,  593. 
Humphrey,    161,  98, 
210,  84,  477. 
i  Atkins,  Thomas,  251. 
j  Atkinson,  Marmaduke, 
631. 
Mary,  631. 


Atwater,  Joshua,  432. 
Austin,  Anne,  142. 
Avery,  Elizabeth,  20. 
Awasunks,  528. 

Babcock,  James,  659. 
Bache,  Samuel,  558. 
Bachellor,  Henry,  218,  77. 
Bacon,  Nathaniel,  207. 
Badgerden,  Eng.,  415. 
Bahama  Islands,  7,  17,  9. 
Bailie,  or  Bailey,  Robert, 

24. 
Baker,  John,  118. 
Nathaniel,  643. 
Nicholas,    246,    631, 

41,  3. 
Nicholas,  children  of, 

643. 
William,  165. 
[Baldwin,  Mrs.,  625. 
Ball,  John,  483. 
■  Balstone,  William,  29. 
Baltimore,  Lord,  40. 
Banks,  Lvdia,  352. 
Barefoot,  Walter,  323. 
Barker,  Thomas,  270. 
Barlow,  George,  119,  239, 

40,  2,  5. 
Barnes,  Jonathan,  386. 

John,  241. 
Barnstable,  23,  6,  73,  114, 
5,    236,    41,    2,    7, 
314,5,7,82,452,3. 
Barstow,  George,  114. 

William,  114. 
Bartholomew,  Henry,  21, 

76. 
Bartimeus,  498. 
Bartlett,  Mr.,  297. 

Robert,  243. 
Barton,  Rufus,  29. 
Basset,  Nathaniel,  73. 
Bassett,  Goody,  88. 
Bass  River,  415,  35. 
Bastar,  Roger,  397,  539. 
Batchelor,  Stephen,  3,  78. 


686 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


Bath,  249. 

Batter,  Edmund,  375. 

Baxter,  Benjamin  and  Jo- 

siah,  (False,)  510. 
George,  329. 
Richard,    283,     308, 

42,  7,  601. 
Baylies,  Francis,  26. 
Bear,    or  Beer,   Richard, 

239,  41,  573. 
Beckom,  Symon,  579. 
Belcher,  Jeremy,  538. 
Mr.,  671. 
Samuel,  538. 
Belknap,  Jeremy,  461. 
Belleau,  Eng.,  123. 
Bellflower,  Benjamin,  218. 
Bellingham,  Elizabeth, 

501. 
Richard,     118,     205, 

11,    55,   371,  4,   9, 

418,  40,  501,  2,  49. 
Bennet,  Gervace,  140. 
Berkley,  Lord,  35. 
Bermuda,  17,  309. 
Berry,  Richard,  Sen.,  452. 
Beverly,  420,  523. 
Bewett,  Hugh,  87. 
Biddeford,  392. 
Eng.,  160. 
Biling,  Eng.,  160. 
Billerica,  350,  486. 
Bingham,  Col.,  159. 
Bishop,  George,  142. 
James,  408,  9,  671. 
John,  266,  679. 
Bishop   of   Chester,    188, 

257. 
Blackleech,     John,     152, 

471. 
Blackleich,  Solomon,  644. 
Blackman,    Adam,     411, 

73,  523. 
Benjamin,  523,630,1. 
Black  Point,  119,  73,  247, 

317,  21,  2,  90. 
Blackstone,  William,  179, 

402,  63,  631. 
Bland,  Mrs.,  283. 
Bleigh,  Thomas,  360. 
Blevin,  John,  373,  432,  9. 
Blinman,  Richard,  3,  50, 

1,  90,  162,  91,  3,  4, 

263,  4,  5,  612,  25. 
Family  of,  265. 
Block  Island,    396,    464, 

549. 
Blue  Point,  173. 
Boies,"  or  Boyes,  Antipas, 

318. 
Bond,  Robert,  553. 

Thomas,  252. 
Bonighton,  or  Bonvthon, 

John,  119,247,321. 


Bonner,  Mary,  174. 
Boomer,  Matthew,  632. 
Booth,  Thomas,  321. 
Boothe,  Robert,  119. 
Bo — ,  Samuel,  315. 
Boston,  3,  4,  7,  11,  6,  7, 
21,  3,   6,  7,  9,  41, 

7,  8,  51,  65,  9,  74, 
5,   9,  80,  3,  93,  6, 

8,  9,  113,  5,  7,  31, 
5,  6,  8,  40,  2,  3,  9, 
59,  60,  2,  4,  6,  8, 
73,  4,  8,  80,  1,  2, 

4,  6,  91,  5,  7,  208, 

9,  11,  2,  3,  5,  8, 
9,  22,  4,  7,  32,  41, 
52,  6,  8,  63,  4,  70, 
1,  3,  6,  8,  80,  1,  4, 

5,  7,  8,  91,  7,  301, 
3,  7,  9,  12,  9,  22, 
3,  5,  9,  43,  8,  50, 
1,  5,  60,  2,  3,  9, 
71,  2,  5,  6,  7,  8,80, 

3,  90,  3,  415,  7,  9, 
21,  3,  7,  9,  31,  45, 

6,  55,  62,  6,  70,  8, 
80,  2,  8,  9,  91,  7, 

502,  3,  5,  9,  11,  3, 

4,  20,  3,  8,  38,  9, 
70,  85,  601. 

Boston,  Eng.,  105,  291. 
iBoulton,  J.,  73. 
I  Bourg,  Gov.  de,  459. 
Bourne,  Mr.,  73. 

Richard,  115,62,210. 
46,  83,  308,  14,  48, 
83,   7,   420,   50,   5, 
98,  532. 
Bowen,  Elizabeth,  610. 
Bower,  George,  90. 

John,  90. 
Bowers,   Benanuel,    309, 

503,  11,  67,  601,  9, 
16,  20. 

Elizabeth,  601,  9,  10, 

20. 
Elizabeth,    Sen.   and 
Jr.,  610. 
^Boxford,  477. 
Boyle,  Michael,  292,  3. 
"  Robert,  292,  307,  41, 
9,   53,    4,   69,   405, 
6,  45,  85,  506,  16, 
80,  606,  18. 
Boys,  Joanna,  186. 
Brackenbury,  Samuel, 
424,  39. 
William,  439. 
Brackett,  John,  670. 
Peter,  441. 
Thomas,  199,  208. 
'Bradbury,  Catharine,  73. 

Thomas,  104,  647. 
i  Bradford,  477. 


Bradford,  Alice,  169,  454. 
Dorothy,  169. 
Joseph,  169. 
William,    21,    4,    32, 

73,  167,  9,  74,  243. 
Bradstreet,  Dorothy,  252. 

Simon,  75,  7,  9*7,  100, 
4,  29,  252,  72,  88, 

90,  7,   8,  308,  57, 

74,  5,  444,  74,  529, 
49,  53,  60,  97,  610. 

Braintree,  3,  135,  60,  93, 

424,    85,    99,    537, 

74,  9. 
Branford,    129,    87,    267, 

406,  10,  2,  68. 
Brattle,  Thomas,  318,  75. 
Brea,  Scot,  15. 
Bredan,  or  Breedan,  Thos. , 

271,  99,  359,  60. 
Brend,   William,    143,   6, 

98,  9,  208,  33,  59. 
Brenton.  William,  396,  7, 

402,  61. 
Brewen,  Obadiah,  553. 
Brewster,  Elder,  530. 
Margaret,  657. 

Rey.,  404. 

Brez,  Guy  de,  433. 
Bridges,  John,  205. 
Bridgewater,  8,  227,  383. 
Brigden,  Zechariah,  267, 

338. 
Brinley,  399. 
Briscoe,  Nathaniel,  65,  6, 
Brock,  John,  174,  248,  9, 

91,  323,  437. 
Sarah,  291. 

Brookfield,  311,  517,  576. 

Brokesup,  or    Brooksup, 

Joan,    277,    87,    8, 

325. 

Brown,  Edmund,  3,  262, 

413,  35,  7,  49,  81, 

609. 

Edward,  (Edmund  r) 

305. 
James,  317,  634. 
John,    217,    24,    46, 

532,  634. 
John,  Capt.,  389. 
Joseph,  624. 
Judah,  277. 
Robert,  25. 
Win.,  364,  492,  624. 
Browne,  Mr.,  174. 
Bryant,  John,  451. 
Stephen,  451. 
Buckinghamshire,  65. 
Buckingham,    Thomas, 

267,  675. 
Buffum,  Joseph,  199. 

Joshua,   199,  204,  6, 
7,  311,  432,  511. 


INDIA   OF   NAMES. 


887 


Buftum,  Robert,  199,  217, 

ison,  301, 
Bulkley,    Edward,     206, 
.  137. 

. 
Qerafa  «n,  3  II,  2,  112, 

. 
7').  i.  ;;.  ; 

J,  7. 
r,  :i.  17.  22 
.    206,    43,    331, 
135. 
Bull,  Capt.,  667. 
Bullock,  Richard,  387. 
Buncar,  Mary,  51  I. 
Bunker,  Benjamin,  441. 

George,  441. 

Judith,  441. 
Burden,  Ann,  46. 

Sarah,  277. 
Burdick,  Naomi,  659. 

Ruth,  402. 
Burge,  Elizabeth,  314. 

Thomas,  Jr.,  314. 
Burgis,  (Thomas.)  170. 
Burnell,  John,  218. 

William,  218. 
Burnet,  Gilbert,  297. 

John,  540,  1. 
Burnyate,  John,  543,  6. 

Thomas,  403. 
Burrough,  Edward,    281, 

2. 
Burstow,  John,  277. 
Burton,    John,    195,   228, 

8S.  . 
Bury,  Eng.,  139. 
Bushrod,  John,  298. 
Bussaker,  Peter,  34. 
Buss,  Elizabeth,  G47. 

John.  647. 
Butler,  Daniel,  245. 

Dorothy,  244,  6. 

Henry,  42. 

Obadiah,  246. 

Thomas,  234,42,  4,5. 
Byfield,  Xathaniel,  588. 

Calamy,  Edmund,  13,  48, 
59,99. 

Calawane,  352. 

Caleb,  519. 

Callender,  John,  "87. 

Callicot,  Richard,  535. 

Cambridge,  3,  13,  5,  6,  9, 
33,  7,  51,  3,  62,97, 
106,  14,  30,  43,  8, 
53,  210,  7,  24,  63, 
76,  7,  91,  309,  50, 
2,  7,  71,  80,  416, 
20,  3,  9,  51,  2,  82, 
6,  91,  509,  15,  7, 
9,  20,  3,  70,  5. 


Cambridge  College,  Eng., 

13,  12,  i" 
Cambridge   Village,   346, 

.  528. 
Canada,  71,  i.  5,  369,  73, 

.  ii-J. 
Canonchet,  649,  72. 
(Canootus  644. 
Canterbury,  Eng.,  -177. 
Cape  Fear,  307,  417. 

Porpoise,     US,    217, 
390. 
Capcn,  John,  278,  92. 
Capuchin  Friars,  27. 
Card,  John,  402. 
Carehauge  Indians,  193. 
Carey,  James,  432. 
Carpenter,  Alice,  169. 
William,  79,  177,  80, 
253,  462. 
Carr,  Mr.,  252. 

Sir  Robert,  297,  342, 
3,   5,  52,  9,  60,  2, 

3,  4,  9,  77,8,  9,  90, 

4,  400,  1,  14,  59. 
Carrill,    or    Caryl,     Mr., 

283,   307,   69,  434, 

552. 
Cartaret.  Sir  George,  553. 
Carter,  Thomas,  3. 
Cartright,  or  Cartwright, 

George,  342,  3,  5, 


Charlestown,  ::,  l,  16 
53,  62,  7 

301,  I,  9,  11. 

.  B,  72,    i .    . 
5,   ;  .    91, 

.  13,  l!',  n,  85. 
Charni/ay,  Mons.,  71. 
Chase,  William,  116. 
Chasmore,  Richard,  178, 

80. 
Chatham,  Catharine,  277. 

301. 
Chauncy,  Catharine,  487. 
Charles,    47,    114,  5, 
7,   36,    47,    9,  210, 
46,  87,  91,  9,  300, 
17,   31,  40,  4,   1./2. 
83,  7,  8. 
Ichabod,  47. 
Isaac,  47. 

Israel,  409,  11,  67,  8, 
70,  1,  3,  669,71,  2. 
Xathaniel,  412. 
Sarah,  331,  487. 
Cheberina,  602. 
Cheesbrooke,  Wm.,  87,  8. 
Cheever,  Ezekiel,  35. 
Chelmsford,  140,  52,  350, 
499,    572,    5,  8,  9, 
90,  602,  5. 
Cheshire,  Eng.,  65,  509. 


52,  5,  60,  92,  8,  9.  j  Child,  Dr.,  4,  289. 


John,  542,  3. 
Casco  Bay,   119,  73,  247, 

317,  21,  91. 
Causacinnamon,     Robin, 

666. 
Cawdrey,  Daniel,  59,  160. 
Chabanakongkoman,      or 

Chobone      Konho- 

nom,  502,  18,73,7. 
Chalkley,  Robert,  477. 
Chalmers,  George,  394,  5, 
Chamberlain,  Henry,  Jr., 

278. 
Henry,  Sen.,  278. 
John,  218,  72,  7,  8. 
Peter,    612,    57,    61, 

82. 
Champernoon,    Francis, 

319,  22,  649. 
Chappequiddick,  448. 
Charles  I.,  2,  9,  150,  331, 

61,  5. 
Charles  II.,  9,  40,  99, 150, 

75,  205,  9,  217,  22, 

30,   2,    46,   56,  70, 

1,  3,   81,   2,    4,    7, 
96,314,  27,  9,  31, 

2,  69,   72,   89,  98,' 


411,  71,  509. 
Charles  River,  Fla.,  307. 
Charles,  (Ship,)  358,  9. 


Chipman,  John,  241. 

Christopherson,  Wenlock, 
218,  45,  6,  72,  3, 
7,  343,  5,  8,  62. 

Church,  Benjamin,  598, 
634,  8,  40. 

Clarendon,  Edward  Hyde, 
Earl  of,  289,  90, 
343,  53,  4,  71,  98, 
403,  4. 

Clark,  Henry,  73. 

John,  48,  60,  2,  3,  5, 

7,  72,  9,   80,   1,  3, 

7,    123,  7,  59,  76, 

9,  82,  253,  6,  325, 

7,  8,  95,  6,  7,  402, 

3,   24,  46,  62,  3,  5, 

97,  541,  2,  50,  88, 

652,  3. 

Joseph,  182,  659,  65. 

Mary  and  John,  161. 

Samuel,  17. 

Thomas,  347,  4S2,  9, 

535. 
Thurston,  73. 

Cleaves,  George,  76,  119, 
72,  3,  249,  318,  19, 
21,  91. 

Clifton,  Hope,  211,  6,  56. 

Cloyes,  Thomas,  533. 

Coal,  Josiah,  239. 


688 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


Cobbet,  Thomas,  3,  9,  22, 
66,  7,  81,  5,  6,105, 
13,  41,  9,52,  3,  64, 
262,   79,   373,  420, 

3,  35,  6,  7,  43,  81, 

91,  5,  536,  86,  626. 
Cochanaquant,  461. 
Coddington,  Anne,  256. 

William,    29,    30,    1, 
78,  81,  2,3,  122,6, 
7,  78,  80,    395,   9, 
502,  43,  9,  50,  610, 
57,  61,  4. 
Coe,  John,  472. 
Coffin,  Tristram,  482,  609. 
Coggeshall,  John,  464. 

Joshua,  464. 
Colcort,  Edward,  323.      * 
Cole,  Eunice,  323. 

James,  Sen.,  452,  524. 
John,  309. 
Mary,  452. 
Cole,  or  Coale,  Isaac,  304, 

497. 
Coleman,    Ann,    288,    9, 

92,  312,  20,  3,  4. 
Goodwife,  241,  4. 
Sarah,  277,  309. 

Coles,  Robert,  79. 
Collicut,  Richard,  645. 
Collier,  William,  530. 
Collins,    Christopher, 

wife  of,  57. 
Conanicut  Island,  78. 
Concord,  3,  206,  43,  61, 

331,    50,    89,   435, 

585. 
Congleton,  Eng.,  65. 
Constantinople,  142. 
Converse,  Edward,  304. 
Cook,  John,  117,  241. 
Joseph,  575. 
Richard,  497. 
Cooper,  Elizabeth,  455. 

Naighbor,  455. 
Copeland,  John,   143,  61, 

2,    70,    200,  33,  6, 

9,  40. 
Copford,  Hall,  131. 
Corbet,  Abraham,  394. 
Corlett,  Elijah,  210. 
Cornell,  Rebecca,  549. 

Thomas,  549. 
Cornwall    County,     Me., 

534. 
Corwin,  Thos.,  and  wife, 

572. 
Cotton,  John,   2,   3,   4,  6, 

10,  2,   7,  8,   9,  20, 

4,  44,  7,  52,  8,  60, 
1,  2,  4,  6,  7,  70,  1, 

4,  85,   7,  93,  6,  7, 
105,  6,  37,  60,  204, 

5,  24,  35,   52,   91, 


306,    22,    44,    420, 
36,    51,    2,    7,    98, 
532,  607,  12,  35,  9, 
43. 
Seaborn,     184,    252, 

443,  81,  626. 
William,  343. 

Couell,  Nathaniel,  388. 

Coventry,  Jonathan,  73. 

Coveny,  Thomas,  273. 

Coweset,  S6. 

Cowland,    or     Courland, 
Alice,  211,  6. 

Coxall,  Joshua,  325. 

Crandal,   John,  48,  60,  2, 
7,  79,  80,  5,  399. 

Cranston,  John,  394,  544. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  22,  3, 
38,  46,  7,  52,  5,  6, 
66,  95,  101,  7,  8, 
12,  6,  20,  1,  4,  5, 
7,  30,  1,  2,  8,  40, 
3,  51,  2,  9,  71,  2, 
3,  5,  7,  8,  9,  81,  6, 
7,  92,  200,  5.  24, 
47,  54,  6,  73,  307, 
29,  80,  1. 
Richard,  204,  8,  48, 
54. 

Cross,  Samuel,  673. 

Crossman,  John,  57,  545. 

Crown,  John,  280. 

William,  172,  331. 

Cudworth,    James,     170, 
234,  9,  41,  3,  4,  6, 
387,  635,  41. 
Mary,  313,  25. 
Mrs.,  241,  4. 

Cullick,  John,  208. 

Culpepper,  Lord,  35. 

Cummins,  R.,  321. 

Cunnigrave,  Mr.,  255. 

Curtis,  John,  586. 

Cur  win,  George,  364. 
J.,  228. 

Cushing,  Nehemiah,  227. 

Cushman,    Thomas,    246, 
7,  387,  8,  453. 

Cutt,  John  and  Richard, 
537. 

D'Aillebout,  74. 
Dalton,  Philemon,  323. 

Ruth,  322. 

Samuel,  322. 

Timothy,  3,  322. 
Damman,  John,  387. 
Dand,  John,  4. 
Dane,  Francis,  435. 
Danforth,  John,  522. 

Nicholas,  520. 

Samuel,  60,  262,  418, 
23,  43,  520,  2. 

Thomas,     210,     308, 


61,  4,  79,  91,  444, 
68,  98,  519,  28,  82, 
620. 

Daniel,  Mrs.,  519. 
William,  101. 

Danson,  George,  568,  9, 
610. 

Darby,  Eng.,  99. 

Darcy,  Thomas,  (Earl  of 
Rivers,)  587. 

Dartmouth,  455,  528,  9. 
Eng.,  362. 

D'Aulney,  27,  28,  74, 117. 

Davenport,  John,  24,  90 
130,  3,  74,  84,7,  8 
257,62,3,  5,  6,  90 
3,  7,  300,  29,  30,  3 

8,  40,  64,  410,  21 
7,  32,  3,  5,  7,  8 
66,  9,  S2,  3,  96 
557. 

Jr.,  432. 
Davui,  Indian,  570. 

the  Jew,  265. 
Davis,  John,  390. 
Margaret,  65. 
Nicholas,  209,  11,  41, 

2,  314. 
William,  65, 152,528. 
Davy,     Humphrey,    535, 

645. 
Day,  Mr.,  252. 
Deacon,  Mr.,  444. 
Dean,  Richard,  402,  3. 
Deane,  John,  414. 

Thomas,   358,   60,    1, 
5,  75. 
Deble,  Jeremiali,  568,  610. 
Dedham,  3,  5,  18,  29,  69, 
113,  35,  60,  5,  95, 
200,    45,     63,     81, 
309,  12,  23,  50,  63, 
439,  80,  90,  576. 
Dedham,  Eng.,  48,  69. 
Deerfleld,  506,  71,  73. 
Deer  Island,  574,  6,  7,  $, 

9,  86. 
Delaware  Bay,  35,  71,  89, 

132,  3,  84,  347. 
Denham,  Thomas,  670. 
Denison,  Daniel,  22,   75, 

7,    118,   200,    319, 

64,    75,    549,    602, 

13. 
Denmark,  257. 
Denton,  Richard,  338. 
Derby,  90,  411,  666. 
Derby,  Eng.,  140. 
Derby,  Lucretia,  615. 

Roger,  615. 
De  Ruyter,  366. 
De  St. 'Mas,  Mons.,  74. 
Deuell,Wm.,  and  wife,  27. 
Devonshire,  159. 


INDIA    OF    NAMES. 


(is!) 


D.  win,  Andrew, 

John. 
Dewsbury,  William,  262. 

M'.     7, 
181, 

Dillingham,  Edward,  L70. 

Henry,  244,  6. 
Dixwell,  John,  57 1 . 

.   i  -.  620. 

Dominicans,  66. 

3,  18,  57,  92, 

134,    5,   53,   GO,  4, 
264,  78,  87,  91,  2, 
311,    46,    50,  418, 
35,  44,  73;  83,  553, 
74. 
Dorchester,  Eng.,  42,  298. 
Doublet,  Tom,  590. 
Dover,  N.  H.,  3,  28,  9, 
117,  66,  74,  307,  9, 
20,  3,  4,  93,4,415, 
60,  1,  537. 
Dowdney,   Richard,    165, 

200. 
Downam,  John,  17. 

Drake,  ,  519. 

Draughtwich,  Eng.,  166. 
Dreuillettes,  Father,  74,  5. 
Drinker,  Edward,  362,  8, 

46,  465. 
Drue,  Hester,  511. 
Nathaniel,  511. 
Patience,  511. 
Drury,  Hugh,  415. 
Dublin,  21,  135,  59,  603, 

77. 
Dudley,  502,  18,  68. 
Dorothy,  97. 
Joseph, 483,  568, 613. 
Katharine,  97. 
Mary,  306. 
Roger,  97. 

Samuel,  28,  175,  394. 
Thomas,   28,   61,  97, 
175,   306,  74,  483, 
92. 
Duke  of  Buckingham, 
220. 
of  Monmouth,  535,  8, 

64,  .645. 
of  Savoy,  185. 
of  York,  347,  82,  3, 
404,    8,  9,.59,  510, 
12,  34,  5,  60. 
Dummer,    Richard,    228, 
478,  534. 
Shubal,      221,      320, 
534. 
Dunbar,  Scotland,  47. 
Dunham,  Thomas,  46. 
Dunker,  Edward,  438. 
Dunkirk,  Eng.,  47. 
Dunsborn,  Eng.,  415. 
Dunstable,  Eng.,  477. 
87 


Dimeter,  David,  240. 

II    my.  :;,  10,61,  10!. 

6,    L3,    36,    6,    63, 

64,  240. 
Jonathan,  2  10. 
Dunton,  Samuel  and  wife, 

611. 
Ihirv.  John,  228.  99.  344. 
Dutch,    4,    7,    83,    6,    93, 

102,  4,  7,  12,  3,  4, 

6.  9,  20,  4,  8,  9, 
30,    1,   58,  337,  46, 

7.  56,  66,  7,  9,  80, 
412,  508,  12,  20, 
34,  49,  57. 

Duxburv,  73,  168,  70, 
235,  41,  4,  6,  314, 
6,  7,  449,  51,  3. 

Dyer,  Mary,    209,    14,  9, 
20,  2,  42,  54,  6. 
William,    122,    3,    6, 
11,  255,  9. 

Earl   of  Clarendon,   287, 
398. 
of    Manchester,  280, 

330,  1. 
of  Sterling,  389,  534. 
of  Strafford,  9. 
of  Warwick,  4,  332. 
Eastham,    26,    138,   260, 

529. 
East  Hampton,    38,  308, 

48,  559. 
East  India  Company,  606. 
East  Indies,  94. 
Easton,  John,  181,  2,  464, 
603,  10,  49,  57. 
icholas,   S 
402,  542. 
Eaton,  Daniel,  133. 
Hannah,  258. 
Mary,  258. 
Samuel,  258. 
Theophilus,     34,     5, 
131,84,8,9,257,8. 
Thomas,  502. 
Eccles,  Samuel,  502. 
Eddy,  Elizabeth,  72. 
Edgartown,  382,  447,  96. 
Edgecomb,  Vic,  321. 
Edgton,  Eng.,  186,  460. 
Edinburgh,  9,  14,  41,  209. 
Edmands,  Robert,  568. 
Edmunds,  Robert,  610. 
Edmundson,  Wm.,  546. 
Edson,  Samuel,  383. 
Susannah,  383. 
Eggleston,.  James,  571. 
Eldred,  Robert,  388. 
Eleutheria,     Bahama 

Islands,  7. 
Eling,  Eng.,  509. 
Eliot,  Benjamin,  405.    . 


Eliot,  Elisabeth, 

Francis,  1 17,  62,  .';. 

Jacob,  438. 

John,  7,  9,  in,  2,  :;, 
16,  8,  21,  2,  38,  M, 
o,  60,  1,  70,  81, 
101,  3,  5,  «),  l(),  1, 
33,  40,  6,  7,  53,  60, 

2,  4,    92,  209,    10, 

9,  26,  33,  l'.»,  73, 
6,  8,  84,  308,  12, 
41,  6,  8,  69,  87, 
400,  20,  30,  6,  40, 

3,  5,  6,  7,  84,  5,  91, 
8,  508,  18,  20,  2,  8, 
62,   9,   60,  3,  7,  9, 

.    73,  6,  9,  80,  6,  92, 

601,  15,  8. 
John,   Jr.,   210,    308, 
46,    87,    420,     30, 
523,  4. 
Joseph,  405,  70. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  81,  97, 

506. 
Elizabethtown,  392. 
Elmes,  Rodolphus,  246. 
El  well,  Henry,  455. 
Emerson,  John,  309. 

Joseph,  118,  320,  89. 
Thomas,  309,  89. 
Emery,  Anthony,  216. 

John,  303. 
Endeavor,  (Ship,)  83. 
Endicott,  John,  56,  7,  68, 
74,  8,  81,  7,  151,9, 
82,   201,   5,   9,  11, 

22,  4,  56,  70,  3,  84, 
90,  319,  45,  54,  61, 
2,  72,  95,  481,  500, 

49,  612,  72. 
England,  2,  3,  4,  5,  7,  9, 

10,  2,  3,  9,  23,  4, 
8,  40,  1,  2,  5,  8, 
51,   4,  6,   7,  9,  60, 

5,  9,  70,  3,  82,  5, 

6,  93,  7,  9,  104,  5, 
8,12,3,4,  7,  9,  93, 
6,  8,  204,  5,  7,  9, 
10,  3,  5,  7,  9,  23, 

4,  7,  8,  35,  45,  8, 

50,  3,  5,  6,  69,  70, 
2,  87,  8,  90,  7,  309, 

23,  9,  50,  62,  4,  74, 

6,  7,  8,  84,  95,  6, 

7,  9,  420,  1,  3,  30, 
92,  7,  501,  2,  10,9, 
20,  41,  3. 

English,  7,  82,  93,  4,  114. 
Enno,  James,  407. 
Essex  County,  149. 
Essex  County,  Eng.,  63, 

131. 
Europe,  132,  207. 
Evelyn,  (John?)  478. 


690 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Ewer,    Thomas,    235,  8, 

40,  2,  5. 
Exeter,  3,  28,  175,  393,  4, 

461,  537. 
Eyre,  Robert,  487. 

E ,  Isaac,  511. 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  23. 
Fairfield,  88,  130,  473,  4, 

559,  60. 
Falmouth,  249,  50,  318,  9, 
21,390,1,459,533. 
Farlow,  Caleb,  567,  620. 
Farmington,  90,  188,  201, 

66,  470. 
Farnum,    or  Farnham, 

John,  372,  423,  8, 
32,  62. 

Faubord, ,  204. 

Felch,  Henry,  93. 
Felix,  Indian,  567. 
Fenwick,  Dorothy,  192. 
Elizabeth,  192. 
George,    124,    92,    3, 

329,  30. 
Katharine,  192. 
Lady  Mary,  35,  192. 
Fiennes,  Nathaniel,  210. 
Finsbury,  434. 
Firman,  or  Fyrmin,  Giles, 

48,  9,  63,  196. 
Fisher,  Mary,  142. 
Fisk,  435. 

Anne,  605. 
Elizabeth,  605. 
John,  605. 
Moses,  485,  99. 
Fitch,  James,  262,  7,  470, 
98,  9,  551,  2,  4,  7, 
8,  60,  6,  70,  1,4,5, 
81. 
Fitsrandall,  454. 
Fletcher,  Edward,  414,  5. 
John,  537. 
Mary,  415. 
Nathaniel,  318,  22. 
Pendleton,  392. 
Seth,  173,  250,  392. 
William,  392. 
Flint,  Dorothy.  424. 

Henry,  3,    160,    315, 

424,  641. 
Josiah,  444,  95. 
Margery,  424. 
Fogg,  David,  511. 

Mrs.,  153. 
Folger,   Peter,    147,    201, 

10,  588. 
Forbes,  James,  159. 
Ford,  Robert,  572. 

William,  Sen.,  316. 
Fordham,  Elizabeth,  559. 
Jonah,  559. 
Robert,  559. 


Fort  Albany,  378. 
James,  378,  482. 
Orange,  347. 
Fosdick,  Stephen,  341. 
Foster,    Hopestill,    486, 
567,  620. 
John,  485. 

Thomas,  485,  6,  567. 
Fourbish,  William,  323. 
Fowle,  Thomas,  4. 
Fowler,  Robert,  199. 
Fox,  George,  20,  2,  140, 
68,    204,     12,    97, 
540,  8,  657. 
Jabez,  460. 
Foxwell,  Martha,  73. 
Framingham,  Eng.,  520. 
France,  97,  172,  411,  23, 
30. 
King  of,  27. 
Francis,  Sachem,  451. 
Franco,  Solomon,  11. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  588. 
Fraser,  James,  15. 
Freeman,  Edmund,  Sen., 

and  wife,  72. 
French,  71,  5,  86,  105,  12, 
9,  21,  32,  72,  369, 
73,   4,  8,  412,    61, 
534,  94,  600. 
Fretwell,  Ralph,  610,  57. 
Frontinac,  Earl,  619. 
Fryer,  James,  602. 

Nathaniel,  649. 
Fuller,  Matthew,  238. 
Samuel,  644. 

Gage,  Thomas,  115. 
Gardner. George,  199,  217, 
23,  335,  98. 

Henry,  223,  50. 

Horred,  197,  253. 

John,  609. 

Joseph,  592. 

Richard,  199,  381. 

Thomas,  535,  645. 
Gardyner,  G.,  57,  88. 
Garland,  George,  172. 
Garland,  (Ship,)  509. 
Garlick,  Joseph,  260. 
Garret,  James,  164,  260. 
Gaskin,    or    Gascoyne, 
Samuel,    199,    205, 
17. 
Gates,  Mary,  153. 

Stephen,  153. 
Gaunt,    Peter,    72,    166, 

234,  40,  6. 
Gendall,  Walter,  646. 
George,  John,  362,  8,  71. 
Gerrish,  Joseph,  510,  86, 
626. 

William,  104,  375. 
Gibbins,  G.,  321. 


Gibbons,  Edward,  11,  40. 

Gibbons,    or    Gibbens, 

Sarah,  143,  96,  200. 

Gifferd,  or  GifTord,  Wm., 
235,  8,  40,  4,  6. 

Gifford,  271. 

Gilbert,  Claudius,  153. 
Matthew,  332. 
Sarah,  280. 
Thomas,     280,     372, 

499,  509. 
William,  582. 

Gildersome,  Eng.,  460. 

Gillam,  Ann,  152. 

Benjamin,  269,  92. 

Gloucester,  3,  62,  309,  11. 

Gloucester,  Eng.,  159. 

Glover,  Elizabeth,  240. 
Habakkuk,  375,  650, 

2. 
Jose,  240. 
Pelatiah,  413. 

Godfrev,  Edward,  75,  7, 
119,  248,  50,  1,  71, 
8. 

GofFe,  William,  224,  32, 
66.  71,  2,  9,  80, 
302,  29,  30,  2,  58, 
80,  554,  71. 

Gog,  205. 

Gold,  Daniel,  211. 

Goldsmith,  Ralph,  284. 

Goodall,  Mary,  362. 
Richard,  362. 

Goodin,  Mehitable,  514. 

Goodwin,  Christopher, 
304. 
Thomas,   2,   18,  297, 

307,  434,  8. 
William,  208. 

Goodwine,  Adam,  28. 

Goodyear,  Stephen,  90. 

Gookin,  Daniel,  50,  140, 
51,  61,  2,  210,  84, 
99,  308,  20,  42,  73, 
80,  430,  40,  7,  85, 
98,502,17,8,9,32, 
51,  4,  60,  70,  3,  4, 
6,  8,  87,  92,  7,  601, 
18,  20,  33. 

Gorgeana,  or  York,  27, 
77. 

Gorges,  Ferdinando,  27, 
75,6,  120,251,319, 
20,  1,  53,  89,  90, 
1,  534. 

Goring,  Lord,  64. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  17,  27, 
9,  83,  5,  7,  123,  4f 
77,  81,  253,  5,  89, 
397,  9,  461,  3,  658, 
9,  60. 
Family  of,  658. 

Gortonists,  82,  289. 


CNDEX   OF   NAMES. 


691 


Gosport,  828. 
(ion,  Charles,  103. 
Gould,  Daniel,  211,  <',. 

Hannah,  ■'>  1  1. 

John,  ii">. 

Major,   !  1 
Ma:  v.   'ill. 
Sannu'l,  .",11. 
Thomas,    138,    51,    8, 
.   841,   62,  0,   7, 

8,  71,2,  0.  123,  8, 

9,  32,  3,  8,  46,  62, 
86,  513. 

Zaccheus,  216,  20. 
Gourden,  Robert,  372. 
Grafton,  485,  501. 
Graham,  204. 
Grand  Vizier,  142. 
Graves,  Thomas,  347,  566, 

601. 
Gravesend,  Eng.,  219. 
Gray,  Edward,  451. 
John,  524. 
Robert,  439. 
Samuel,  524. 
Great  Torrington,   Eng., 

159. 
Green,  Henrv,  3,  7. 

John,    138,    395,    7, 

465,  548,  9,  660. 
Samuel,  198,  225,  67, 

83,  451,  525. 
Mr.,  Jr.,  395. 
Gr-eene,  John,  Sen.,  253. 
Greenfield,  Thomas,  235, 

8,  40. 
Greenhall,    Greenhill,    or 

Greenill,  William, 

59,  307,  503. 
Greenwich,  186,  333,  410. 
Groton,  306,  590. 
Groton,  Eng.,  10. 
Grub,  Thomas,  432. 
Guernsey,  Eng.,  159. 
Guilford,  38,  90,  218,  66, 

333,  7,  405,  6,  10, 

2. 
Guppy,  John,  113. 
Gutch,  Robert,  249. 

Hackburn,  Katharine,  97, 
483. 
Samuel,  97,  483. 
Hackney,  Eng.,  205. 
Hackwell,  Eng.,  205. 
Hadlock,  Nathaniel,  432. 
Hale,    John,    415,    20,   1, 
35,  7,  43,  95,  626. 
Robert  and  Rebekah, 
421. 
Halifax,  Eng.,  338,  429. 
Hall,  Dorcas,  104. 
John,  104,  462. 
Rebecca,  300. 


Eallett,  John,  814. 

Joeiab,  1 16. 
Halloway,  Timothy,  816. 
Halsey,  William,  221. 

Hani, '.Mary,  207. 

Hamilton,  "Duchess,  104,9. 
Duke,  64,  104,  9. 
Marquis,  104. 

Hamlet,  or  llamlit,  Wil- 
liam, 496,  507,  10. 

Hammond,  William,  318. 

Hampton,  3,  28,  78,  103, 
4,  22,  74,  216,  51, 
2,  309,  23,  4,  93, 
536. 

Hanford,  Thomas,  90, 337. 

Harding,  George,  12. 

Harman,  Sir  John,  506. 

Harnden,  Robert,  502. 

Harnet,  Edward,  195,  9. 

Harper,  Deborah,  233. 
Robert,  24,  6,  33,  5, 
8,  40,  2,  4,  6,  272, 
382,  455. 

Harriman,  John,  675. 

Harris,  Andrew,  182. 
Thomas,  197,  253. 
William,  176,82,  403, 
61,    2,    3,    541,    2, 
641. 

Harrison,  Dorothy,  7. 
John,  125. 
Thomas,  7. 

Hart,  546. 

Hartford,  38,  131,  2,  48, 
52,  85,  8,  9,  92, 
208,  9,  59,  65,  6, 
329,  33,  5,  404,  6, 
10,  1,  3,  9,  29,  66, 
72,  3,  4,  98. 

Hartly,  William,  81. 

Harvard.  See  College,  in 
Index  of  Subjects. 

Harvey,  Ann,  492. 

Harwood,  Jane,  292. 
John,  311,  503. 

Haselrig,  Sir  Arthur,  124. 

Hassanamesitt,  (Graf- 
ton,) 485,  502,8, 17, 
8,9,68,73,7,84,6. 

Hastings,  410. 

Hatfield,  413,  5. 

Hatherly,  Timothy,  239. 

Hathorn,  or  Hawthorne, 
William,  21,  75,  7, 
100,  218,  24,  45, 
319,  20,  4,  59,  71, 
4,  9,  436,  549. 

Hattenanit,  Job,  586. 
|  Haugh,  or  Hough,  Ather- 
ton,  291. 
Samuel,     Sen.,     and 

Jr.,  291. 
Sarah,  291. 


Han  ri.iii,   8,   108,   L,   18, 

68,  129,  85,  »'■<». 
Hawkins,  James,  79,  177. 
Jane,  81,  7(»,  177. 
Job,  79, 
Joseph,  666. 
Will.  576. 
Haynes,  Hezekiah,  131. 
John,  130,  86. 
John,    Children    of, 

131. 
John,  Jr.,  131,  86. 
Joseph,  131,  467,  73, 

568. 
Samuel,  536,  7. 
llavward,  Nathaniel,  514. 
Hazell,  John,  27. 
Heard,  John,  216. 
Heathcot,  George,  502. 
Hedge,  Abraham,  386. 

William,  524. 
Hedges,  Trustrum,  388. 
Hen,  Bishop,  564. 
Hempstead,    L.    I.,    115, 

338,  559. 
Henchman,  Thomas,  572, 

3,  8,  9. 
Herle,  Charles,  381,  436. 
Hiacoomes,  13,  20,  56, 147, 

447,  8,  519. 
Hibbins,  Ann,  140. 
Hicks,  Deborah,  246. 
Horod,  398. 
John,  398. 
Lydia,  246. 
Samuel,  633. 
Hiferney,  William,  314. 
Higginson,  John,  51,  201, 
17,    8,    224,    8,  33, 
80,    303,    4,    6,   40, 
420,  3,  32,  3,  5,  7, 
8,  43,  60,  81,  90,  5, 
508,  10,  11,  16,  20, 
2,    63,   5,   77,  610, 
19,  26. 
i  Hildersham,  Arthur,  97. 
Hill,  Charles,  474. 
John,  199. 
Judge,  207,  21. 
R.,  321. 
Hills,  Joseph,  21. 
Hilton,  Catharine,  538. 
Edward,  537. 
William,  537. 
Hinckley,   Thomas,    240, 

7,  641. 
Hinckman,  William,  453. 
Hingham,  3,  60,  246,  523. 
i  Hiscox,  William,  397,  424, 
62,  97,  539,  88,  659, 
61,  5,  80. 
Hispaniola,  166. 
Hitchen,  John,  301. 
'Hitchcock,  R.,  321. 


692 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Hitchcock,  Widow,  172. 
Hoar,  John,  580,  5. 

John,  Family  of,  580. 

Leonard,  424,  87,  90, 

6,  9,  509,  13,  6,  20, 
63,  5,  79. 

Margery, '424. 
Hobart,     Jeremiah,    499, 

585. 
Nehemiah,  523. 
Peter,    3,     160,   443, 

523. 
Hobson,  Henry,  325. 
Hodgden,  Nicholas,  216. 
Hodges,  Humphrey,  569, 

610. 
Hodson,  William,  212. 
Hoggen,  Robert,  200. 
Hoken,  Indian,  532. 
Holden,    or    Houlden, 

Randal,  30,  1,  394, 

7,  462,  660. 
Holder,  Christopher,  143, 

61,  2,  70,  81,  200, 
11,  5,  33,  6,  54,  6. 

Holgrave,  Mrs.,  62. 

Holland,  5,  7,  8,  47,  61, 

93,  4,  105,  7,  12, 
4,  6,  32,  364,  423, 
33,  92,  510. 

Josiah  G.,  43. 
Mr.,  127. 
Hollanders,  68. 
Hollaway,  John,  511. 
Holliman,  Mr.,  395. 
Hollister,  Lt.,  262,  3,  5. 
Holmes,    John,    317,    87, 
451,  635. 
Obadiah,    25,    7,   48, 
60,  2,  3,  72,  3,  9, 
80,  1,    5,   159,  82, 
317,  539. 
William,  226. 
Holmes'  Hole,  382. 
Holyoke,     Edward,     21, 
205. 
Elizur,  65. 
John,  422,  3. 
Mary,  65. 
Homonequem,  (Convert,) 

57. 
Hooke,  Francis,  322. 
Jane,  625! 
Mrs.,  266. 
William,  48,  130,  87, 

8,  207,  21,  487. 
Hooker,  Ellis,  273. 

Samuel,  671. 
Thomas,    14,    5,    49, 
58,   9,   131,  84,    8, 

94,  411,  37,  67. 
Thomas,    Family   of, 

131. 
Hoopton,  Lord,  35. 


Hooton,   Elizabeth,    277, 

8,  4,  87,  8,  301,  9, 
25,  62. 

Hopkins,  Ann,  188. 

Edward,  34,  124,  32, 

9,  88,  9,  257,  66. 
Hopkinton,  189,  518. 
Horsmunden,  Eng.,  99. 
Houchin,  Robert,  170,  1. 
House  of  Standish,  16S. 
Howard,  William,  432. 
Howe,  John,  159. 
Howell,  Morgan,  118. 
Howgill,  Francis, 

Thomas,  211. 
JHowland,    Arthur,     171, 
234,  5,  41,  4. 
Arthur,  Jr.,  449. 
Elizabeth,  529. 
Henry,  234,  40,  1,  3, 

6. 
John,  453,  529. 
John,  Jr.,  171. 
Samuel,  316, 
Zoeth,  171,234,41,  4. 
Hubbard,  Jeremiah,  443. 
Samuel,  397,  402,  24, 
62,  85,  6,  507,  10, 
39,   88,  650,   3,    5, 
65,  80. 
Tacy,  539. 

William,  7,   137,  41, 
443,    81,    95,    588, 
650,  3,  5,  65,  80. 
Hudson  River,  500. 

William,  367. 
Huitt.  Hannah,  474. 

Thomas,  474. 
Hull,  Goody,  73. 

John,  142,  228,  54,  5, 
64,  354,  6,  430,  41, 
666. 
Humphrey,  Michael,  407. 
Hunt,  Edward,  26. 

Lt.,  450. 
Hunter,  John,  567. 
Huntington,    L.    I.,    114, 

332. 
Hussey,  John,  393. 
Rebecca,  393. 
Stephen,  511. 
j  Hutchinson,     Ann,      64, 


222,  477,  611. 
Edward,  205,69,432, 

568. 
Richard,  12,  283. 
Samuel,  415. 
Thomas,     12,    4,   23, 

38,  146,  51. 

Ince,  Jonathan,  78,  163. 
Independents,  74. 
Indians,  4,  5,  7,  8,  10,  2, 
3,  8,   9,  20,  3,  31, 


3,  4,  6,  8,  9,  50,  1, 
7,  69,  70,  2,  3,  83, 
90,  100,  5,  10,  1,5, 
21,  8,  9,  31,  3,  40, 

6,  7,   51,  3,  61,  4, 

7,  76,  7,  84,  6,  7, 
93,  4,  201,  9,  10,  9, 

24,  5,  31,  2,  49,54, 
60,  5,  7,  73,  8,  83, 
98,  307,  8,  11,  4,  5, 

25,  6,  8,  32,  3,  41, 

2,  7,  8,  80,  3,  6, 
92,  411,  22,  65,  6, 
501,    24,   6,   8,  32, 

3,  9,  41,  9,  50,  1, 

2,  4,  6,  7,  69,  99, 
604,  45,  7. 

Indians  at  College,  101,10, 

47,  250,98,308,48. 
Indian  Catechism,  101. 

College,      133,     198, 
519. 
Ipswich,  3,  7,  15,  48,  63, 
92,   6,  104,  36,  41, 

3,  52,  64,  97,  200, 

4,  6,  21,  63,  76,  7, 
80,  309,  23,  4,  64, 
75,  6,  8,  89,  418, 
20,  2,  35,  78,  523, 
36,  8,  607,  18. 

Ireland,  7,  23,  45,  55,  6, 
104,  35,  53,  9,  205, 
10,  89,  495,  603, 
77. 

Irish  Boy,  (shot,)  570. 
jlsle    of    Shoals,    28,    77, 
249,    323,    87,    90, 
538. 

Isle  of  Wight,  2. 

Italy,  165. 

Jackson,  Edward,  350. 

Richard,  350. 
Jacob,  Henry,  163. 
Jamaica,  L.  I.,  470,  5. 
Jamaica,  W.  I„  140,  51, 
66,    86,    252,     72, 
502. 
James  II.,  47. 

Indian  Teacher,  201, 

517. 
See  Duke  of  York, 

389   91 
Thomas,  38,  267,  308, 

48,  77,  668. 
Japhet,  (Indian,)  448, 
Japheth,  (Indian,)  551. 
Jenkins,  Edward,  631. 

John,  235,8,40,  2,6. 
!  Jessy,  Henry,  163. 
Jethro,  (Indian,)  517,  76. 
Jews,  10,  2,  6,  205,  23. 
Job,    (Indian,)   147,   30S, 
518. 


INI)  I  A.MES. 


693 


Joel,  (Indian,)  519. 
John,  Sagamore,  1 10. 
Johneon,  Edward,   r.   1 1 , 

.  9*. 
Edward,   Family  »>f, 

Humphrey. 
John,  2,  186,  567. 
afarmaduke,  219,308, 

70,  r 
Mary,  34. 
Matthew, 
Thomas,  235. 
Jollie,  Thomas,  I 
Jones,  John,  261, 
Margaret,  4,  1G. 
Ralph,  170. 
Jordan,   Robert,  28,    119, 
21,  78,  217,  9,  50, 
1,318,  9,  20,  2,  92. 
Joscelyn,  Henry,  119,  73, 
319,  22,  93,  457, 

John,  352,  90,  459. 
Joseph,  (Indian,)  502,  18, 

9. 
Juxon,  "William,  Abp.,  9. 

Kattenanit,  Job,  577,  S. 
Keavne,  Robert,  98. 
Keith,  James,  383,  639. 
James,     Family     of, 

383,  4. 
Kellond,  Thomas,  363. 
Kemp,  Elizabeth,  235. 
Kenipis,  Thomas  a,  438. 
Kempthorne,  Simon,  142. 
Kendall,  Francis,  486. 
Kenilworth,  468,  71. 
Kennebeck,    27,   115,   21, 

74,    249,    50,    390, 

459. 
Patent,  315,  8,  9. 
Kennebecks,  75,  249. 
Kent  Co.,  Eng.,  42. 
Kent,  Joseph,  396. 
Kerbey,   Richard,   72,    3, 

168,  240,  6,  77. 
Richard,  Jr.,  235,  8, 

42,  4,  5,  6. 
Sarah,  168. 
Kiffren,    or   Kiffen,    "Wil- 
liam, 73,  362. 
Killingworth,  413. 
King  of  Spain,  279. 
King,  William,  211,  6,  8, 

77. 
Kingsley,  John,,  674. 

Stephen,  21. 
Kirby,  Eng.,  99.     x 
Kitchen,   Elizabeth,    223, 

8,  362,  439. 
John,  217/362. 


Kittery,   28,   77.    117, 

'217,  31 L,  9,  20,  2,  Liddal,  John,  812,  24. 

159,  Lilburn,  John,  262. 
Limerick,  [re.,   1  >3. 

Knapp,  ss.  Lincoln,  Hi-hop,  289. 

Knight,  Bsekiel,  318,  90.  Lincolnshire,  105. 

William,  '■'>■  Ling,  Mr.,  2 15. 

Knott,  Widow,  72.  i.inmll,  David. 

Knower,  George,  165.  Lisbon,  2. 

Knowlee,  John,  3,  7.  22,  Liale,  Lord, 

7,  513,  609.  Little,  Mr.,  227. 


Lake,  Thomas,  93,  645. 
Lambert,  408. 

John,  209,  24. 
Robert,  362. 
Lamphere,  George,  659. 
Lancashire,  99,  139,  69. 
Lancaster,   153,  435,  512, 
17,  70,  585,  90. 
James,  502,  42,  3. 
Lane,  Mr.,  459. 
Langworthy,  Rachel,  397, 

539/ 
Lathrop,  John,  177. 
La  Tour,  28,  117,  72. 
,  Laud,  William,  Abp.,  120, 

365,  490. 
Launder,  or  Lander,  Jane, 
168. 
"William,  168. 
Layton,  Thomas,  634. 
Leader,  Richard,  43. 
(Lechford,  Thomas,  3. 
Lechlade,  Eng.,  530. 
Leddra,  William,   198,  9, 


Littleneld,  Edward,  318. 

Littleton,  618. 

Locke,  Robert,  l  13,  5,  9. 

Loe,  John,  529. 

London,  2,  3,  1,  B,  10,  3, 
20,  1,  3,  9,  39,  II, 
7,  51,    i.  8,  62,  3, 

5,  6,  73,  8,  84,  9, 
96,  105,  6,  20,  1, 
3,  30,  1,  8,  41,  3, 
52,3,  61,  •">.  77,  82, 

7,  S,   94,  200. 

8,  10,7,  9,  22,  3,  4, 
8,  9,  45,  50,  1,  3, 
7,  80,  5,  9,  97,301, 
11,  7,  29,  31,  5,44, 
52,  62,  7,  9,  70,  5, 

6,  81,  96,  7,415,8, 
34,  60,  82,  90,  6, 
510,  2,  3,  5,  6,  35, 

7,  8,  87. 
Long,  Horod,  398. 
Long  Island,  88,  100,  14, 

43,  86,  99,  217,  67, 
332,  7,  62,  82,  404, 


212,18,42,3,72,3. 


6,  542,  92. 


Leet,  Abigail,  471.  Lord,  Robert,  288. 

William,  329,   30,  2,  Lothrop,  John,  115. 
7,  601,  82.  Family  of,  115. 

Leffingwell,  Thomas,  671.  Louis,    King   of    France, 
'Legat,  John,  28.  27. 

Leland,  Henry,  574.  I  Loups,  Indians,  534. 

Lenard,  Solomon,  227.  Lovelace,    Francis,     459, 
Leonard,  Phillip,  453.  64,  82,  524,  34. 

Leverett,  John,  76,  7,  104,  Loveranne,  Theodore, 372. 

5,  6,   31,  8,  9,  51,  Low  Countries,   97,    105, 
9,  71,  2,  81,  2,  204,  66,  8. 

25,  7,  8,  32,  73,  80,  Ludlow,  Roger,  36. 

6,  90,  311,  28,  64,  Luker,  Mark,  60.3. 

7,  91,  3,  410,  4,  8,  Lumbert,  Benjamin,  452. 
44,  56,  7,  8,  66,  7,  Jedediah,  452. 

82,  90,  4,  512,  3,  5,  Lumkin,  William,  449. 

6,  28,  35,  6,  8,  63,  5, 1  Lusher,  Eleazer,  196,  320, 

92,  6,    9,    609,    19,  8,  91,  491. 

33,44,74.  Lygonia,  391.  See  Index 
Leveridge,     or    Leverich,  of  Subjects. 

Caleb  and  Eleazer,  Lynde,  Simon,  516. 

114.  Lvnde.  or  Line,  Thomas, 
William,    50,    1,    72,  43,  60. 

114,  5,  38,  62,  93,  Lyne,  John,  579. 

248.  Lvnn,  3,  9,  23,  43,  6,  8, 
Leyden,   24,   166,  8,  243,  53,   62,   9,  79,    80, 

532.  1,     152,    205,    25, 


694 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


303,  23,  43,  5,  435, 
44,  522,  3. 
Lynn,  Eng.,  177. 

Maanexit,  518. 
Maaz,  William,  382. 
Machin,  John,  65. 
Mackworth,  Jane,  250. 
Mc  Sparran,  Dr.,  462. 
Macy,  Thomas,  216. 
Madockawanda,    or    Ma- 

dockawando,    602, 

47. 
Magunkaquog,    518,    68, 

77,8. 
Magus,  John,  586. 
Maine.     See  Government 

of,  under  Subjects. 
Majascoe,  467. 
Maker,  James,  452. 
Maiden,  42,  3,  53,  60,  9, 

136,  292,  309,  45. 
Malins,  Mary,  277. 
Malory,  Mr.,  14. 
Mamachegin,  Joshua,  448. 
Manchage,  or  Manchauge, 

518,  68,  73. 
Manchester,  3,  46. 
Manhatoes,     or     Manha- 

does,    116,  346,   7, 

406,  624. 
Mann,  James,  27. 
Mannamoiett,  387,  635. 
Manomet,  or  Monument, 

239,  40,  635. 
Mantackett,  193. 
Maquas,     or     Mohawks, 

604. 
Marbery,  Mr.,  205. 
Marblehead,    3,    12,    273, 

363,  422,  30. 
March,  Hugh,  626. 
Marlborough,    164,    226, 

515,  7,  8,   70,    86, 

90,  4. 
Marshall,  Edmund,  46. 
John,  235. 
Thomas,  444. 
Marshfield,  73,  171,  241, 

2,    4,   43,   313,  82, 

6,  455,  529. 
Marston,    William,     175, 

252. 
Martha's  Vineyard,  7,  13, 

20,    39,    51,    6,    7, 

161,  2,  4,  70.  201, 

10,  572,  604,  39. 
Maryland,  40,  542. 
Martyn,  Richard,  537. 
Mascall,  Robert,  434. 
Mashippaug,    or    Marsh- 
pee,  387,  455. 
Mason,  Anne,  552. 
Arthur,  363,  481. 


Mason,  Hugh,  613. 

John,  89,  465,  553. 
John,  Sons  of,  553. 
Joseph,  78. 
Mary,  302. 
Robert,  534. 
Robert  T.,    29,    252, 

78. 
Samuel,  557. 
Masonia,  460. 
Masquamicut,  399. 
Massachusetts.    See  Gov- 
ernment of,  under 
Subjects. 
Masterson,    Nathaniel, 

271,  456. 
Mather,  Catharine,  436. 
Cotton,   13,   59,  105, 
12,  37,  88,  264,  42, 
4,  65. 
Eleazer,  198,  208,  91, 
3,  7,405,  36,  9,  86. 
Increase,  112,  39,  59, 
60,   287,  9,   91,   3, 

8,  300,  41,  69,  73, 
83,  92,  418,  33,  6, 
7,  78,  83,  4,  6,  91, 
509,  14,  5,  20,  4, 
65,  71,  86,  603,  7, 
12,  5,  20,  5,  9,  43, 
50,79. 

Joseph,  436. 

Nathaniel,  21,  159, 
436,  96,  677. 

Richard,  2,  3,  6,  12, 
38,  45,  9,  70,  88, 
92,  117,  36,  9,  49, 
60,  233,  5,  79,  84, 
99,  312,  41,  6,  81, 
412,  35,  6,  9,  78, 
83. 

Richard,  Family  of, 
436. 

Samuel,  3,  21,  159, 
436. 

Sarah,  436. 

Timothy,  436. 
Mathews,  John,  524 

Marmaduke,3,18,42, 
3,  53,  4,  60,  2,  9, 
136. 

Samuel,  524. 
Matoonas,  596. 
Maud,  Daniel,  3,  174. 

Mary,  174. 
Maule,  Thomas,  437. 
Maverick,    Samuel,    228, 
71,  343,  5,  6,  52,3, 

9,  60,  3,  4,  73,  8,  9, 
93. 

May,  Dorothy.  169. 
Maycomber,  Wm.,  532. 
Mayhew,  Experience,  165. 
John,  308,  420,  53. 


Mayhew,  Matthew,    283, 

98,  308,  420,  99, 
520. 

Mrs.,  3,  308,  48,  420. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  13,  20, 
39,  41,  50,  1,  6,69, 
101,  3,  9,  40,  6,  7, 
61,  4,  5,  96,  200, 
10,  9,  308,  499. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  Family 

of,  200. 
Thomas,    Sen.,    162, 
200,   1,   10,   6,  25, 
344,  8,  420. 
Mayo,  John,  26,  138,  61, 
291,  300,  418. 
Samuel,  73,  115. 
Mead,  Matthew,  503. 
Medfield,    or    Meadfield, 

160,  350. 
Mendon,  389,  515,  74. 
Merrimack  River,   9,  42, 

120. 
Merry  Meeting,  121. 
Mesech,  205. 
Mevis,    (Somer   Islands,) 

261. 
Michelson,  Edward, 
Michimore,  James,  459. 
Middleborough,  8,  452. 
Middlesex,  149,  51. 
Middletown,  Conn.,  265, 

7,  8,  335,  470. 
Miles,    or    Myles,    John, 
317,  86,  7,  448,  9, 
530,  66,  621. 
Joseph,  218. 
Sarah,  610. 
Milford,  133,  86,  266,  330, 
406,  10,  2,  71,  532. 
Millard,  Jane,  312,  24. 
Miller,  John,  71,  306,  15. 
Joseph,  602. 
Mehitable,  306. 
Susannah,  306. 
Millet,  Mary,  311. 

Thomas,  311,  20. 
Milton,  574,  601. 

John,  126. 
Misquamuck,  or  Misqua- 

macuck,  354,  463. 
Mistick,  or  Mystick,  193, 

411. 
Mitchel,  Jonathan,  14,  9, 
149,    262,    79,   80, 

99,  304,  12,  5,  24, 
41,7,  73,  6,  412,  3, 
5,  23,  9. 

Mohawks,  71,  5,  300,  402, 
518,  604,  13,  6,  7, 
70,7. 

Momquason,  147. 

Monhegans,  38,  552,  4,  6, 
675. 


INDIA    OF   NAMES. 


695 


Monk,  George,  ll,  132, 
59,  209,  17. 

Monument,  see  Manomet. 

Moody,  Jibhuii,  251,  516, 

7.  63,  ■>. 
Samuel,  563. 
sir  Benry,  271. 

William.  251. 
Moore,  Thomas,  273. 
Moqua,  John,  518. 
Morefield,  434. 

Morgan,  Sarah,  533. 

Mormons,  85. 

Morris,  or  Morrice,  "Wil- 
liam, Sec'ry,  353, 
70,  1,  5,  6,  27,  97, 
115,  7,  66,  8,71,4, 
377,  8,  9,  86. 

Morton,  Nathaniel,  27,  97, 
115,  7,  66,  8,71,4, 
246,  316,  52,  83,  7, 
418,  31,  50,  1. 
William,  315. 

Mosely,  Samuel,  570,  3. 

Moses,  218. 
John,  407. 

Moshier,  John,  459. 

Mossup,  (Indian,)  461. 

Motin,  Jane,  74. 

Moulder,  Christian,  511. 
Nicholas,  511. 

Mount  Hope,  566,  8,  86. 

Mountjoy,  George,  533, 
645. 

Mouthe,  Mr.,  498,  554. 

Moxes,  or  Myoxes,  (In- 
dian,) 164,  447. 

Moxon,  George,  43,  65. 
Martha,  43. 
Rebeckah,  43. 

Mugg,  602." 

Muggleton,    Lodowick, 
108,  494,  548. 

Mumanequem,  56. 

Mumford,  Mary,  539. 
Stephen,  397,  539. 
Thomas,  397. 
William,  511. 

Munjoy,  George,  391. 

Munkateesett,  116. 

Munster,  213. 

Murrain,  Mary  divorced 
from  Patrick,  679. 

Muscongus  River,  172. 

Mynor,   or  Minor,  John, 
132,  3. 
Thomas,  132,  3. 

Naamhok,  572.  - 
Nahant,  429. 
Nahaton,  Wm.  (Ind.)  586. 
Nahorth,  Samuel,  378. 
Namaskett,  452. 
Nansemond,  Va.,  7. 


Nantaaket,  26'.). 
Nantucket,  216,  348,  57, 
si,    182,    98,    508, 

Hi,  7,  9,  20,  07,  72, 
ss,  609. 
Nazragausett    Country, 
659,  60,  78. 

Narragansetts,  57,  83,  6, 
114,  28,  33,  255, 
354,  7,  129,  65,  74, 
543,  59,  81,  92, 
601. 

Nashaway,  8, 18,  111,517. 

Nashobah,  518,  70,  85. 

Nason,  Richard,  216. 

Natick,  21,  42,  50,  6,  7, 

69,  105,  99,  420, 
45,  84,  508,  17,  9, 

70,  4. 

Nay  lor,  James,  163. 
Naylour,  Edward,  500. 
Neal,  Daniel,  15,  26,  97. 

William,  569,  610. 
Neander,  317. 
Needham,  Anthony,  196, 

9,  217,  22. 
Nenecunant,  (Ind.)  128. 
Neponset,  518. 
New  Amsterdam,  35,  89, 

200,  347. 
Newark,  186,  412,  71,  5, 

553. 
Newbury,  3,  58,  99,  103, 

4,  65,  96,  8,  9,221, 

4,  50,  80,  93,  303, 

5,  23,  4,  52,  75,  6, 

8,  412,  8,  36,  77, 
80,  7,  90,  2,  500, 
1,  3,  22. 

Newbury,  Benjamin,  673. 
New  Cambridge,  404. 
New  Castle,  324. 
Newcomb,  Mr.,  435. 
Neweacke,  184. 
Newell,  Mary,  362. 
New  England,  2,  3,  4,  6, 

9,  12,  3,  5,  7,  9, 
20,  2,  4,  6,  38,  41, 

8,  52,  4,  5,  61,  2, 
4,  6,  7,  84,  8,  93, 
4,  6,  108,  19,  21, 
36,  7,  9,  46,  51,  3, 
60,  2,  6,  80,  6,  8, 
90,  2,  204,  5,  8,  12, 
20,  1,  2,  5,  8,  9, 
32,  7,  9,  52,  6,  64, 

6,  70,  4,  9,  88,303, 
4,   16,  31,  5,  54,  7, 

9,  81,  409,  13,5,7, 
24,  6,  31,  3,  43,  68, 
78,  81,  95,  501,  2, 
4,  6,  13,  4,  6,  7,  9, 
20,  9. 

Newfoundland,  265,   366. 


Ntw      Hampshire.        E 

Government      of, 
iind'  r  Subj<  i  tt. 
New    Baven,    386,     no, 

2,  21,  :;7,  8,  9. 
See  Government  of, 
under  Subjects. 

Town,  34,  47,  89,  90, 
130,  1,  80. 
Newhouse,  Thomas,  312. 
Newichawaneck,  320. 
New  Jersey,  247,  302,  412. 
Newland,  John,   168,  70, 
234,  40,  2,  4,  5,  6. 
Rose,  72. 

William,  234,  40,  2,  6. 
New  London,  28,  90,  200, 
7,  331,  2,  409,  12. 
Newman,  552. 

Antipas,  316,  81,420, 

95,  500.' 
Hopestill,  316. 
Joanna,  641. 
Mrs.,  317. 
Noah,   316,   415,  51, 

526,  d.  641. 
Robert,  33. 
Samuel,   25,   6,    162, 

70,  316,  451,  641. 
Samuel,  Children  of, 
316. 
New  Netherland,  89,  171, 
307.     See  Govern- 
ment    of,      under 
Subjects. 
Newport,  R.  I.,  27,  9,  48, 
80,  3,  6,  7,  122,  6, 
7,    78,    80,    1,    97, 
213,53,317,25,94, 

7,  8,  9,  402,  24,  46, 
62,  3,  5,  85,  90, 
507,  10,  39,  40,   1, 

3,  6,  659,  65. 
New  Shoreham,  549. 
Newton,  L.  I.,  114. 
Newton,  Roger,  90,   133, 

201,  66,  671. 
New  York,   31,   347,   52, 
70,  3,  8,  83,  91,  4, 
482,  508,  10,  2,  20, 

4,  32,  72,  665. 
Nicarson,  Nicholas,  450. 

WTilliam,  387,  8. 
Nicholet,     Charles,     490, 
510,  1,  20,  2,3,63, 

5,  6,  87. 
Mrs.,  490. 

Nichols,  J.,  541. 
Randall,  432. 
Richard,    342,    3,    5, 
53,  5,  9,  60,   1,  4, 

6,  70,  3,  7,8,9,  83, 

8,  91,  3,  6,  456,  8, 
61,  3. 


69(3 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Nicholson,    Christopher, 
273,  363. 
Edmund,    223,    73, 

363. 
Elizabeth,  273,  363. 
Jane,  218,  20,  7,  362. 
Joseph,    218,   20,    7, 

73,  312,  24,  63. 
Ninicraft,  (Indian,)  461. 
Ninigret,  (Indian,)  464. 
Nipmuck,    14,    422,    84, 

518. 
Noble,  Samuel,  585. 
Noddle's  Island,  372,  446, 

65,  97,  540. 
Nohnoso,  John,(Ind.)448. 
Nonantum,  346. 
Norcross,  Nathaniel,  3. 
Norfolk  County,  28,  367. 
Norkett,  William,  453. 
Norman,  Thomas,  523. 

William,  76. 
Norris,  Edward,  3,  44,  94, 

148,  9. 
Northampton,    198,    208, 

91,  3,  352,  566. 
Northampton,  Eng.,  97. 
Northheld,  573. 

North  Hampton,  323,  405. 
Norton,  Col.,  13. 

Humphrey,   170,   99, 

235,  6,  58, '9,  421. 
John,  2,  3,  6,  15,  21, 
8,  44,  6,  54,  64,  5, 

6,  7,  8,  71,  96,  112, 
3,  7,  36,  40,   9,  52, 

92,  6,  9,  204,  7,  9, 
12,  6,  7,  24,33,62, 

74,  9,  80,  1,  7,  91, 

7,  300,  2,  7,  44. 
Mary,  302. 

Nortowen,  Mrs.,  138. 
Norwalk,    or    Norwaake, 

90. 
Norwich,  Ct.,  267,  553,  4, 

665. 
Norwich,  Eng.,  207. 
Norwottuck,  208. 
Nova  Scotia,  28,  74,   105, 

6,  12,  21,  72,  299, 

374,  5,  456,  9,  80. 
Nowell,  Increase,  111. 
Samuel,  587,  624. 
Noyes,  James,  3,  20,  99, 

d.  150,  96,  224,338, 

607,  69. 
James,     Family     of, 

150. 
Nicholas,  104,  669. 
Numacke,  Nanquit,  454. 
Numphow,  518,  79. 
Nunpang,  447. 
Nye,  Phillip,  2,  352,  *34, 

87. 


Oakes,  Cornet,  575. 


Edward,  13,  350. 
Urian,  13,  490,   1,  6, 
504,  7,  9,  65. 

Obed-Edom,  13. 

Okomonakamesit,  (Marl- 
borough,) 518. 

Old  England.  See  Eng- 
land. 

Old  Town  Creek,  232. 

Oleron,  Charles  of,  (Ship) 
358. 

Oliver,  James,  212,  432, 
570. 
Thomas,  602. 

Olney,  Thomas,  87,  253. 

Onomog,  (Indian,)  518. 

Onondagoes,  140. 

Ordway,  Aaron,  116. 

Oresby,  Thomas,  205. 

Origen,  256. 

Osawan,  (Indian,)  550. 

Osborn,    Mrs.,     (wife    of 
Thomas,)  310,  66. 
Sarah,  309. 
Thomas,  310,  41,  62, 
5,  6,  8,  76,  423,  62, 
507,  67. 
William,  309. 

Oxenbridge,  John,  440,  3, 
6,79,80,2,94,500, 
8,  33,  65. 

Oxford,  (Manchage,)  518. 
ICor 
297. 
Eng.,  99. 

Oxfordshire,  Eng.,  257. 

Ousamequin,  Wassame- 
gin,  or  Matchippa, 
(Indian,)  273,  8. 

Owanecoe,  (Indian,)  551. 

;  Owen,  John,  48,  160,  96, 
307,  11,  44,  67,  73, 
434,  87,  601. 

Oyster  Bay,  114,  5,  362. 

i  Paboddv,    or    Peabody, 

William,  314. 
Pacquellant,  (Ind.)  352. 
Page,  Isaac,  199. 
Robert,  429. 
Paine,  John,  634. 
William,  36. 
Pakachoog,  517,  9. 
;Pakemitt,  518,  75. 
'Palairet,  172. 

Palmer, ,  435. 

Geoffrey,  252. 
Josiah,  529. 
John,  455. 
Samuel,  48. 
|  Palmes,  Edward,  671. 
Palmore,  Abraham,  19. 
(Park,  Edmund,  512. 


Parker,  Capt.,  587. 
Dr.,  510. 
Son  of  Rev.  Robert, 

606. 
Thomas,    3,    20,    99, 
150,    65,    224,    93, 
305,  35,  6,  441,  7, 
80,  90,  2,  500,  606, 
7. 
William,  241,  4,  6. 
William,  wife  of,  241. 
Parks,  William,  2. 
Parris,  Samuel,  490. 
Parsons,  Hugh,  43. 

Hugh,  wife  Mary,  43. 
Joseph,  566. 
Mary,  566. 
Partridge,  Alexander,  29, 
30,  1. 
Ralph,   6,  23,  d.  235, 

317,  437,  635. 
Ralph,    Family    of, 
235. 
Pasaconaway,  9,  518. 
Pattison,  George,  543. 
Patucket  Falls,  Mer.  R., 

9,  42,  140,  447. 
Paugatuck,  411. 
Paule,  William,  170,  234. 
Paumperang,  559. 
Pawcatuck,  327,  474. 
Pawtuxet,     Patuxet,     or 
Patuxit,  27,  32,  79. 
Payne,  John,  500. 
Pearson,  or  Peirson,   Pe- 
ter.    See  Pierson. 
Peasley,  Joseph,  215. 
Pecatuck,  88,  192,  3. 
Peck,  Henry,  34. 
Jeremiah,  266. 
Joseph,  34. 
Peguatucke,    or    Pawka- 

tuck,  193,  4,  354. 
Peirce,  Capt.,  367,  73,  5. 
John,  4S6. 
Robert,  486,  97. 
Pelham,  Herbert,  12,  207, 

90. 
Pemaquid,  389,  534. 
Pemberton,  Sarah,  443. 
Pembroke,  227. 
Pendleton,  Eng.,  607. 
Bryan,  77,  118,  392, 

645. 
James,  537. 
Mary,  392. 
Penguinhole,  454. 
Penn,  James,  17,  9,   435, 

7,  9,  82. 
Pennicooks,  573. 
Penobscot,    28,    74,    117, 

459,  602. 
Penobscots,  74,  172. 
Pentagoet,  27. 


INDIA    OF    NAMES. 


(JOT 


Pepin,  James,  Jr.,  ( French 
Protestant,)  281. 

Pequet,  or  Pequot,  88,  90, 
178,     92,    8,    826. 

Bee  Pi  quods. 
Pequoda,  83,   L26,  32,  8, 

84,  94,  267,  326,  8, 

64,  6,    106,   11,  66, 

98,  664,  676. 
Perada,  Imanuel,  11. 
Perkins,  "William,  311. 
Permott,  Mr.,  1 18. 
Perrott,  204. 
Perry,  Edward,  116,  235, 

8,  40,  2,  4,  5,  640. 
Seth,  590. 

Pessicus,  (Indian,)  400. 

Peters,  Deliverance,  106. 
Hugh,   3,    15,   6,  41, 
69,  103,  6,  12,  222, 
4,  610,  2. 

Pettaquamscott,  Patta- 
quamscott,  or  Pet- 
tecombscot,  255, 
355,  98,  462. 

Phelps,  Hannah,  211,  6. 
Nicholas,  198,  9,  204, 
6,  7,  11,  73,  80. 

Philip,   Sachem,   315,  85, 

9,  413,  50,  64,  519, 
24,  8,  9,  39,  52,  65, 
6,  70,  1,  5,  84,  91, 
3,  shot  597,  8,  602, 
34,  8,  65,  70. 

Phillips,  Bridget,  569,610. 
George,  206. 
Henry,  Dea.,  489. 
John,  171. 

Samuel,   435,   7,    43, 
78,  81,  7,  95,  586, 
626. 
William,  8,  18. 
William,  Major,  320. 
Phippen,  Joseph,  322. 
Phips,  Solomon,  432. 
Piambow,  (Indian,)  518. 
Pierson,  Abraham,  50,  1, 
129,  33,  47,  62,  84, 
6,  7,  94,201,  9,  10, 
60,  3,  6,  7,  98,  308, 
48,     420,    66,     75, 
553,  679. 
Abraham,    Jr.,    471, 

553. 
Peter,  212,  42,  3,  77, 
313,  412. 
Pike,  Richard,  457. 

Robert,    99,    103,    4, 
11,  64. 
Pinguin  Hole,  247. 
Pinion,  Robert,  449. 
Pipponcott,  Richard,  46. 
Piscataquay,  77,  211,  23, 
52,  346,  67,  91. 
88 


Pittuoee,    Andrew,    (In- 
dian.) 686,  97. 

Pitkins,  William,  407. 

Plymouth   Colony.      See 
Government    of, 

*         under  Subjects. 
Town,    71,    90,    166, 

8,  7  1.   226,    7.   36, 

9,  41,  2,   6,  51,  71, 
-517,  52,  si,  8,  160, 

3,  91,8,  508,39,41. 
Poagnett,  (Indian,)  550. 

jPochasset,  383. 
j  Pokanoket,  62  1 . 
Pollard,  Sir  Hugh,  159. 
,  Polly,  George,  620. 
1  Pondunk  Indians,  192. 
Poole,  Elizabeth,  116,  667. 
Pope,  Gertrude,  439. 
Joseph,  199. 
Thomas,  242,  455. 
Porter,  Daniel,  552. 
John,  255,  397,  8. 
John,  Jr.,  355,  7,  60, 

5,  97. 
Margaret,  398. 

Port  Royal,  74,  106,  21. 
Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  30,  83, 

6,  122,    6,    7,    78, 
346,  90,  463,  602. 

See  Strawberry  Bank, 
251,  2,  324,  64,  93, 

4,  460,  536,  7. 
Potock,  (Indian,)  597. 
Poucomptock,  506. 
Pouning,  Henry,  221. 
Powell,  Michael,  69,   70, 

99,  108,  9,  38,  161, 

503. 
Pray,  Mary,  549. 
Richard,  549. 
Prentice,  Henry,  570. 
Prescott,  John,  18. 

I,  ( 
43. 

Prince,  Elizabeth,  449. 
Mary,  143,  5,  6. 
Thomas,  116,  21,  74, 
235,  6,  8,  50,  315, 
82,    7,     452,     524, 
9,  d.  530,  9. 
Thomas,   Family   of, 
530. 
Prine,  or  Prinn,  255. 
Prior,  Joseph,  73. 
Providence,  26,  9,  33,  79, 
80,  2,  3,  6,  7,  122, 

7,  75,  8,   80,    209, 

II,  53,  5,  327,  461, 

5,  543,  6. 
Prudden,  John,  186,  474, 

5. 
Peter,  88,  d.  186,  9, 
474. 


Prudden,    Peter,    Family 
of,   L86. 
Bamuel,  186. 

Pulling  Point,  2  IS. 

Pumhara,  or  l'omham, 
(Indian,)  81,  2, 
369,    100,    L,  691. 

Pummakummin,    (Sa- 
chem,) 67. 

Puncapoag,  or  Punqua- 
pog,  153,  64,  98, 
518,   70,  4,   92. 

Punean,  (Indian,)  649. 

Punnuppaqua,  147. 

Purchase,  Oliver,  360. 
Thomas,  121,  319. 

Pynchon,  Anna,  65. 

John,    65,    165,    290, 

347,  569,  604. 
William,  20,  1,  43,  5, 
54,  60,  5,  8,9,  105, 
205,  87,  91. 

Quabacooke,  278. 

Quabagud,  Quaboag,  or 
Quabog,  16,  417, 
517,  86. 

Quannapohit,  James,  (In- 
dian,) 586. 

Quannassohutt,  Thomas, 
(Indian,)  567. 

Quantissett,  519. 

Quatisicker,  422. 

Quebec,  140. 

Quincy,  Edmund,  537. 
Judith,  537. 

Qunnubbagge,  57. 

Rainsford,  Edw'd,  433,  44 
Ranee,  John,  246,  502. 
Randall,    William,    Sen., 

453,  5. 
Randolph,  Edward,   596, 

8,  600,  37,  48. 
Rauce,  John,  641. 
Ravins,  Christianus,   10. 
Rawlings,  James,  216. 
Rawson,  Edward,  51,  99, 

118,  33,   281,  341, 

79. 
Edward,  Jr.,  99. 
Reading,  3,  6,  53,  62,  218, 

49,  91,  323,  50,  89, 

415,  86,  511. 
Reap,  William,  313. 
Rednap,  Joseph,  46. 
Reeve,  Robert,  407. 
Reeves,    John,    108,  494, 

548. 
Rehoboth,  25,  6,  7,  80,  7, 

116,    67,    70,    245, 

316,  7,  86,  8,   450, 

1,  526,  66. 
Remor,  Mr.,  563. 


698 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Reyner,  John,  29, 117,  66, 
74,  86,  323,  d.  460. 

John,  Family  of,  460. 

John,  Jr.,  460,  d.  537. 
Reynolds,  Dr.,  283. 
Rhode  Island.     See  Gov- 


Roxbury  or  Rockaburv, 
2,  3,  13,  8,  97,  105, 
9,  60,  93,  210,  27, 
76,  81,  306,  23,  50, 


62,  3,  405,   18,  20,' 
30,  80,  91,  520,  8& 
ernment  of,  under I  Ruddock,  John,  571. 
Subjects.  iRushworth,  601. 

Rhodes,   Zechariah,    177,  Rusk,  Mr.,  516. 

80,  368.  Russell,    Daniel,    625,    9, 

Richards,  James,  679.  30. 

John,  515.  George,  73. 

Richardson,  James,  575,8.  John,  191,  261,5,6, 


John,  503,  22,  63,  7, 
626. 
Richmond's  Island,  247. 
Richworth,  Edward,  117. 
Ridgewell,  Eng.,  49. 
Ridlye,  Robert,  19. 


446,    86,    96,    567, 

620,  1,  73. 

John,  Jr.,  567. 

Xoadiah,  679. 

Richard,  367. 

Rutherford,  Samuel,  122, 


Rigby,  Alexander,  d.  28.  437. 

Edward,  76,  172.         |  Rye,  90,  410,  72,  4,  552,  9. 
Rishworth,  Edward,  390. 1 

Rising,  Gov.,  171.  I  Sabine,  William,  245. 

Roberts,  Edward,  135.        Sackville,  Dr.,  405. 
Robin,  and  his  Company,   Saco,   118,  9,  72,  3,  247, 
194.  317,8,21,2,90,2. 

Robinhood,  249.  |  Saconeesett,  316. 

Robinson,  Isaac,  241,  3.      Saconett,  528,  631. 


John,  2,  24,  166,  243 

4,  596. 
William,   208,  11,  2,  | 
3,  6,  52,  4. 
Rochelle,  Fr.,  281,  99. 
Rochellers,  378. 
Rochester,  71. 
Rogers,    Ezekiel,    3,    28, 
105,49,  228,  d.  269,  j 
70,  306,  418. 
Ezekiel,    Family    of,  j 

270. 
James,  550,  7,  659. 
James,     John     and 
James,    Sons    of, 
551,  659. 
John,  171,  620,  1,73. 
John,  Sons  of,  171. 
Mr.,    of  Dedham, 


Nathaniel,  3,  28,  64, 

92,  136. 
Nathaniel, 

of,  137. 
Simon,  497 


Saconoco,  (Indian,)  31,  2. 

Sagadahock,  391. 

Sagatea.     See  Eleutheria. 

Salem,  3,  25,  33,  41,  96, 
103,  59,  95,  9,  204, 
6,8,11,8,22,8,45, 
9,72,  3,  6,  8,82,  7, 
301,  6,  12,8,  23,  4, 
43,  5,  52,  75,  6,  8, 
81,  415,  8,  20,2,  3, 

5,  8,  44,  60,  89,  90, 
509,  20,  2,  3,  39, 
68,  76,  7,  87. 

Tillage,  501. 
Sam,  (Sagamore,)  591. 
Salisbury,  3,  99,   103,  4, 
43",  63,  4,  75,  215, 

6,  21,  323,  4,  477. 
Old  Town  and  New 

Town,  215. 
Salmon,  Samuel,  223. 
Thomas,  2,  9. 
Children  Salter,  Prison-keeper,  287. 
i  Saltonstall,  Richard,   60, 
2,  3,  85,207,21,  8, 


Rouse,    John,     199,    200, !  32,  80,  90,  612. 

35,  6.  Sampson,  (Indian  Teach- 

Lieut.  Col.,  199.  er,)  519. 

Rowland,  Joseph,  473.  Mr.,  267. 

Rowlandson,  Joseph,  153,   Samuel,  (Indian  Teacher,) 
435,  43,  584,  682.    ;  518. 

Mary,  584,  5,  603,  82.   Sanders,  E.,  321. 

Rowley,    3,    14,   64,    143,   Sands,  James,  396. 

270,  80,  306,  23,  4,   Sandwich,  72,  114,  5,  68, 
424,  9,  35,  9,  77,  8,  j  70.  211,  34,  5,  6,  8, 

87,  99,  523,  36.  9,  40,   2,  4,   7,   72, 


83,  308,    13,   4,  6, 

82,   7,    420,    50,  5, 

98. 
Sanford,  John,  182,  464. 
Sasoment,  (Indian,)  517. 
Saunders,  Edward,  136. 
Henry,  170,  238. 
Tobias,  325,  43. 
Sausaman,   John,   (Ind.,) 

563,  6,  632,  3,  4. 
Savage,  Thomas,  375,  568, 

86,  613. 

Say   and    Brook,    Lords, 

192,  330,  409. 
Say  and  Seal,  Lord,  210, 

25,  80,  6,  329,  30. 
Saybrook,  6,  11,  35,  129, 

93,217,470,1,553, 

667,  8. 
Sayle,  William,  19. 
Scarborough,  250,  318,  21, 

91,  524. 
Scituate,  114,   5,  7,   225, 

34,   41,   5,   6,   314, 

87,  455,    529,   30, 
631. 

Scone,  Scotland,  40. 
Scotland,  14,  52, 104,  205, 

10,  383,  434,  516. 
Scots,  7,  9,  40,  7,  52,  5. 
Scott,  Catharine,  205,  53, 
6. 

Christopher,  205. 

John,  382,  404,  610. 

Mary,  211,  6,  56. 

Patience,  209,  54,  6. 

Richard,  128,  256. 

Thomas,  15,  569. 
Scottow,     Joshua,      281, 

359,  601. 
Scyll,  Capt.  Joseph,  585. 
Seabury,  Samuel,  449. 
Seaconk,  or  Seekonk,  16. 
Seagar,  Elizabeth,  335. 

Richard,  334. 
Sealey,  Capt.,  651. 
Searle,  Mr.,  427. 
Sedgwick,    Robert,     104, 
5,  6,  12,  6,31,  171. 
Seipican,  (Rochester),  71. 
Sempsted,  John,  511. 
Senecas,  670. 
Serjeant,  Peter,  515. 

Ruth,  530. 

William,  530. 
Sewall,  210. 

Samuel,  22. 
Sevmour,  Sir  Edward,  42. 
Shadbrook,  323. 
Shalford,    Eng.,    48,    63, 

196. 
Shapley,  Abihail,  514. 
Shapleigh,  Nicholas,  311, 
9,  20,  2,  538,  649. 


INDEX.   OF   NAMES. 


699 


Shaplci^h,     Richard,     75, 

847. 
Shattuck,  Joaiah,  278, 
Samuel,    L62,  96,  9, 
804,    6,  7.    17.   23, 
;:;,  B2,  1,  111,  132. 
Sarah,  181. 

William,  196. 

Shawanon,   (Sachem,)    9, 

111. 
Shawomet,  21,  7.  82.    See 

Warwick. 
Shelly,  Hannah,  73. 
Shelter  Island,  206. 
Shepard,     Margaret,     14, 
129. 
Samuel,  14,  424. 
Thomas,  2,  3,  12,  d. 
14,    5,  429,   81,   3, 
90,  521,  679. 
Thomas,    Family    of, 

14. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  14,  233, 
309,  423,  4,  35,  7, 
52,  509,  606,  20,  9. 
Shepherd,  Jeremiah,  617. 
Sheppard,  George,  327. 
Sherburn,  588. 
Sherman,  John,  78,  552. 
(John:),  149,  410,  3, 
35,  7,43,  81,  91,  5, 
587. 
Ship  Tavern,  363. 
Shippe,  Sheppey  or  Ship- 
pen,  Edward,  568, 
610. 
Shirley,  James,  12. 
Shove,    George,    316,   86, 
524. 
Hopestill,  386. 
Shrewsbury,  Eng.,  188. 
Shrimpton.  Henry,  372. 
Silvester,  Giles,  273. 
Simpson,  Frances,  217. 

Sidrack,  2. 
Six  Nations,  75. 
Skelborn,  Samuel,  271. 
Skiffe,  James,  239,  41. 
Skinner,  Hannah,  514. 
Slocum,  Giles,  Sen.,  550. 
Giles,  Wife  and  Chil- 
dren, 550. 
Small,  Francis.  321. 

John,  195,  6,  217,  23, 
8, -362, 
Smith,  Anna,  65. 

Ed  ward  and  Wife,  27. 
Ensign,  450. 
George,  28. 
Henry,  33,  54,  65,  88. 
Henry,  Family  of,  33. 
James,  217,  23. 
John,    31,     116,    99, 
217,  22,  4,  33,  41, 


3,  7,   77,   816,   94, 
840. 

John,  Jr.,  241,  3,  6. 
Margaret,  211,  6,  22, 

<;,  88,  77,  301. 
Marmaduke,  4  72. 

Matthew,  486,  97. 
of  Manchester,  3. 
Ralph,  3,  271. 
Richard,   143,  4,   86, 
266,  462,  568,  650. 
Thomas,  Capt.,  599. 
!  Society   for    N.    E.    Mis- 
sions, 297. 
Solman,  John  and  Wife, 

397. 
Somersetshire,  Eng.,  42. 
Somes,  John,  511,68,  610. 
Sosaman,  (Indian  Teach- 
er,) 147.     See  Sau- 
saman. 
Soule,  George,  241. 
John,  241,  4,  6. 
Nathaniel,  451,  524. 
Southampton,  559. 
Southertown,  325,  8,  411. 
South  Hampton,  144,  86, 

332. 
•  Southold,  L.  I.,  258,  333, 

556,  9. 
South  Wales,  69. 
Southward,  Alice,  169. 
;  Southwark,  Eng.,  163. 
Southwick,     Cassandra, 
159,  95,  6,  9,  204, 
6,  8. 
Daniel,  199,  206,  17, 

23,  73. 
John,   196,  9,  217,  8, 

23. 
Josiah,  195,  6,  9,  204, 
6,  81,  373,  422,  32, 
596. 
Lawrence,  159,  95,  6, 

9,  204,  6. 
Provided,    199,    206, 
16,  7,  8. 
I  Southworth,    Constant, 
314. 
Thomas,  315,  87. 
Spaniards,  5,  178. 
;  Spanish  Colonies,  312. 
i  Spear,  James,  519. 
Speedwell,  (Ship,)  143. 
Spencer,  Thomas,  216. 
;  Spene,    or    Speen,    Abra- 
ham, 570. 
James,  577,  86. 
Thomas,  597. 
j  Spilsbery,    or    Spilsbury, 

John,  9,  73. 
Spoonant,  James,  570. 
Spooner,  Thomas,  218. 
Spori,  326. 


Springfield.   8,  11,  20,  43, 
54,  66,    102,  6,  65, 
94;  206,  128,  687. 
Spun,  John,  46. 
Spurwiuk,  l  L9,  319,  22. 
Squakeake,  500. 
Squamacuck,  469,  74. 
Squando,  (Indian,)  647. 
St.   Christopher's   Island, 

372,  418. 
St.  Cloud,  121. 
St.  Croix,  389. 
St.  George,  (River,)  172. 

(Ship,)  288. 
St.  Germain,  121. 
St.    John,    Nephew    of 

Bulkley,   18. 
St.  John's,  132. 
St.  Lawrence,  27. 
St.  Mary,  40. 
St.  Mas*  74. 
St.  Paul,  87. 
Stallion,  Edward,  557. 
Stamford,   36,    130,    266, 

333,  8,  406. 
Standish,    Miles,    167,    8, 
553. 
Sons  of,  168. 
Stanley,  Martha,  218. 
Stanton,    John,    133,    47, 
62,  298,  308,  671. 
Robert,  398. 
Thomas,   37,   101,  9, 
33,  47,  87. 
Staples,  William  R.,  327. 
Starbuck,  Edward,  28. 
Star  Island,  323. 
Starr,  Thomas,  386. 
Staunton,  Mary,  197,  253. 

Stead,  Rev. ,  362. 

Steadman,  John,  407. 

Steele,  Wm.,  19,  20,  41, 

50,  6,  7,  102,  33,  5. 

Stephenson,  Andrew,  489. 

John,  631. 

Marmaduke,  208,  13, 

6,  52,  4,  6. 
Sarah,  631. 
Stileman,  Elias,  537. 
Stiles,  Ezra,  181. 
Stoddard,  Solomon,  439. 
Stone,  Elizabeth,  335,  6. 
Gregory.  350. 
Robert,  228. 
Samuel,   38,  133,  91, 
259,  64,  7,  335,  6, 
673,  7. 
!Stonington,  267,  98,  338. 
I  Stony  Stratford,  Eng.  257. 
jStoughton,  110. 
iStoughton,  William,  374, 

424,  35,  80. 
1  Stover,    Sylvester   and 
Wife,  172. 


700 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


Stow,  Samuel,  26,  7,  8. 
Stradbrook,  249. 
Strafford,  Earl  of,  9. 
Straiton,     Samuel    and 
Wife,  16. 


^Tackuppawillin,     Naos, 

(Indian,)  586. 
Talbot,  Major,  674. 
Tallcott,  John,  557. 
Tanner,  Mr.,  449. 
Stratford,    88,    337,    411, j  Tarrantines,  602. 

70,  1,  523,  59.  JTaunton,  4,   26,   116,  70 

Stratton,  Eliphalet,    511,  234,  88,  316,  82,  4 

610.  5,524,41,58,636,7 

Eliphaz,  511.  jTawanquatyck,  (Indian,): 


Torrey,    Samuel,    435,  7, 

81,  95,  514,  5. 
Touton,  John,  299. 
Trask,  Henry,  199,  217. 

Mary,  211,  6,  8,  26, 
33,  77. 

William,  460. 
Treat,  Catharine,  194. 

Richard,  194. 

Robert,  266,411,529, 


Ephraim,  569.  447.  668,  9,  70,  1. 

Strawberry  Bank,    3,    78,  Taylor,  Edward,  587.  Samuel,  529. 

174,5.  Temple,  Thomas,   172,  3,  jTring,  (inHerdfordshire,) 


Street,  Nicholas,  262,  93, 1  228,  81,  90,  1,  300, 

300,    33,    86,    431,  2,11,29,45,74,5, 

557,  8,  61.  412,  d.  512. 

Samuel,  262,  561.         Tenterdon,  Eng.,  218. 
Samuel,    Family    of,  Terry,  Thomas,  464. 
561.  ITeticut,  8. 

Stubs,  John,  502,  42,  6.     iTeunise,  Lieut.,  586. 
Tewksbury,  518.  ^ 
Thacher,    Anthony,    315, 

86. 

I 


Sturgeon  Creek,  459. 
Sturgeon,  Mr.,  245. 
Sturgis,  Edward,  524. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  34,  5, 


95,  335. 
Suffolk,  Mass.,  32,  149. 
Sugar  Hill,  573. 
Sumers,  Henry,  567. 
Swain,  Richard,  216. 
Swallow,  (Ship,)  142. 
Swansea,    South    Wales, 

69. 
Swanzey,     or     Swansea, 

317,  448,  566. 
Swedes  at  Delaware,  132, 

3,  347. 
Sweetser,   Benjamin,  432, 
85,  541. 
Seth,  362. 
Swift,  Joan  (:),  246. 

Thomas,  601. 
Sylvester,  Dinah,  313. 

Joseph,  313. 
Symmes,  Sarah,  288,  477. 
William,  477.    ' 
Zechariah,  3,  45,  149, 
212,  91,  9,  309,  17, 
73,  86,  7,  437,  77, 
509. 
Zechariah,  Family  of, 

477. 
Zechariah,  Jr.,  477. 
Symonds,  Richard,  13. 
Ruth,  309. 


Elizabeth,  235,  441. 

Peter,  523. 

Theodora,  523. 

Thomas,   3,   149,  60, 
238,   315,   435,  41, 
95,  508,  86,  629. 
Thomas,   (Indian   Teach- 
er,) 201. 

John,  (Indian  Teach- 
er,) 518,  91. 

Nathaniel,  455. 

Robert,  515. 

William,  386,  540. 
Thompson,  John,  337. 

Robert,  12,  535,  44. 

William,  3,  45,  160, 
2,  93,  4,  210,  65, 
73,  83,  314,  32,  42, 
81. 
Thornton,  Thomas,  316, 
450.  643. 


362. 

Trip,  John,  253. 
Trumbel,  Brother,  507. 
Trumbull,  Benjamin,  188, 
90,  410. 
Mr.,  228. 
Trustram,  R.,  321. 
Tubal,  205. 
Tubbs,  Marcy,  451. 

William,  451. 
Tuckanuckett,  482. 
TuckappowiU,    or   Tuck- 
apawillin,    Joseph, 
(Indian,)  577. 
Tucker,  John,  537. 
Tuckney,  Anthony,  105. 
Tupper,  Thomas,  636. 
Turner,  Goodwife,  72. 
Joseph,  451. 
Mary,  593. 
Michael,  240. 
Robert,  150. 
William,  362,  8,  428, 
32,    3,    46,    86,    k. 
593. 
Tuttle,  John,  22. 
Tweed,  217. 
Tyn,  Jonathan,  460. 
Tyng,  Edward,  209,   318, 

457. 
Tysoe,  John,  502. 


Thorowgood,  Thomas,  22. 
Thorpe,  John,  (Preacher,)  Uncas,  (Sachem,)  38,  273, 
250,  318.  8,  498,  551,  2,  6,  7. 

W.,  35.  Underhill,  John,  131. 

Throgmorton,  John,  545.  lUpshall,  or  Upsall,  Doro- 
Thurloe,  John,  208.  I  othy,  149,  98,  278. 

Thurston,  Thomas,  143.     I         Nicholas,  46,  142,  9, 
Tichfield,  Eng.,  13.  68,  209,  78,  92. 

Tift,  Joshua,  651.  Ure,  Thomas.     See  Ewer. 


Tilton,  Peter,  496. 
Samuel,   7,    77,    163,  Titus,  Robert,  116. 
300,  9,  64,  510,  11,  Tompson,  Abigail,  381. 


65t  626. 
William,  436. 

Tabor,  William,  541. 

Tackanash,  John,  (In- 
dian,) 447,  8. 

Tackuppawillin,  Joseph, 
(Ind.)  518,  77,  86. 


jUselton,  Francis,  540. 
Usher,  Hezekiah,  283,  91, 

308,   484,  98,  585, 

646,  7. 
John,  492. 


Ann,  381 

Mary,  320,  3,45,8,62. 
Topsfield.  See  New  Mead-  ,  Utah,  286. 

ows,    3,    2S0,    372,jUxbridge,  517 
499,  509. 
Torrey,    Joseph,     26,     7, 1  Vane,  Henry,  60,  8,  123 


527,    424,    53,    62, 
565,  650 


7,   78,   224,   51,    6, 
611. 


[NDEX    OF    NAMES. 


701 


Vassal,  John,   117. 

William,  i. 
Vaughan,  I  teorge,  382. 

William,  464. 

Venner,  Thomas,  281. 
Veren,  Joshua,  38. 

Philip,  311. 
Vincent,  Gudwife,  62, 223. 

William,  2-23. 

Vim  yard.     Martha's     or 
Martin's.  See  Mar- 
tha's. 

Virginia,    206,   6,    12,   79, 
87,8,34o,490,  510, 
43,  6. 
Mission,  7,  306,  32. 

Virginias,  27. 

Vyal,  John,  414. 

Waabesktamin,  518. 
Waban,  (Indian,)  420,  98, 
518,  9,  65,  91,  602, 
18. 
Wabquissit,  519. 
Wachusetts,  591. 
Waddock,  H.,  321. 
"Wade,  Joane,  193. 

Robert,  193. 
Wadleigh,  John,  318. 
Wadsworth,  Samuel,  590. 
Waetung,      (Uxbridge,) 

517. 
Wait,  Richard,  360. 
AVakeman,   Samuel,    337, 

470,  1. 
Waldron,    Richard,    319, 

23,  457,  647. 
Wales,  13,  297. 

Mr.,  318. 
Walford,  Jane,  175. 

Thomas,  175. 
Walker,  Dr.,  99. 
George,  588. 
Richard,  21. 
Robert,  470. 
William,  524. 
Zechariah,  411,  70,  2, 
3. 
WTalley,  Thomas,  317,  82, 

452,  3,  5. 
Wallingford,  666,  70. 
Wallis,  Nathaniel,  250. 
Waltham,  270. 
Wralton,  William,  422,  30. 
Wamesits,  518,  70,  5,  8,  9. 
Wampanoags,  565,  87. 
WTannalancet,      (Indian,) 
447,  518,- 72,  3,  9, 
619. 
Wrannamanhut,   (Indian,) 

488. 
Wannamoiset,  317. 
Ward,  519. 

John,  3,  437,  81. 


Ward,  Nathaniel, 

Susan,  i^. 
Wardcll,     or     Wardwt  11, 

Bliakim,  323,  !,  98, 
Wardwell,  William,  118. 
Ware,  Peter,  390. 
Warham,   John,   38,    191, 

287,   101,  12,  3,  39, 

67,  9,  'I.   173,  553. 
Warner,  John,  30,  85,  575. 
Warren,  Elizabeth,  530. 
Humphrey,  645. 
John,  93. 
Richard,  530. 
Warwick,  29,  31,  3,  72,  9, 

82,  3,  5,  8,   123,  6, 

7,  77,  9,  253,  369, 

94,  6,  401,  63,  548. 
Warwick,  Earl  of,  Robert, 

429. 
Wasamegin,  or  Ousame- 

quin,      (Sachem,) 

273,  8. 
Wassakenoldquen,  (Sa- 
chem,) 591. 
Watertown,  3,  7,  23,  206, 

64,    309,    435,    86, 

587,  97. 
Watson,  John,  Sen.,  570. 
Watts,  Isaac,  48. 
Thomas,  671. 
Waugh,  Dorothy,   143,  5, 

96,  200. 
Wray,  Lieut.,  523. 
Richard,  432. 
Weatherhead,  or  Wither- 

head,    Mary,    143, 

59,  200. 
Weathersfield,  33,  4,  184, 

94,   208,  52,  9,  65 


,,       V-,,      ^,       v^, 


Weaver,  Mr.,  523. 
Webb,  George,  235. 

John,  222. 
Webster,  Elizabeth,  312. 

John,  441. 
Weeks,  John,  181. 
Weetanno,  (Indian,)  634. 
Welburn,  Eng.,  460. 
Weld,  Daniel,  210. 

Thomas,     3,    41,    59, 
122,   47,   225,   348, 
436,  521. 
Wells,  28,   118,   73,   247, 
50,  318,  9,  21,  89, 
90,  2. 
Mr.,  110. 
Thomas,  122,  31. 
Wenham,  3,  18,  103,  316, 
23,  4,  420,  500,  10, 
23. 
Wequapauge,  184. 
Weshakim,  517. 
Wessamomeks,  502. 


[ndians,  i. 

W.   i  [njdii  s,  L68,  272,  9, 
.  96. 

Wes1  Springft  Id,  ii:;. 

Weston  ' 

Westerly,  399,  102,  63,  5, 

539,  41,  659. 

m  Islands,  2,  3. 
Westfield,  587. 
Westgate,  93. 

John,  607,  8. 
Westover,  Jonas,  407. 
Wethersfield,  332,  8,  112, 

13,  23,  473. 
Weymouth,    3,    160,    97, 

253,  398,   435,   53, 

590. 
Whallev,    Edward,    224, 

66,    71,     2,    9,    80, 

302,  29,  30,  58,  80, 

554,  71. 
Wharton,    Edward,     199, 

205,   16,  7,  52,   72, 

7,  88,  307,12,  7,  8, 

20,  3,  4,  43,  5,   62, 
429. 

Mary,  429. 
Philip,  429. 
Wheeler,  Thomas,  576. 
Wheelwright,  John,   122, 
75,  248,  51,  2,  393, 
536,  611,  3,  4. 
WTietcomb,  Robert,   313, 

25. 
WTitchcott,  Benjamin,  446, 
537. 
Rebeckah,  537. 
White,  Emanuel,  71. 
John,  602. 
Mr.,  435. 
Nathaniel,  19. 
Peregrine,  386. 
Susannah,  167. 
William,  167. 
\  Whitehall,  9,  95. 
I  Whitfield,   Henry,   12,  6, 

21,  38,  51,  2,6,89, 
218. 

Whiting,    John,    148,    9, 
467,72,3,558,668. 
Samuel,   3,    22,    113, 
52,    267,    303,    73, 
435,  7,  43,  81,   91, 
5,  615. 
Samuel,  Jr.,  437,  81. 
Svbil,  148. 
William,  148,  94. 
Whitman,  Zechariah,  266. 
Wiatt,  James,  238. 
Wickendon,  William,  87, 

463. 
j  Wickes,  John,  397. 
IWickford,    404,    62,    74, 
559. 


02 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Widders,  Robert,  543. 
Wigglesworth,     Edward, 
33. 
Michael,  441. 
Wig?in,  James,  321. 

Thomas,  28,  77,  104, 
18,  324. 
Wilbare,  Samuel,  397. 
Wilbore,  (Samuel?),  255. 
Wild,  Nicholas  and  Wife, 

397. 
"Wilkinson,  Thomas,  520. 
Willard,     Samuel,     116, 
473,  587,  603. 
Simon,  78,  579,  87. 
Willet,  Hezekiah,  637. 
Joannah,  532. 
Marv,  532. 
Thomas,      174,     383, 
44S,  9,  d.  532,  637. 
Williams,  James,  388. 
John,  243,  439,  529. 
Mary,  383. 
Mr.,  321. 
Robert,  87,  123,  256, 

547. 
Roger,  26,  30,  3,  49, 
50,  78,  9,  80,  1,  7, 
106,   23,    7,  8,  40, 
68,     75,    82,    256, 
329,    33,    95,    401. 
3,  62,  5,    98,   538, 
41,  3,  9,   51,    650, 
1,  5,  7,  82. 
Thomas,  384. 
Warham,  439. 
Williamson,  Hugh,  307. 
Joseph,  Sir,  648,  9. 
William,  249. 
Willis,  Richard,  382. 

Samuel,  267,  326, 553. 
Willoughby,    Francis,  4, 
289,  374,  5,  429. 
Lord,  378,  419. 
William,  418,  9. 
Wilson,  Edmund,  165,  6, 
418. 


George,  277. 

John,  3,  6,  12,20,45, 
57,  60,  3,  7,  72,  85, 
165,  209,  22,  33, 
99,  303,  68,  9,  73, 
412.  7,  8,  9,  21,37, 
43,  92,  5,  521,  67. 

John,  Jr.,  160,  233, 
418,  567,  620. 

Mrs.,  188,  418,  620. 


Wilson,  Robert,  301. 

Samuel,  397. 
Wiltshire,  Eng.,  47. 
Wiman,  Francis,  486,  620. 

John,  486. 
Winchester,  Eng.,  39. 
Wincoll,  John,  117. 
Windsor,  265,  403,  9,  13, 

67,  9,  70,  3,  553. 
Wing,  Daniel,   234,   5,  8, 

40,  2,  4,  5. 
Stephen,  234,  8,  42. 

Winsley,  Mr.,  104. 
Winslow,  Edward,   3,   4, 

8,  10,  3,   6,   7,  20, 

41,  50,  4,  78,  89, 
96,  107,  24,  39,  d. 
166,  380,  464,  633, 
8. 

Edward,  Family    of, 
166,  7. 

Job,  634. 

John,  31S. 

Jonathan,  530. 

Josiah,  167,  529,  30, 
82. 

Kenelme,  Jr..  316. 

Margaret,  530. 
Winsor,  Walter,  524. 
Winter,  Christopher,  236. 

John,  28. 
Winthrop,  Adam,  10. 

Elizabeth,  500. 

John,  4,   6,  d.  10,  28, 

9,  34,  5,  48,  71,  4, 
86,  92. 

John,  Jr.,  28,  30,  80, 
2,  9,  103,  4,  6,  25, 
78,  93,  4,  256,  62, 
5,  7,  87,  91,  329, 
33,  5,  74,  5,  404,  5, 
528,  37,  53,  657, 
67,  d.  672,  3,  4. 
Mary,  28. 
Wait,  568. 

Wise,  John,  617,  70. 

Wiswall,  Ichabod,  382. 
Thomas,  346. 

Wiswell,  John,  443,  82. 

Withamfrarey,  Eng.,  42. 

Witherell,  William,  115, 
529. 

Withers,  Thomas,  533. 

Witter,  William,  46,  79. 

Woburn,  3,  98,  304,  50, 
446,  60,  86,  9, 
576. 


Wolstenholme,  Sir  John, 

341. 
Wonemvtonian'  s     Hill, 

461. 
Wood,  Anthony,  114. 
Woodborough,  Eng.,  47. 
Woodbridge,  Benjamin, 
473. 
John,  3,  305,  6,  413, 
35,    68,   9,   71,  87, 
92,  563,  626,  70. 
Woodbury,  Ct.,  470,  559, 
Woodgreene,  Mr.,  297. 
Woodhouse,  (Vessel,)  199, 
Woodman,  Edward,  435, 
6,  41,  3,  77,  8,  92, 
500. 
Woodstock,  518,  9. 
Woodward,  Nathaniel, 
524. 
Peter,  439. 
William,  439. 
Worcester,    William,    3, 
164,  75,  215,  21,  d. 
300,  519. 
Worden,  Peter,  449. 
t  Woronoke,  (Hadley,)  263. 
Wraisbury,  Eng.,  65,  287. 
Wright,  Dea.,  165. 
Hannah,  277,  362. 
John,  486,  97. 
Joseph,  486. 
Lydia,  610. 
Wunnanauhkomum,  (In- 
dian preacher,)  604 
Wuttasacomponom,  Tom, 

(Indian,)  577. 
Wuttowhan,  (Ind.,)  352. 
Wyborn,  Capt.,  509. 


Yale,  Ann,  188,  257. 
Children  of,  257. 
Yarmouth,   71,   116,  236, 

40,  8,  306,  16,  449, 

50,  2,  524. 
York,   77,   117,  8,   73,  4, 

247,   9,  319.  20,   1, 

67,  90,  1,  459. 
Yorkshire,  77,  118,  72,  3, 

318,9,20,89,90,1. 
Young,  Dr.,  222. 
Youngs,  John,  556. 
Family  of,  556. 


Zurich,  326. 


INDEX 

TO  Till:  SETTLEMENTS,  GOVERNMENTS,  COMPANIES,  PUBLICATIONS, 
RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS,  AND  OTHER  SUBJECTS  CONTAINED 
IN  THIS  VOLUME, 


When  the  several  pages  referring  to  the  same  things  are  denoted  by  tens  or  hundreds,  tin  ••• 
figures  will  be  expressed  but  once,  except  when  intervened  by  words. 


Abuse  of  liberty,  127,  8. 

Act  of  Parliament  to  pro- 
mote gospel  among 
Indians,  12  ;  confor- 
mity, 298,  311,  6. 

Additions  to  the  church, 
71. 

Address  to  Parliament, 
4  ;  to  Peters,  15  ;  to 
Cromwell,  130  ;  to 
Swedish  Governor, 
132  ;  to  King,  230,  3, 
81,  7,  8,  329,  30,  4,  5, 
49,  50,  66,  98,  628; 
to  Earl  Clarendon, 
398. 

Admission  to  the  church, 
3,  6. 

Admonition,  for  fashiona- 
ble follies,  141  ;  ab- 
sence from  worship, 
159  ;  denying  bap- 
tism to  child,  151,  3. 

Adoption,  5. 

Advice,  34,  139. 

Adultery,    punishment, 
237,  8. 

Advocates  for  X.  E.  in 
England,  227. 

Afflictions,  340. 

Agency  abroad,  343. 

Agents  to  England,  Wil- 
liams, 82,  5  ;  Clark, 
83  ;  Bradstreet  and 
Norton,  284,  5,  9  ; 
Leverett,  232  ;  Clark 
254,  325,  652  ;  Clark 
and  Williams,  663. 

Alarm  as  to  the  Dutch 
and  Indians,  93. 

Allegiance  to  the  Com- 
monwealth, 209. 

Anabaptists.  See  Bap- 
tists. 


I  Anarchy.     See  Disorder. 

Anchor  Tavern,  commit- 
tee hold  session  at, 
289. 

Animadversions  on  the 
Antisynodalia  Amer- 
icana, 6. 

Annexation  of  Maine  to 
Mass.,  75. 

Ansiberers,  340. 

Answer  of  Dudley,  61. 

Antichrist,  3,  23,*72,  299.  j 

Antidote     against     "  the 
plague  of  the  world," 
181. 
,  Antinomians,  50,  61. 

Antisvnodalia,  291,  9,; 
312,  41,  478. 

Anti-Synodists,  505. 

Annuity,  renewed  to  Gov. 
Endicott's      widow, 
481. 

Apology,  4,  16,  8,  25,  34, 1 
43  ;  of  Matthews,  53,  J 
62;  ofHowland,235; 
for  Lieut.  Pike,  103  ;  I 
of  Maiden,  136;  fori 
treatment  of  Quakers, 
230,  31,  85,  628;  for 
treatment  of  Roger 
Williams,  286  ;  of 
Eliot,  276,  7  ;  of  John 
Davenport,  330  ;  of 
Hathorne,  359  ;  of 
L.  Rhodes,  368  ;  for 
Samuel  Newman,  25  ; 
of  H.  and  J.  Peck,  34; 
of  Thomas  Brack ett, 
208  ;  for  Massachu- 
setts, 516. 

Apologetical  preface,  294, 

j  300. 

Apostasy  of  Anti- Christ, 
63. 


Apostolic  function  not 
ceased,  3  ;  office,  50  ; 
commission  interrup- 
ted, 84. 

Apparel,  excess  of,  pro- 
hibited, 52,  141,  285, 
91,  577. 

Application  from  England 
for  recruits  for  Dutch 
war,  104. 

Apprehensions  of  Bap- 
tists, 79. 

Apprenticeship  of  In- 
dians, 225. 

Approval  of  J.  Norton, 
64. 

Arabic  at  Harvard,  10. 

Arms  at  public  worship, 
34,  6,  114,  244. 

Arms,  King's,  629. 

Arraignment  of  Pynchon, 
21,  43,  5. 

Articles  of  confederation, 
384  ;  of  war,  573,  82. 

Artillery  election  sermon. 
See    Election     Ser- 
mons. 

Assembly's  confession  of 
faith,  4,  5,  8,  9,  45,  6. 

Assistance  to  weak  con- 
gregations bv  Gene- 
ral Court,  316. 

Association  of  churches, 
291  ;  of  ministers,  98, 
491,  3. 

Assumption  of  civil  pow- 
er, 585. 

Assurance  of  salvation,  5. 

Attend  worship,  all  re- 
quired to,   37. 

Bacon,  Nath.,  Jr.,  rebel 

in  Virginia,  677. 
Bakers,  fraud  in  bread,  35. 


704 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS. 


Banishment,  31,  3,  57,  61 ; 
for  bigamy,  76,  81,  5, 
161,  85,  202,  4,  6,  8, 
11,  6,  20,  2,  41,  55,  6, 
9,  61,  2,  73,  85,  92  ; 
from  other  colonies 
repealed  by  charter ; 
of  Rhode  Island,  327; 
8,  76,  525. 

Baptism,  3,  5  ;  of  chil- 
dren, 9,  10,  2,  24,  33, 
8,  46,  85,  8,  92,  3, 
135,  8,  41,  52,  6o,  90, 
1,  8,  250,  64,  5,  280, 

4,  5  ;  interrupted, 
106 ;  who  subjects 
of,  290,  1,  301,  4,  10, 
40,  1,  416,  7,  68,  78, 
507. 

Baptists,  12,  6,  25,  7,  8, 
46  ;  trial  of,  48,  9,  60, 
1,  3,  72,  3,   9,  81,  4, 

5,  7  ;  Long  Island, 
88,  93,  103  ;  Dunster, 
106;  Chauncy,  117, 
35,  8,  53,  65,  77,  80, 

1,  98,  223,  5,  69,  97, 
304, 10, 7,  41;  church, 
362,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  71, 

2,  97,  9,  402,  15,  7, 
23,  7  ;  ordered  to  de- 
part, 428,  32,  3,  4,  8, 
46,  7,  9,  65,  85,  6,  96, 

7,  507,  9,  10,4,  6,40, 
1,  65,  7,  8,  9,  603,   6, 

8,  20,  31,  40. 
Bason   of   water    thrown 

down  in  worship, 304. 
Batteries  of  Boston  to  be 

repaired,  364. 
Baxter's  Call,  342,  7. 
Bear  arms,  653, 
Beaver.     See  Peltry. 
Beer,    retail  of,    127 ;    to 

Indians,  131. 
Beneficence   of   Hopkins, 

266. 
Bible,  Indian,  209,  19,  25, 

74,     82,     3,     9,     98, 

308  ;  dedicated  to  the 

King,  312,  41. 
Bigamy,  76,  85,  172. 
Bishop  of  New  England, 

297. 
Bishop's  authority,  3. 
Black  coats,  201. 
Black  hole,    no    apology 

for  cruelties  at,  94. 
Blasphemy,    57,    108,   85, 

494,  515,  26. 
Blastings,  376,  73. 
Blessing,  parental,  137. 
Blood  shed  on  It.  I.,  123. 
Bloody  tenet,  87,  538. 


Board  a  week,  12. 

Boarders  by  lone  women, 
515. 

Body  of  liberties,  480. 

Bonds  for  appearance,  43, 
111,  376. 

Bone  setter,  552. 

Books,  2 ;  for  Harvard 
Coll.,  10;  for  Mr. 
Eliot,  209;  at  Harv. 
Coll.,  601. 

Bound  to  a  post,  73. 

Boundaries  of  Massachu- 
setts, 75,  78  ;  of  Me., 
533. 

Branding,  57,  259,  60,  76. 

Breach  of  the  confederacy, 
104. 

Broken     heart     causes 
death,   512. 

Brotherhood,  rights  of, 
264. 

Brownists,  24,  5. 

Building  for  education  of 
Indians  at  Cam- 
bridge,  101,   10. 

Bulls,  (edicts,)  114. 

Burglary,  death,  540. 

Burial  of  suicides,  226. 

Burning  of  London,  415. 

Cages.  244,  381,  96,  608, 
16. 

Call  of  ministers,  190,  1  ;  I 
Davenport  to  Boston,  j 
421,  69;  of  J.  Bailey,  I 
501. 

Capital  letters  worn  as  a 
punishment,  237,  8, 
493. 

Captives  arrive,  372,  678. 

Cards  and  dice,  167,  207, 
444. 

Care  for  neglected  chil- 
dren, 509,  11,  2. 

Catechism,  15  ;  not  taught 
at  Kittery,  28,  36, 
109 ;  Pierson's  and 
Eliot's,  133 ;  Noyes's, 
150  ;  Fisk's,  153  ; 
Pierson's,  187,  94, 
209,  10  ;  Cotton's, 
224,  60,  7,  82;  Eli- 
ot's, 283  ;  from  house 
to  house,  434,  527, 
77,  645. 

Catechumens  of  Kenne- 
becks  beaten  for  pro- 
fessing Christianity, 
75. 

Caterpillars    strip    the 
trees,    27,    376. 

Catholic  church,  6  ;  reli- 
gion, supplanters  of, 


3,  26,  8,  42,  71,  4,  5, 
81,  105,  21,  40,  65,  6, 
72,  8,  224,  8,  56,304, 
57  ;  in  P.  I.,  394,  6, 
426,  30,  59,  80,  512, 
33,  4,  64,  605,  22,  5. 

Censure  of  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson's sons,  64. 

Censures,  4,  6. 

Chaldee,  10. 

Charge    of    disloyalty 
against    New    Eng- 
land, 271,  4. 

Charity.  See  Contribu- 
tion. 

Charles  II.  declared  by 
Virginia,  205 ;  pro- 
claimed in  Edinburg, 
9  ;  do.  in  Boston, 
280. 

Charter, for  mission  among 
the  Indians,  12,  3, 
292;  of  Conn.,  329, 
32,  3;  of  Mass.,  296; 
secreted,  343  ;  gives 
full  power  to  govern, 
357,  61,  5,  6  ;  violat- 
ed by  commissioners, 
370;  for  Duke  of 
York,  389,  494,  5  ; 
of  Phode  Island,  325, 
8,  9. 

Children  baptized,  88, 
603,  4  ;  born  on  Sab- 
bath not  baptized , 
226;  of  the  covenant, 
671 ;  duties  to,  from 
the  church,  671  ;  of 
the  church,  6,  12 ; 
disciplined,  73,  138, 
52 ;  rebellious,  494. 

Christian  commonwealth, 
15,  210,  73,  6,  7;  de- 
portment, 87,  8  ;  lib- 
erty, 5. 

Christmas  forbidden,  207 ; 
required,  361,  80. 

Christ's  humanity  denied, 
242  ;  prayer  for  be- 
lievers, 194. 

Church  discipline.  See 
Discipline. 

Church  government.  See 
Discipline. 

Churches  and  number  of 
professors,     447, 
502. 

Church  and  state,  53,  4, 
73,232,56,75,  493. 

Church,  controversies  set- 
tled by  civil  magis- 
trates, 500,  1. 
depends    on    college, 
513. 


INDKX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


705 


Church,   divisions  in,  28, 
238,  9,  59,    60,    i. 
6,  467,  72,  92,  500, 
16, 
duties  of  offio 

57,  8. 
general     court     and 

ministers,  269. 
matter  and  form,  17;!. 
may    keep    days     of 

fasting,  etc.,  492. 
membership,  264. 
not    to     be     formed 
without  consent  of 
rulers,   26,  185,  91. 
opposed  to  having  the 
parish    engaged   in 
their  affairs,  561. 
power   to    choose  its 

officers,  53,  191. 
rights  endangered  by 
judicial  power,  303. 
"Wethersfield,  stand- 
ing of  the,  266,  7.  | 
what  is  a  true,  189, 1 
90. 
Church  of,  pastor  and  sal- 
ary of  the,  Andover, 
Boston,  Braintree, 
Cambridge,  Charles- 
town,  Concord,  Ded- 
ham,  Dorchester,  Do- 
ver, Exeter,  Glouces- 1 
ter,  Hampton,  Haver- 
hill, Hingham,  Hull,  < 
Ipswich,  Lynn,  Man- 
chester, Xewbury, 
New  Meadows,  Head- 
ing, Rowley,  Kox- 
bury,  Salem,  Salis- 
bury, Strawberry 
Bank,  Sudbury,. Wa- 
tertown,  Wenham, 
"Weymouth.  Woburn, 
3  ;  report  in  the  Leg- ! 
islature  of  the  salary, 
etc.,  160,  1  ;  Salem, 
501;  Xewbury,  503. 
Churches,  or  Church,  2, 
6  ;  at  Bermuda  per- 
secuted, 17,  9 ;  of 
Dedham,  18;  Wen- 
ham,  19  ;  Boston  and 
Taunton,  26  ;  Mai- 
den and  Lynn,  53  ; 
questioned,  53,  4 ; 
officers,  57  ;•  New- 
bury, 58  ;  Maiden, 
62  ;  Boston  and  Ips- 
wich, 64 ;  new.  of 
Boston,  69,  70  ;  na- 
tional and  parishion- 
al,  84  ;  Providence 
and  Newport,  87  ; 
89 


Farxnington  and  Nbr- 

walk,     !»o  ;     Boston 

and  others,  93  ;  Boa- 
ton,  Ipswich  and  Sa- 
lem, 96,  S  ;  Woburn, 
98  ;  Boston,  99  ;  In- 
dian, 105  ;  Boston, 
new,  L08,  9  ;  Scitn- 
ate,  115;  Wells,  Cape 
Porpoise,  1  IS  ;  Hamp- 
ton, 122;  Baptist,  of 
Providence,  126  ; 

New  Haven,  133  ; 
Boston,  Braintree, 
Dedham,  Dorchester, 
lloxbury,  134,  5  ; 
Boston,  Ipswich, 

136  ;  Charlestown, 
138  ;  Ipswich,  141  ; 
Boston,  Cambridge, 
Haverhill,  Ipswich, 
llowlev,  Salisbury, 
Sudbury,  143  ;  Bos- 
ton, 149  ;  Ipswich, 
Chelmsford,  Boston 
and  Hartford,  152 ; 
Salisbury,  Haverhill, 
163  ;  Plymouth,  166  ; 
Sandwich,  168  ; 

Wells,     173 ;     Ports- 
mouth, 174  ;  Baptist, 
at     Newport,      181  ; 
trouble  in  Hartford, 
185,  7,  92  ;  divisions, 
203,    8,    9  ;    Indian, 
formed,    210  ;    Hart- 
ford,   211,    7;    Salis- 
burv,   221  ;    Maiden, 
223  ;  Plymouth,  246  ; 
freemen  without   ch. 
membership,        247 ; 
Hartford,      Wethers- 
field, Fairfield,  Mid- 
dletown,      Stamford, 
258,  68  ;  Boston,  288 
Salem,      291,      301 
Charlestown,       301:1 
Lynn  complains,  303 
Charlestown,   denial 
310;    Boston,     311 
Charlestown,       341 
Salem,  London 

Charlestown,  352,  62 
Charlestown,  365,  6 
7  ;    Boston,    367,    9 
Indian,  387  ;  Middle- 
town,  Conn.,  410,  3 
Ipswich  and  Marble- 
head,    422  ;    Boston, 
432 ;    South    Boston 
formed  ;  Newbury  in 
trouble,  435,  6  ;  who 
for  old.   church,   and 
who  for  new,  3d,  of 


Boston,  1st,  <if  Salem, 

in;     \,  u     Ban  a, 

Windsor, Kcnihvurth, 
Brandford,  Stratford, 

Rye,  Saybrook,  Hart- 
ford, 1  <'><',,  71  ;  Bos- 
ton, South,  181  j  1st, 
Boston,  482;  How- 
lev,  Xewbury,  ^7, 
92  ;  gathered  by  ap- 
probation, 492  ;  Mai- 
den, 497  ;  Newbury, 
500  ;  Boston,  006,  7, 
8  ;  Salem,  510,  11, 
20,  2,  3  ;  Scituate, 
529  ;  formation  of, 
555  ;  Salem,  563,  5, 
6  ;  Bay  Psalm-book 
adopted,  468  ;  Salis- 
bury, 609  ;  Pagaw- 
sett  and  Wallingford, 
666. 

Cider,  131. 

City,  Boston  petitions  to 
be  a,  208. 

Civil  and  ecclesiastical  re- 
lations, 38,  53,  73. 

Civil  liberties,  358. 

Civil  magistrates,  power 
of,  6,  66,  7. 

Civil  order,  176,  82. 

Civilization  of  Indians. 
See  Mission. 

Clergy,  601. 

Clerical  propositions,  233. 

Coat  for  Indians,  every 
year,  225. 

Coining  of  money,  279, 
629. 

Collection  for  Indian  mis- 
sion, 13. 

College,  Harvard,  3,  10, 
3,  5  ;  gifts,  corpora- 
tion, 18  ;  corn,  33  ; 
scholars,  37 ;  enlarge- 
ment, 50,  1 ;  assist- 
ance, 62,  7,  70  ;  New 
Haven,  90  ;  Cam- 
bridge, 103,  4  ;  colo- 
nists taxed  £100  a 
year,  111  ;  President 
Chauncy,  117  ;  fel- 
lowship, 130,  3  ;  New 
Haven,  133  ;  Har- 
vard, 136,  7  ;  students 
whipped  and  fined, 
149,  64  ;  Trinity,  Ire- 
land, 159  ;  New  Ha- 
ven and  Cambridge, 
184,  9;  Indian,  198; 
learning,  207  ;  three 
years'  study  changed 
to  four,  226,  7  ;  New 
Haven,     280 ;     Har- 


706 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


vard,     298,    308,    9,  j  Common     Prayer     Book  Consociation  of  churches. 
323,   31;  land,   314;  cited,  306.  113.  See  Communion.    19, 

Indian,    348  ;    fabric   Commonwealth   of  Eng.,  285,    9,   91,   2,    5,    6, 

for   Indian    scholars,  255.  301,  40. 

357  ;      described    by  Communion  between  In-  Conspiracy,  461,  4. 


commissioners,  380, , 
1  ;  New  Haven,  408,  i 
61 ;  encouragement  of 
Cambridge,  482,  7,  8,  ! 
91,  9,  508,  9  ;  church 
depends  on  it,  513  ; '■ 
a  student  punished, 
515  ;  difficulties,  520  ; 
contribution,  529,  63, ; 
4  ;  president,  edifice, 


dians    and     English, 

508. 
church,  5,  6,  141,  52, 

90. 
of  churches,  58,  478. 
of  pres.    and    cong., 

10,  191. 
withheld  from  sisters 

of  Boston  church, 

442,  3. 


565  ;  library,  601,  20.  Complaint  against  Rhode 

Colonies.     See  New  Eng- '  Island,     79  ;    against 

land.  W.   Cheesbrook,  87  ; 

Colors,  Eng.,  42,  360.  Mass.,  ^79,     85  ;    of 

Comet,  352,  83. 

Commentary  on  John, 2 05.  469. 

Commerce.   See  Maritime.  Compliment  to  Mass.  from 
Commissioners    of    Unit-  R.  Williams,  177. 

ed  Colonies,    19,   29.  Concord  lands  to  pay  pub- 
See    Government    of  lie  debts,  639,  40. 

Upper  Canada:    114,  Concordance  of  the  Bible, 
24,70,   201;  letter  to  316. 

missionary    corpora..  Condition  of  X.E.  church- 
298,   302/  7,    8.    12;  es,  21,  2. 

to  R.  I.,  325,  6,  33  ;  Conduct   of   commission- 
decision   as   to    New  ers,  373. 

Haven     and     Conn.,  Confederation,      purpose, 
336;    letter   to  them,  6,  35,   335,   57;  sus- 

341,2,7;  advice,  348;  pected,  384,  419,22, 

confederation  illegal,  66,  72,  97. 


Contribution  of  money  for 
the  church  at  Sego- 
tea,  17,  9  ;  for  schol- 
ars, 33,  6,  62,  7,  8, 
70  ;  for  New  Haven 
church,  89  ;  for  sala- 
ries, 160,  7  ;  of  stran- 
gers, 331 ;  for  Cape 
Fear,  417  ;  for  Har- 
vard, 488  ;  for  fraud, 
533,  52  ;  sufferers  by 
war,  573,  640,  53,  74, 
5,  7  ;   for  poor,  619, 


R.  I.,  465  ;  of  Conn.,  Controversy,  Massachu- 
setts and  other  colo- 
nies, 6  ;  Scots  and 
English,  7,  11 ;  with 
Pynchon  as  to  re- 
demption, 20,  1 ; 
north  line  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Lyconia, 
Maine,  391  ;  with  the 
Dutch,  89 ;  between 
Massachusetts  and 
other  colonies,  93,  5. 
See  Church  divisions, 
as  to  Mr.  Davenport, 
438,  62,  3. 
Conversational  terms,  222. 
361,  82,  96,  419,  44,  Conference  meetings,  454,  Conversion  of  Quakers, 
5,   6,    9,    50,    5,    66,  555,  98.  attempt,  result,  241, 


72,  4,  529,  54,  7,  71; 
to  council  of  Conn., 


Confession  of  faith,  4,  6, 


4. 


45,     304.       See    As-  Converts,  558. 
sembly.    Of  J.  Dand,   Corahism,  417. 
Commissioners,       Royal,  4 ;    S.    Straiton,    16  ;   Corn.     See  Grain. 

302,  22  ;  salaries,  342  ;  W.  Barstow,   114,  5  ;   Corruption  of  church  be- 

arrival,    345;  feared,  J.  Gould,  415.  gins  in  families,  514. 

348  ;      letters,     354  ;  Conflagration  of  London,  Cotton's  Keys,  160  ;    dis- 

judicial     cognizance,  415.  course     on     govern- 

355  ;  slandered,  356  ;   Congregational  churches,  ment,   184. 

claim  to  be  court,  de-  2,  3,  58,  106,  91.  Council — Case    of     Mat- 

mand,  359  ;  rupture,   Congregational    way   ap-  thews,    60,     2 ;    Ips- 

360,    1;  trouble  with  proved,  505.  wich  and  Boston,  136 

constables,    363,     4  ;   Congregationalism,  influ- 

faultedbvDavenport,  I  ence  on  Eng.,  3,   22, 

365,   6,   8,   71,    3,    5;  64,    5  ;    benedts,    74, 

refuse    a    conference,  137  ;     commissioners 

377  ;  write,   378,  81  ;  in  error,  394. 

their  communications  Congregationalists,        40, 

to  Plymouth,  384,  5,  l06,    20;     in    Eng., 

6,   92,    3,   4,    6,    400,  343,  496. 

1,  4,    6,    8,   9,   13,  4,   Conquest  of  Canada,  369, 

91,    507;     interview,  73,5. 

346.  Conscience,  liberty  of,  82,   Council  of  state,  England, 

Commissions  against   the  4,  126,  255,  85,  410.  82,  4,  6,  121,  3;  war, 

Dutch,  124.  Conscientious        scruples  114,524. 

Committee      of      foreign  against  bearing  arms,   Councils  approved  of  by 

plantations,  4.  550,  653,  5.  Synod,  5. 


at  Whitehall,  137  ; 
Haverhill,  Salisbury, 
and  Rowley,  143  ;  at 
Hartford,  152,  89,  93, 
209,  11,  59,  63,  4, 
5;  Barnstable,  315; 
called  disorganizers, 
481;  as  to  Col.  Pike, 
599  ;  as  to  sins,  669, 
70. 


[NDEX   OF   SUBJ] 


;<»-; 


County  Comt  to  see  that; 
ministers'  dues  are 
paid,    107,     193;    of 

I  >>  \  onshiiv,     Maine, 
named  by  Court,  535. 

Course  of  Cromwell  justi- 
fied by  Cotton,  46. 

Court  Com'ra,  635,  59; 
General,  Plymouth, 
may  send  back  unlit 
members,  237. 

Court  may  settle  a  minis- 
ter, 474, 

Courts  for  Indians,  287. 

Covenant  changed,  118  ; 
divine,  5 ;  renew, 
585  ;  renewed,  665  ; 
half-way.  See  Half- 
way Covenant.  Of 
grace,  106  ;  of  nature 
with  Adam,  by  Pyn- 
chon,  291  ;  renewal 
of,  272. 

Covenanters,  47. 

Creation,  5. 

Creed,  285. 

Crimes,  Adultery,  33,  237, 
8. 
Bigamy,  76. 
Burglary,  540. 

Cromwell  refuses  the 
crown,  152. 

Cromwellites,  380. 

Crops  damaged,  4. 

Currency,  89,  99. 

Cursing  or  smiting  pa- 
rents, 526. 

Customs,  (in  commerce,) 
freed  from,  232. 

Dancing,  mixed,  42,  453, 
508. 

Danger  of  tolerating  lev- 
elers,  17. 

Day-doom,  309. 

Days  of  recreation,  127, 

Deaconesses,  25,  57. 

Deacons,  6,  25 ;  exempt 
from  training,  35,  57, 
S,  89. 

Dealing    with    church- 
members,  555. 

Death  penalty  for  Qua- 
kers," 201,  4,  76. 

Deaths — Henry  Green,  7  ; 
Charles  I.,  9;  J. 
Winthrop,  '10;  T. 
Shepard,  14;  A.  Rig- 
by  and  D'Aulney,  28 ; 
H.  Smith,  33,  4;  Mary 
Fen  wick,  35;  J.  Cot- 
ton, 70 ;  T.  Dudley, 
97  ;  J.  Lothrop,  115  ; 
E.    Poole,    116;     J.  | 


Haynes,  L30  ;  N.  Ro- 
sen,   136;    Mi-.    C. 
Slather,  L39  |   N 
150;     Mayhew,    Jr., 
k;i,  .") ;    E.  Winslow, 
166  ;  Miles  Standish, 
L68;    William   Brad- 
ford, 169;    1).  Maud, 
17  1 ;  P.  Prudden,  186; 
E.  Hopkins,    1S8,   9  ; 
Fenwick,      L92,     3; 
Cromwell,  200,  5  ;   P. 
Bulkley,  206  ;  L.  and 
C.    Southwick,    206  ; 
R.     Fartridge,    235  ;  | 
II.     Dunster,      240 ; 
Theophilus      Eaton,! 
257,  8  ;    R.  Blinman, 
265  ;  E.  Itogers,  269,  j 
70;    F.  Smith,  271  ; 
S.  Haugh,  291",    W. 
Worcester,    300 ;     J. 
Miller,  315;  S.  New- 
man, 316;  T.Dalton,' 
322 ;    S.  Stone,    Sen.) 
and  Jr.,  335;  Z.  Brig- j 
den,  338  ;  B.  Denton,  j 
338  ;  Endicott,   354  ;  I 
W.  Tompson  Cheese-  j 
haumuck,381,  2  ;  A.  I 
Blackman,     411;     I. 
and      N.     Chauncy, ' 
411  ;  J.  Woodbridge, 
413;  E.Fletcher,  411,  j 
5  ;  J.  Wilson,  418,  9  ; 
S.  Shepard,  424  ;  H. 
Flint,  424  ;  J.  Mitch- 
el,  429  ;   W.  Walton, 
430;     J.   Eliot,    Jr., 
430,  31 ;    B.  Mather,  | 
436,  7 ;  W.  Bracken- 
burv,  439  ;  W.Wood- 
ward, 439  ;  E.  Math- 
er,   439;     J.  Daven- 
port, 442  ;  J.  Beyner, 
4  60  ;  W.  Wickendon, 
463  ;  N.  Collins,  470  ; 
Z.   Walker,    470;    J. 
Warham,     473  ;      P. 
Pruden,    474,    5 ;    Z. 
Symmes,  477  ;  J.Al- 
len, 482,  4;  C.  Chaun- 
cy, 487,  8  ;   J.  Aman- 
hut,     488 ;     Edward 
Johnson,      489 ;      A.  j 
Newman,    500 ;      R. 
Bellingham,  501;  M. 
Powell,  503;  J.  Gil-' 
bert,  509  ;  T.  Gould, 
513,  4;  S.  Danforth,; 
520;    J.  Oxenbridge,  j 
523  ;     J.     Howland,  | 
529;  T.  Prince,  530  ; 
E.  Warren,  530  ;    T.  I 


Willet,  !  12  :  E.  Hil- 
ton, 637  ;  L.  Soar, 
579;  !■:.  Brown,  609; 
T.  Shepard,  620;  J. 
Brown,  624  ;  T. 
Timelier,  629;  J. 
Holmes,  635;  N. 
Baker,  643;  J.  Clark, 
652,  .*!  ;  S.  ( torton, 
658,  9  ;  W.  Codding- 
ton,  661,  4;  T.  James, 
668. 

Debt  of  Mass.,  629. 

Declaration  of  commis'rs, 
93,  4. 
of  General  Court,  284, 
5  ;  to  commission- 
ers, 359,60;  against 
Baptists,  368. 
of  war  against  French 
and  Dutch,  369  ; 
ag.  French,  411. 

Decline  of  religion,  365. 

Decrees  of  God,  5. 

Defamation,  95. 

Defeat  in  Maine,  612. 

Defense  of  Cotton  against 
Cawdrey,  160;  of  the 
country,  549. 

Defender  of  the  faith,  279. 

Deficiency  of  ministers, 
316,  8. 

Deliverance  of  New  Eng- 
land, 340. 

Denial  of  a  plot  by  the 
Dutch  Government, 
94,  5. 

Denial  of  baptism,  etc.,  in 
England,  9;  of  the 
Scriptures,  61 ;  of 
Christ,  242,  55. 

Denominations Inde- 
pendent, 2  ;  Papist, 
Episcopalians,  Anti- 
Christian,  Congrega- 
tional, Presbyterians, 
3  ,  Presbyterians,  In- 
dep.,  9  ;  Episcopal., 
Congregational,  10 ; 
Jew,  11;  Baptists, 
12,  6  ;  Jew,  16  ;  Gor- 
tonists,  Levelers,  17  ; 
Quakers,  20 ;  Jews, 
Cong.,  22  ;  Anti- 
christ., Presbyterian, 
23  ;  Epis.,  Brownists, 
Separatists,  Puritan, 
Huguenot,  Ind.  Bap- 
tist, Papal,  24,  7 ; 
Gort.,  29,  30  ;  Lu- 
therans, 58  ;  Anabap- 
tists, Seekers,  Anti- 
nomians,  61,  3  ; 
Presb.,  Ind.,    64,    5 ; 


708 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS. 


Antichr.,  Seeker,  72; 
Papists,  Episcopa- 
lian, Presbyterian, 
Ind.,  74;  Epis.,  75; 
Papists,  81;  Gort.  82; 
Presb.,  95 ;  Papal, 
Anabap.,  Prelatical, 
Enthusiasrical,  Fam- 
alistical,  98  ;  Epis., 
Cong.,  120  ;  Presb., 
Ind.,  124 ;  Quakers, 
128  ;  Baptists,  138  ; 
Ranters  or  Quakers, 
Anti-christ.,  140,  6, 
9,  61,  3,  6;  Seek., 
Rant.,  168,  70,  80,  1, 
3  ;  Adamites,  187,  91, 
3  ;  Quakers,  195,  7  ; 
Baptists,  198  ;  Qua- 
kers, 198,  219,  20,  3, 
5,  33,  4,  46  ;  Epis., 
Fifth  Monarchy-men, 
251,  2;  Quakers,  253, 
6  ;  Deny  Christ,  Uni- 
versalist,  255,  6 ; 
Quakers,  260,  2,  5,  9, 
72,  82,  4,  9,  91,  2,  6, 
301,  3,  7,  9,  17,8,20, 
2,  4*,  35 ;  Baptists, 
341  ;  Quakers,  343, 
5,  8  ;  Presb.,  Qua- 
kers, 352,  61 ;  Bap- 
tists, Quakers,  363  ; 
Baptists,  368,  9  ; 
Quakers,  Epis.,  Jews, 
369 ;  Baptists  pre- 
sented, 371,  3,  6  ; 
Quakers,  381,  6,  7  ; 
Epis.,  Cong.,  Roman 
Catholic,  Genevalists, 
392,  400,  2,  7,  13,  5, 
7,  8,  22,  9,  42,  59  ; 
Gort.,  Bapt.,  Cong., 
Epis.,  462,  5,  8  ; 
Quakers,  Ranters, 
Adam.,  469;  Cong., 
Epis.,  482,  5,  6; 
Familism,  507  ;  Bap- 
tists, 513 ;  Quakers, 
514,  6 ;  Catholics, 
533,  5  ;  Qua.,  Presb., 
538  ;  Seventh-day 
Baptists,  539,  40  ; 
Quakers,  542 ;  Rant- 
ers, 543,  50  ;  Roger- 
eens,  551  ;  Quakers, 
Ranters,  Adamites, 
555  ;  Prelatical,  566  ; 
Baptists,  567;  Qua- 
kers, 568,  72,  3; 
Baptists,  577  ;  Qua- 
kers, 5S2 ;  Baptists, 
588,  608,  9  ;  Cong., 
651,  7,  8,  60. 


Designs  of  Indians,  hos- 
tile, 147  ;  of  the  court  j 
against  NewEngland, 
279.     See  Purpose. 

Dialects,  Indian,  225. 

Dialogue,  from  Bradford 
24,  73,  4. 

Dice.     See  Cards. 

Difficulties  in  England,  3,  J 
7,  9  ;  United  Colo- 
nies, 6,  11,  23 ;  at 
Dover  and  Exeter, 
28  ;  with  the  Gorton- 
ists,  29,  30  ;  in  Eng- 
land, 220,  3. 

Dipped  over  head  and 
ears,  495. 

Discipline,  church,  2,    4, 

5,  6,  7,  8,  18,  20,  1, 
35,42,  3,  6,  53,  60,  2, 
73,  138,  49,  51;  of 
children,  152,  3,  9, 
90,  1,  235,  75,  489, 
534. 

Discussion,   6,   11,  20,  1, 

6,  7,  9,  30,  43,  5; 
baptism,  80,  1 ;  Pow- 
ell's case,  99,  100  ;  on 
a  declaration  of  war 
with  the  Dutch,  100, 
1,  462,  543,  9  ;  be- 
tween Williams  and 
Throgmorton,  545,  6. 

Diseases,  4,  26,  68,  89, 
136,  88,  239,  42,  62, 
72,  88,  92,  334,  5, 
499,  500,  22. 

Disfranchisements,  99, 
124,  80,  241,  334,  44, 
94 ;  forgiven,  482, 
530. 

Dismission,  church,  Hur- 
wood,  503. 

Disorder  at  Greenwich, 
Maine,  247,  9;  d. 
not  creed  punished, 
285. 

Dissenters,  case  of  Mat- 
thews, 43  ;  as  to  con- 
fession of  faith,  46  ; 
synod,  340  ;  in  Eng., 
345  ;  Bradstreet  dis- 
sents from  letter  to 
Secretary,  6,  507. 

Dissolution  of  Plymouth 
Court  desired,  25  ;  of 
Parliament,  95  ;  of 
the  Union,  102,  3, 
30. 

Disturbance  of  preachers, 
37  ;  public,  321. 

Disturbers  of  worship, 
228,  449. 

Disunion,  288. 


Divine  law,  5 ;  provi- 
dence, 491,  9. 

Divinity,  66. 

Divisions  in  U.  Colonies, 
duties    at  Saybrook, 

6,  7,  11  ;  R.  I.,  87, 
123,  6;  U.  Coll.,  130; 
R.  I.,  175,  81  ;  Hart- 
ford, 186,  7 ;  in 
churches  and  colo- 
nies, 239,  92  ;  Mass., 
379,  441,  44;  R.  I., 
462,  74,  515. 

Divorce  for  adultery,  33  ; 
bigamy,  76  ;  absence, 
104,  93;  allowance, 
314,  451,  74,  549, 
659,  76,  9,  80. 

Doctrines,  4,  5,  18,  23, 
33,  43,  7,  8,  60,  5,  6, 
145,  6 ;  general  re- 
demption, 181 ;  justi- 
fication, 210 ;  of  the 
Quakers,  214,  30,  42  ; 
Gorton  denies  Christ, 
Universalism,  255,  6 ; 
of  the  Quakers,  286, 
92,  386  ;  agree  with 
church  of  Eng.,  622. 

Dress.     See  Apparel. 

Drinking  at  public  houses, 

7,  111,  203;  health, 
281,  315. 

Drought,  4,  292,  334,  76. 

Drunkenness.  See  Intem- 
perance. 

Duplicity  of  T.  Harrison, 
7. 

Ears  cropped,  163,  200, 
2. 

Earthquake,  316. 

East    India     breakfast, 
threat  of  the  Dutch, 
94. 

Education.  See  Instruc- 
tion, 645. 

Efficacious  calling,  5. 

Ejected  ministers,  552. 

i  Ejectment  of  ministers  in 
Eng.,  298. 

Elders,  95,  8 ;  address  to 
the  king,  232,  3,  87, 
373,  6 ;  concerning 
patent  line,  596. 

Election  of  officers,  6,  296, 
7. 

Election  sermons,  274, 
303,  4,  5,  416,  24,  38, 
43,  79,  90,  6,  504,  14, 
5,  33,  58,  65,  7,  88, 
613,  40,  2,  78. 

Embargo,  131,  2,  378. 

Embassy,  fears  of,  287. 


INDIA   OF   SUBJECTS. 


709 


Emigration  to  Ireland,  22  ; 
to  Delaware,  35 ;  to 
Ireland,  66  ;   to  Eng., 

69  ;  to  Delaware,  71 ; 

prevented  by  the 
Dutch,  89,  L88{  Ja- 
maiea,  140,  51  ;  to 
Delaware,  184,  6 ;  to 
X.  B.,  298. 

End.     See  Purpose. 

English  names  scarce  in 
Boston,  380. 

Entailment,  530. 

Enthusiasts,  119. 

Episcopacy,  2,  3,  296,  8, 
311,  8,  20. 

Episcopalians,  24,  120, 
22G,  8,  50,  1,  322,  61  ; 
society  formed  in  Bos- 
ton, 369;  in  R.  I., 
397  ;  in  Conn.,  407, 
26,  59,  509. 

Erastianism,  303. 

Errors,  Mar.  Matthews, 
8,  42,  3  ;  Pynchon, 
54  ;  are  rife  in  Eng- 
land, 93  ;  preached, 
95 ;  renounced  in 
Keayne's  will,  98  ; 
fast  for,  140  ;  of  the 
Quakers,  142 ;  of 
Humphrey  Norton, 
170  ;  whoever  intro- 
duces, to  be  pun- 
ished, 525. 

Evangelist,  Eliot  declines 
to  be  called  an,  16. 

Evangelization  of  Indians. 
See  Mission. 

Every  town  to  provide  a 
house  for  its  min- 
ister, 493. 

Evil  speaking,  86. 

Evils  to  be  reformed,  571, 
2,  4,  7. 

Examination  of  Quakers, 
145. 

Excommunication  of 

Cheever,  35.  46  ;  A. 
Hutchinson,  64 ;  Ann 
Gillam,  152;  sister 
Fogg,  153,  9,  98  ; 
Hollister,  262,  3  ;  of 
a  church,  315  ;  Fors-  | 
dick,  341 ;  Baptists, 
366,  72  ;  Sarah  Shat- 
tuck,  381,  550. 

Executions,  Mrs.  Jones, 
4  ;  Charles  1st,  9  ;  Pe- 1 
ters,  16 ;  Robinson 
and  Stevenson,  212, 
45  ;  Mary  Dyer,  221; 
Leddra,  272,  3  ;  Cor- 
nell, 549 ;  Peters,  610. 


Exemption!  from  train- 
ing,  35. 

Exiles,  17.  9. 
Experience,    relation    of, 

630. 
Experiments  of   spiritual 
life,  84. 

Exposition  of  Ecclcsiastes, 
105. 

Factions  in  It.  I.,  29,  31. 

Faith,  5,  34  ;  not  ques- 
tioned, except  injur- 
ing the  public  peace, 
657. 

Fall  of  man,  5. 

False  gods  of  Indians,  326. 

False  oath,  312. 

False  reports,  37,  302. 

False  statement  to  injure 
Baptists,  509,  10. 

Families  visited,  441. 

Familists,  426,  90,  507. 

Family  duties,  249,  58, 
669. 

Family,  each,  to  have  a 
book  of  laws,  556 ; 
religion,  668,  9. 

Famine  threatened,  441, 
574. 

Farewell  sermons,  520. 

Fashion,  long  hair,  12  ; 
dress,  141.  See  Ap- 
parel. 

Fasts,  4,  23,  6,  34,  45,  68, 
89,  93,  114,  31,  2,  3, 
40,  84,  5,  92,  208,  18, 

20,  62,  3,  71,  2,  85, 
92,  8,  311,  37,  43,  52, 
6  ;  d.  of  Charles  I., 
361,  7,  73,  6,  92,  415, 

21,  41,  4,  72,  91,  9, 
503,  20,  9,  51,  5,  7, 
63,  6,  7,  72,  8,  80, 
602,  21,  7,  35,  7,  666, 
8,  9  ;  changed  to 
thanksgiving,  675,  6, 

8,  80,  2. 

Favor    of    Cromwell    for 

N.  E.,  66. 
Fears   for   Mass.   Patent, 

350,  2. 
Fellows    of    college,    67, 

521. 
Fencing  school,  508. 
Ferrv,  income  for  college, 

111. 
Fifth  monarchy,  125,  281, 

415. 
Fines,  4,   7,    8,   12,  6,  26, 

37,  42,  3,  54,   61,  3, 

9,  72,  3,  80,  1,  5,  93, 
9,  103,  11,  4,6,  9,27, 
31,  48,  9,  67,  70,  2,  6, 


9,  85,  7,  91,  8,  7,  9. 
208,  5,  23,  8,  84,  6,  7, 

'.',  i<*.  6,  52,  60, 
80,  92,  300,  7,  13,  21, 
15,  78,  81,  'J,  94,  vj>, 
!',  32,    :  l,  9,  51,  5,  9, 

<;•">,  'Jl,  3,  7,  507,  15, 
24,  5,  (i,  9,  32,  .".,  7, 
8,  56,  6,  7,  96,  673. 

Fire,  children  burnt,  98, 
220  ;  in  London,  459. 

First  principles  of  N.  E. 
published,  478. 

First  principles  of  the 
oracles  of  God,  2. 

Fish  died,  445,  6. 

Fishery,  530,  1. 

Fishing  corn,  354. 

Fleet  from  Cromwell  for 
X.E.,  112. 

Foot  ball,  252. 

Foreigners.  See  Stran- 
gers. 

Form  of  a  visible  church, 6. 

Fort  built,  595. 

Fort  Casamiras,  171. 

Fortified  houses,  352. 

Forts,  French,  taken,  171. 

Fount  of  letters,  370. 

Fountain  of  life,  58. 

Fourth  commandment  de- 
nied, 28. 

Fraud  in  mission  land, 
289. 

Freedom,  179. 

Freedom  of  human  agen- 
cy, 5. 

Freemen  of  Me.  less  re- 
stricted, 77  ;  of  R.  I., 
86  ;  of  Me.,  118,  21, 
7  ;  qualifications,  185, 

6,  91,  2  ;  petition  on 
the  subject,  197  ;  for- 
feiture, 237,  43,  4,  7, 
63,  71,  96,7,  306,  32, 
3,  46,  7  ;  of  good 
moral  character,  356, 
61,  80,  4,  403,  6,  10, 
53,  9,  65,  99,  508,  26, 

7,  30,  1. 

I  Freeport,  409. 

|  Free  schools.  See  Schools. 

(Free  state,  271,  380. 

I  Free  trade,  74. 

!  Free  will,  65,  6. 

Free  worship,  84. 

Fugitives  in  R.  I.,  79,  82, 
I      147. 
,  Full     communion.       See 

Communion. 
|  Funds  to  be  raised,  280. 
I  Funeral  charges,  361,  2. 
i  Furs.     See  Peltry. 
!  Future  state,  5. 


-frriJ 


710 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS. 


Gag  in  the  mouth,  533. 

Gallows,  rope  round  the 
neck,  273,  355. 

Gambling,  37,  167,  85,  91, 
207,  526,  33,  75. 

Games,  207,  555. 

General  Convention,  468. 

General  Governor  for 
New  England,  120, 
225,  32,  72,  97,  330, 
43  ;  sought  by  Royal 
Com'rs,  381  ;  pro- 
posed to  be  chosen 
by  the  king  for  Plym- 
outh, 388,  535,  600. 

Generalists,  400. 

Glorious  end  of  Danforth, 
522  ;  progress  of  the 
gospel,  13. 

Gortonists,  17,  27,  30,  2, 
124,77,397,462,660. 

Gospel,  institutions  re- 
jected, 177,8;  liberty, 
281 ;  hindered,  333, 
490  ;  no  more  valued 
than  a  button,  524  ; 
support  of,  529  ;  Pe- 
mapuid,  534. 

Governor  General.  See 
General  Governor. 

Government,  change  in 
civil  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal expected,  189,343, 
80  ;  abused,  453. 

Government,  transactions 
of  parliament,  2,  4, 
5,  7,  9,  12,  5,  6,  46, 
54,  5;  petition,  70, 
82,  4,  6,  9,  94,  8, 
120,  3,  4,  30,  52,  228, 
30,  1,  55,  98,  311,  8, 
22,  45. 

Government  of  Acadie, 
74,  121,  72. 

Government  of  Connecti- 
cut, 10,  32,  3,  9,  74, 
5,  9,  87,  9,  100,  28, 
33,  44,  9,  54,  84,  9, 
221,  57,  68,  329,  38, 
48,  73,  403,  13,  22, 
44,65,97,517,51,  01. 

Government  of  Kenne- 
beck,  121. 

Government  of  Lyconia, 
28,  76,  7 ;  submis- 
sion to  Mass.,  118, 
72. 

Government  of  Maine,  27, 
8,  74,  5  ;  annexed  to 
Mass.,  76,  7,  117,  22; 
none  but  protestants 
to  dwell  in  Acadie, 
172,  3,  97,  221 ;  re- 
ceived  under  Mass., 


247,  8,  51,  78,  317, 
22,  53,  61,  4,  6,  7, 
81,9,92,456,  60,  507, 
10,  3,  33,  6,  646. 

Government  of  Martha's 
Vineyard,  482,  520. 

Government  of  Massachu- 
setts, 2,   18,  21,  6,  7, 

8,  32,  52,  4,  5,  7,  61, 

7,  8,  9,  75,  81,  92, 
113,  24,  34,  66,  81, 
6,  9,  90,  5,  233,  47, 
8  ;  free  state,  250,  3, 
6,  7,  9,  64,  311;  op- 
posed in  Maine,  319, 
20  ;  Commissioners 
from   the   king,    345, 

9,  54,  5 ;  sustained 
by  the  people,  352  ; 
declaration  to  the 
Com'rs,  359,  60 ;  try 
to  conciliate  the  king, 
361  ;  address  to  him, 
366,  7  ;  common- 
wealth  like,  381,    2, 

9,  94,  7,  9,401,5,  11, 
44,  7,  8,  9,  78 ;  plea 
to  conciliate  the  king, 
506,  10,  3,  28. 

Government  of  Nantucket 
and  Tuckanuckett, 
482,  520. 

Government  of  N.  Hamp- 
shire, 28,  9  ;  annexed 
to  Mass.,  78,  120,  2, 
74,  5,  97,  221,  50,  2, 
78,    322,    4,    55,    61, 

92,  4,  460,  1,513,36, 
8  ;  decision,  649. 

Government  of  New  Ha- 
ven, 10,  32,  3,  9,  71, 
4,  5,  100,  29,  32,  3, 
54,  84,  6,  9,  90,  7; 
privileges  of  freemen, 
197,  257,  68,  90  j  dis- 
inclination to  *  take 
the  oath,  327,  30,  2, 
6;  complaint  of  Conn. 
334;  protest,  335,  7, 

8,  48,  92,  403,  7; 
merged  in  Conn.,  408, 
1 1 ;  regret  the  change, 
666. 

Government  of  New  Neth- 
erland,   4,  5,  31,  89, 

93,  4,  105,  8.  20,  1, 
4,  30,  2,  47,  71,  223, 
307,  35,  7,  46;  sur- 
renders, 383,  8. 

Government  of  Plymouth, 

10,  2,  21,  3,  7,  30,  2, 
71,  4,  5,  9,  82,  100, 
13,  7,  20,  1 ;  reproof, 
143,  61,  6,  71,  4,209, 


10,  233,  47,  50,  306, 
13,   9,   48,  53,  81,  2, 

8,  404,  44,  7,  8,  55, 
61,  97,  8,  517,  24,  8. 

Government  of  Rhode 
Island,  21,  7,   9,  33, 

72,  8,  87  ;  condition 
of  the  people,  122,  8  ; 
decline,  151,  9,  61,  2, 

73,  84,  96,  7,  207,  9, 
22,  34,  42,  3,  52,  7, 
87,   9,  309,  11,  3,  25, 

9,  33,  53,  4,  5,  62, 
82,  94,  403,  46,  51, 
61,  5,  517,  38,  55, 
603  ;  agreement  with 
J.  Winthrop,  657. 

Government  of  United 
Colonies,  5 ;  duties 
at   Saybrook,    6,   11, 

19,  41,  50,  1,  62,  74, 
82,  9,  93,  5  ;  contro- 
versy, 100,  1,  3,  9; 
reconciliation,  113,  4, 
5,  24;  dissent,  129, 
30,  2,  5,  7,  43,  4,  7, 

61,  70,  82,  6,  7  ;  see 
Comm'rs  of,  200 ; 
death  penalty  for 
Quakers,  201,   2,  10, 

20,  4,  34,  5,  46,8,52, 

62,  89,  92,  8,  307,  8, 
12,  25,  6,  33,  6,  41, 
2 ;  Gen.  Gov.,  343, 
7,  57  ;  confederation 
contrary  to  charter, 
361,  4,  6,  7,  82,  4; 
not  formed  to  break 
from  England,  385,  6, 
405,  6,  19,  44,  5,  74, 
97,  8. 

Graduates  go  abroad  for 
employment,  67. 

Grain,  wheat  blasted,  345, 
415,  522. 

Grand  Vizier  and  Mary 
Fisher,  142. 

Grant  of  land  to  E.  Wig- 
glesworth,  33  ;  for 
free  schools  in  Mass., 
227;  to  Maiden  for 
minister's  support, 
292  ;  for  schools  in 
R.I.,327;  to  Chaun- 
cy  and  college,  344  ; 
to  Hope  Atherton, 
477  ;  for  schools  in 
Conn.,  554. 

Groton  destroyed,  586. 

Guard  at  the  meeting- 
house on  the  Sab- 
bath, 114;  for  Bos- 
ton, 212,  555. 

Gunpowder  treason,  361. 


INDIA   OF   SUBJECTS. 


-.11 


Hair  Long  and  periwigs, 

577. 
Half-way  covenant,  6,  24, 

49,  92  ;  its  omis- 
sion cause  o(  corrup- 
tion, i. ;.'>.  ii,  62,  i. 
8,  87,  90,  1  ;  pro- 
posed, 286,  90,  L,  i. 
'.».  810,  33,  9,  10,  l, 
62,  66,  km;.  :,  9,  L2, 
38,  9,  68,  72,  3,  8, 
501,  5,  65,  607. 

Halter  loft  off,  136. 

Harming  81,  212,  22,  53, 
oil). 

Harmony  of  the  gospels, 
630. 

Harvard.     See  College. 

Harvest  small,  262,  469. 

Hats  -worn  by  Quakers, 
231. 

Heart  of  New  England 
hardened,  217;  rent, 
217. 

Heathen  poets,  306,  521. 

Heresies,  54  ;  increase  of, 
68,  493,  4;  sup- 
pressed, 531,  72.  See 
Errors. 

Hierarchy,    prevailing, 
230. 

Hinckley's  law,  240. 

Hireling  ministry,  84. 

Holidays,  360. 

Horses  of  Quakers  for- 
feited, 244,  325. 

Hospitality,  364. 

Hostilities,  36  ;  proposed 
with  the  French 
against  the  Mohawks, 
75 ;  Dutch  and  In- 
dians against  Eng- 
lish, 93,  4 ;  ceased 
between  Holland  and 
England,  107  ;  Eng- 
lish and  French  at 
Nova  Scotia,  112  ; 
Naragansetts,  114, 
524,  41,  645. 

House  for  a  minister,  204  ; 
of  Commons,  2,  4  ; 
of  Correction,  199, 
489  ;  of  Lords,  2  ; 
seizure  of  Hope,  131. 

Houses-  of  ill  fame,  394, 
495,  6  ;  worship,  643. 

Huguenots,  a  nickname, 
24. 

Husbands  and  wives  ab- 
sent from  each  other 
to  return,  265. 

Iankesick  tried  for  mur- 
der, 550. 


[dlenese  to  be  di  alt  with, 
627. 

Idolatry,  IS.",,   194,  626. 

Ill  news  from  New  Eng- 
land, 67,  si,  .".. 

Ill  omen,  "black  coats," 
201. 

Immersion  of  infants  and 
adults,  1 15. 

Immoralitv,  176,  9,  81, 
281,  398. 

Imperium  in  imperio,  351. 

Imposition  of  hands,  (i, 
87,  181,  91. 

Imprisonment,  of  Charles 
I.,  2;  JohnDand,  4; 
for  drunkenness,  8, 
72  ;  Quakers,  143,  5, 
6,  9,  61,  3,  95,  7,  9, 
252,  6,  73,  5,  8,  80,  2, 
8,  300,  2,  538. 

Impropriations  in  Ireland, 
292. 

Income  for  the  king,  379. 

Inconsistency  of  the  Inde- 
pendent way,  58,  9. 

Indecent  speech,  36. 

Independence  of  New 
England,  274. 

Independency,  2,  25,  63, 
4,  5,  196. 

Independent  character  of 
Massachusetts,  478,9. 

Indian  missions,  50,  1, 
347,  8  ;  reason  for  the 
averseness  of  Indians 
to  the  gospel,  551,  4, 
6  ;  opposition,  560,  1  ; 
courts  kept,  631,  2  ; 
Christianity  makes 
Indians  less  obedient, 
650,  5,  66,  76,  7. 

Indian  traders,  300. 

Indian  war,  566,  71,  2,  3, 

4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  80,  1,  2, 
3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  90,  3,  4, 

5,  6,  600,  3,   12,   66, 
80. 

Indians,  fort,  352  ;  Saga- 
mores, instruction, 
357 ;  insolent,  363, 
6;  Pumham's  people 
expelled,  369  ;  intem- 
perance, 372,  86  ; 
church  formed,  387, 
400,  2;  slaves,  418, 
22;  slain  by  Maquas. 
440 ;  at  Merrimack 
River  and  Martha's 
Vineyard,  447,  8,  50, 
1,  5,  61,  4,  84; 
church,  485,  98,  9, 1 
502  ;  churches,  508,  | 
17,   9  ;    drunkenness, ; 


.    60,    i.    9,    60  i 
prisoners,  ->'u  ;    I  pro 
killed  by  vrom<  d 
li  t'i  for  ( lanada,  61  i.  6. 

Indian^,  Christian,  preju- 
dice againsl  th<  m, 
569,  7(),  l  ;  to  live  on 
I  leer  Island,  67  i ,  ■>, 
6,  7,  8,  9,  80,  1,  8,  I, 
6,  7,  91,  2,  7,  601,  2, 
3,  l,  6,  9,  18,  9. 

Individuals  not  to  live 
alone,  463. 

Infallibility,  (iodhas  not 
granted,  63. 

Influence  of  New  England 
Congregationalism  on 
Old  England,  3  ;  of 
emigrants  from  New 
England  on  Old  Eng- 
land, 59. 

Influenza,  136,  7. 

Inhabitants,  care  in  their 
admission,  265,  6. 

Inquisition,  Rev.  John 
"SVilson  before  the, 
165. 

Insanity  of  Peter's  wife, 
106  ;  increase  of,  591. 

Installment.  See  Ordina- 
tion. 

Instruction,  4,  7,  8,  10; 
English  and  Indian 
youth,  16,  8;  at  Na- 
tick,  21,8,38;  of  In- 
dians at  the  Vine- 
yard and  Natick,  50, 
1  ;  at  Vineyard,  69  ; 
New  Haven,  90,  103, 
46,  7,  84,  5,  357  ;  for 
children  and  ser- 
vants, 391,  484,  527; 
to  William  S  tough- 
ton  and  Peter  Bulk- 
ley,  598. 

Instruction  of  sickness, 
521. 

Instructions  to  agents, 
232,  88. 

Instructors,  orthodox  and 
moral,  103. 

Insurrectionary  spirit, 
209,39,  45,  319,  20, 
37. 

Intemperance,  7,  8,  111, 
76,  251,  314,  33,  52, 
72,  92,  400,  61,  2, 
509,  24,  6. 

Interpreter,  ooo,  60,  641. 

Intruders  into  town,  643. 

Invoice  of  wines,  etc.,  314. 

Irish  charity,  677. 

Iron  works  of  Lynn,  225, 
32;  Taunton,  385. 


712 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Irreligion,  33. 
Israel,  the  outcasts  of,  to 
be  gathered  in,  369. 

Jealous  of  R.  Williams, 
87. 

Jew,  trading  with  chil- 
dren, 265. 

Jewish  legal  authority, 
236  ;  origin  of  the 
Indians,   12,  3,  6,  22. 

Jews,  calling  of  the,  23 ; 
divinely  favored  as 
New  England,  504. 

Judgments  for  dealing 
with  Quakers,  635,  6. 

Judicial  concerns,  12,  5, 
6,  25,  8,  32,  4,  42,  3, 
53,  4,  61,  71,  2,  3,  9, 
81,  103,  14,  6,  8,  9, 
21,  31,  53,  68,  70, 
226,  33,  47,  51,  6,  72, 
3,  309,  13,  5,  43,  57, 
63,  4,  94,  414,  29, 
32,  77,  9,  503,  7,  11, 
40. 

Jurisdiction,  right  of,  goes 
with  patent,  337. 

Jury,  trial  by,  121,  226, 
359,  550. 

Justification,  5,  20,  1,  44, 
5,  oo,  210. 

Kempis'  De  Imitatione 
Christi,  438. 

Key  of  West  Indies,  272. 

King  of  England,  2,  7 ; 
executed,  9. 

Kingly  government,  276, 
7. 

King's  arms,  360  ;  letter, 
284,  98,  303,  4 ;  Ma- 
son's claim,  648. 

Knowledge  of  Christ,  90. 

Land  conquered  from  the 
Indians,  629. 

Land  grants  to  Presi- 
dent Chauncy,  136  ; 
schools,  227;  Mai- 
den, 288  ;  to  Chaun- 
cy and  college,  344  ; 
in  Narragansett,  ta- 
ken by  Commis'rs, 
354,  86;  to  Earl  of 
Clarendon,  403  ;  for 
minister,  462  ;  J. 
Davenport,  Jr.,  482; 
William  Brown,  492  ; 
to  Portsmouth,  to 
Witchcott,  537 ; 

schools,     554. 

Languages,  3,  4,  10,  165, 
9,    74,    87 ;    Indian, 


225,  66,  82,  308,  42, 
546,  51. 

Law  and  order,  127,  80, 
2. 

Laws,  8,  19,  26;  Con- 
necticut, 36 ;  unsuita- 
ble preachers,  95,  6  ; 
against  Quakers,  148, 
9  ;  New  Haven,  184, 
5 ;  of  death  against 
Quakers,  201,  4,  60, 
2  ;  as  to  absent  hus- 
bands and  wives, 
265  ;  Quakers,  2/5, 
6,  313,  4  ;  freemen, 
346,  64,  85  ;  revised, 
492,  6,  525 ;  made 
according  to  Scrip- 
ture, 531  ;  Connecti- 
cut, 554,  6,  600,  8. 

Lay- ordination,  266,  7. 

Laying  on  of  hands  in 
baptism,  87. 

Learning  University,  en- 
largement of,  207. 

Leave  from  the  King  to 
buy  an  estate,  301. 

Lecture-days,  36,  381,  6, 
489,  516,  20. 

Lecture,  on  logic,  to  In- 
dians, 484 ;  at  Pin- 
ner's Hall,  against 
popery,  socinianism 
and  infidelity,  488. 

Lecturer,  415,  69. 

Legislature  justified  by 
Davenport,  364,  5. 

Levy  ordered,  337. 

Letter,  of  Eliot,  8  ;  of 
Cotton  and  Dunster, 
10;  Cotton  and  Eliot, 
12  ;  Massachusetts 
General  Court,  16 ; 
Bulkley  to  Cotton, 
17 ;  Eleutherian 

church,  19 ;  to  the 
legislature,  Eliot  to 
Whitfield,  Mather  to 
Rogers,  21 ;  from 
Coddington,  29  ;  R. 
Williams,  30,  1 ; 
Eaton  to  Stuyvesant, 
34,  5  ;  Cotton  to 
Cromwell,  46 ;  Crom- 
well's reply,  52  ; 
Yane,  Saltonstall,  60, 
1  ;  Cotton  to  Salton- 
stall, 62,  3 ;  Endi- 
cott  to  Vane,  68,  9 ; 
Leveridge  to  John 
Wilson,  72 ;  from 
Rigby,  76  ;  Winslow 
and  others  to  R.  Wil- 
liams,   78,    9 ;     from 


Williams,  82;  Wil- 
liam Arnold,  R. 
Williams,  85,  7 ;  of 
Mason,  89  ;  of  Nor- 
ris,  94 ;  for  Ipswich 
and  from  Salem,  96 
Peters  to  Gott,  103 
to  Cromwell,  107,  8 
to  Peters,  112;  to  and 
from  R.  Williams  and 
H.  Vane,  123,  5 ;  to 
Vane  and  Clark, 
Providence,  127  ;  to 
Cromwell,  130;  from 
Cromwell,  Wells, 
131;  from  William 
Steel,  135  ;  to 
churches,  143 ;  from 
Connecticut  to  Crom- 
well, 149,  51 ;  Endi- 
cott  to  Leverett,  159  ; 
from  Eliot,  163 ;  to 
Rhode  Island,  166; 
from  Cromwell,  R. 
Williams,  171,  5  ;  to 
Clark  and  Cromwell, 
176 ;  Commissioners 
to  R.  I.,  182  ;  R.  I. 
to  Mass.,  183  ;  Hart- 
ford church,  Mr. 
Pierson,  186,  7;  from 
New  Haven,  189,  90  ; 
for  Indian  college, 
198 ;  from  J.  Endi- 
cott,  201  ;  J.  Lever- 
ett,   204 ;     Endicott, 

227  ;  Norton  to  Du- 
ry,    by     J.    Curwin, 

228  ;  Hull  to  Lev- 
erett,   Wm.   Leddra, 

229  ;  Mary  Trask  and 
M.  Smith,  233  ;  Cud- 
worth,  243  ;  Robin- 
son, 244  ;  to  J.  Clark, 
253,  4  ;  Anne  Cod- 
dington, R.Williams, 
256  ;  from  Missionary 
Corp'n,  260  ;  Charles 
II.  to  Endicott,  270, 
1  ;  Leverett,  Mission- 
ary Corp.,  274  ;  from 
Lord  Say  and  Seal, 
280  ;  from  the  King, 
284  ;  to  Boston 
church,  288  ;  sent  to 
England  by  agents, 
289,  90  ;  Mather,  293, 
7  ;  from  the  King, 
298  ;  by  Whiting, 
303  ;  to  Miss.  Corp., 
307,  8  ;  Legislature 
to  Owen,  309,  10  ; 
Gookin  to  Gorges, 
320  ;    Commissioners 


INDEX   OF   81  BJE< 


71a 


of  Union  to  Rhode 
Island,  326,  8 ;  to 
Bar]  of  Manohester, 

330  ;  from  Lord  Say 
and  Seal,  331  ;  Goffe's 
Wife,  332  ;  New  Ha- 
ven to  Connecticut, 
83  \  \  from  R.  Boyle 
to  Com'rs  of  United 
Colonies,  341,  2  ;  to 
Dury,  344  ;  to  Mis- 
sionary Society,  347, 
8  ;  to  R.  Boyle,  349  ; 
Royal  Com'rs,  Ma- 
verick, Earl  of  Clar- 
endon, 353  ;  Cart- 
wright,  355 ;  from 
Davenport,  364,  5  ; 
Eliot  to  Carr,  from 
Boyle,  369  ;  Nichols 
to  Arlington,  Mor- 
rice,  king  to  Mass., 
370;  to  Morrice,  375, 

7,  9  ;  king  to  Plym., 
Prince,  382 ;  Mass. 
to  Royal  Com'rs, 
390;  to" Nichols,  396; 
to  Gorton,  399  ;  from 
R.  Williams,  401,  3  ; 
from  Joseph  Eliot,  J. 
Winthrop,  405  ;  New 
Haven,  408 ;  J.  Dav- 
enport, 410;  Charles 
II.,  411;  to  G.  Bulk- 
ley,  412;  toR.  Carr, 
414  ;  from  New  Ha- 
ven to  Boston,  431  ; 
from  R.  Nichols,  461 ; 
S.  Gorton,  462,  3; 
J.  Eliot,  485  ;  J.  Col- 
lins, 490  ;  "P.  Tilton, 
496;  J.  Collins,  512; 
J.  Knowles,  513  ;  J. 
Eliot,  528;  Colonel 
Goffe,  from  his  wife, 
554. 

Letters  of  dismission  and 
recommendation,  6. 

Liberation  of  Dand,  4. 

Liberties  of  the  churches, 
230,  71  ;  of  English- 
men, 367  ;  civil  and 
religious,  479,  80. 

Libertine  schooled,  153. 

Liberty  in  excess,  256,  7  ; 
of  conscience,  5,  127, 

8,  230,  303. 

Lies,    37,   114,   324.     See 

False. 
Life  of  Cotton,  204. 
Light  within,  145,  6,  286. 
Lincolnshire     gentlemen, 

550. 
LineforN.H.andMe.,78. 
90 


Liquors,  7,  131  ;  on  the 
Sabbath,  315,  26,  72, 
(63. 

Literature,  2,  6,  9,  10,  2, 

5,  7,  90,  370. 

Litigation      forbidden 
among  church  mem- 
bers, 17. 

Living  under  family  gov- 
ernment, 527. 

Loadstone  from  Peters  to 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  103. 

Loan  desired,  376. 

Locks  of  Eng.  slain  by 
Indians,  666. 

Long  hair,  protest  against, 
12,  141. 

Looking-glass  for  the 
times,  588. 

Lords.  See  House  of 
Lords. 

Lord's  supper,  5,  115,  7, 
224  ;  terms  of  admis- 
sion to,  296. 

Loss  in  Indian  war,  598  ; 
of  liberty  feared, 
349. 

Lottery,  526,  671. 

Magna  Charta,  holy  scrip-  j 
tures  the  true,  15. 

Major  General  for  New 
England,  297. 

Majority  rule  the  minor-  i 
ity  in  ecclesiastical 
matters,  164. 

Mandamus  of  Charles  H., 
282,  4,  7,  8. 

Man  stealing,  314,  606. 

Manufactures,  Lynn,  iron 
225,    32  ; 
do.,  385. 

Map  of  Mass.,  356. 

Maritime,  6,  7,  11,  115, 
29,  31,  71,  99,  201, 
40,  81,  4,  335,  57,  9, 
60,  1,  72,  6,  409,  61  ; 
ship  Ann,  477,  96, 
503,  8,  9,  12,  49,  50, 
73,  8,  99,  603,  11,  28, 
9,  38,  46,  53. 

Market  day,  petition  to 
change  it,  656. 

Marriage,  5 ;  consent  of 
master,  73  ;  in  Eng. 
by  magistrates,  98, 
116,  79,  85;  illegal, 
313,  25  ;  a  man  not 
to  marry  his  wife's 
sister,  444,  9  ;  frank, 
530  ;  a  reason  for  ex- 
emption from  mili- 
tary service 
illegal,  643. 


Masts,  a  present  to  the 
king,  :;:.",,  <;. 

Mi  ana  Of  union  in  Mass., 
279. 

Meat  in  God's  house,  153. 

Medical  man  stops  at  EL 
I.,  326. 

Meeting-house  at  Ipswich, 
422. 

Meeting  of  Quakers,  315, 
542. 

Meetings  not  to  be  held 
without  leave,  26. 

Members,  church,  when 
admitted,  444. 

Messengers  from  R.  I.  to 
England,  83. 

Messiah  already  come, 
130. 

Method  of  divine  grace, 
165. 

Mighty  in  scripture,  521. 

Military  concerns,  Charles 
I.  to  give  up  the  con- 
trol of  the  militia,  2  ; 
officers,  96 ;  pet.  for 
removal  of  Capt. 
Cudworth,  234,  9,  43; 
R.  L,  military  duty, 
253,  81  ;  the  faithful 
officer,  (sermon,)  305 ; 
York  County  mili- 
tia, 320  ;  expedition 
against  the  Dutch, 
346,  64,  5,  6,  75,  87  ; 
affairs  neglected,  402, 
13,  8,  508,  50,  69,85; 
duty,  669. 

Mill,    grist   from  on   the 
Sabbath,  316. 
Taunton,  J  Millennium,  415. 

Ministerial  taxes,  453. 

Ministers,  and  their  sala- 
ries, 3  ;  and  magis- 
trates useless,  33 ;  as- 
semble at  Natick,  70 ; 
candidates  not  to 
preach  without  con- 
sent of  adjacent  min- 
isters or  County 
Court,  95  ;  protest  of 
Salem  church,  96,  8, 
9,  143,  4  ;  situation, 
160,  1  ;  heterodox 
and  immoral,  220  ;  in 
council  about  royal 
com'rs,  355,  73,  6 ; 
for  Wickford,  404,  7, 
20  ;  of  New  England, 
433  ;  free  from  taxes, 
480  ;  obtained  for  Sa- 
lem, 490,  508,  653. 
588  ;  Ministry,  if  not  support- 
ed at  Nashaway  the 


714 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS. 


place  must  be  given 
up,  18  ;  of  Matthews,  j 

69  ;  learning  encour- 
aged, 70,  95  ;  main- 
tenance, 107,  18,  43, 
4,  60,  1  ;  slighted, 
166,  9,  292,  309,  459, 
538,  9 ;  neglected, 
571,  2,  641. 

Mint  suppressed,  361. 

Mission  property  litigated, 
302,  41. 

Mission  to  Indians,  4 ; 
Va.,  7 ;  New  Eng- 
land, 8,  9,  10,  2  ;  op- 
posed, 13,  5,  6,  9,  20, 
41,  50,  1,  5  ;  conver- 
sions, 55,  8,  60,  9, 
70,  2,  101,  2  ;  exami- 
nation, 105,  9,  32,  3  ; 
reproach,  135  ;  funds, 
137,  8,  40,  6,  7  ;  in- 
land, 152,  61,  4,  70, 
3,  93,  209;  cost,  210, 
9,  42,  6,  8,  9,  60,  5, 
7,  74,  82,  3,  7  ;  con- 
tinued by  Charles  II., 
290,  3,  7,  302,  7,  31, 
3,   41,   2,  4,   7,  8,  69, 

70  ;  misrepresented, 
380,  3,  403,  5,  6,  20, 
33,  40,  5,  50,  66,  71, 
84,  5,  98,  502,  8,  15, 
7,  9  ;  in  Plvm.,  532, 
3,  51. 

Mission  to  London  haz- 1 
ardous  and  impor-  j 
tant,  285. 

Missionaries,  Jesuits,  27, 
50,  1,  5,  6,  140,  347, 
420;  advice,  440,  600.  ] 

Missionary  concerns,  4,  7, 
10  ;  society  begins  in  \ 
Eng.  for  New  Eng- 
land, 12  ;  opposed, 
13,  5,  23,  37,  8,  41, 
2,  102,  33,  5,  341,  2, 


Narrative  of  commission- 
ers, 379,  81,  8,  92,  4, 
400  ;  of  transactions 
with  the  royal  com- 
missioners, 368. 

Nature  of  New  England 
government,  107. 

Navigation  act,  357. 

Necessity  of  punishment, 
175. 

Neck  and  heels,  311. 

Negro  slavery,  85. 

Nehemiah  on  the  wall, 
(election  sermon,) 
416. 

Neonomianism,  48. 

New  churchmen,  505. 

New  England  fire  brand 
quenched.  661. 

New  England's  true  in- 
terest, 424. 

New    England     heavens, 


Model  of  discipline.  See 
Discipline. 

Money  and  provisions  for 
the  colony,  592. 

Mormons,  286. 

Mortality,  3,  23,  68,  224, 
522* 

Morton's  memorial,  435. 

Moses  and  Aaron,  224, 86. 

Mourning  clothes,  362. 

Murders  by  English,  549  ; 
by  Indians,  36,  352, 
549,  50. 

Musicians,  508. 

Mystery  of  Israel's  salva- 
tion, 369. 


Nonintercourse  with  New 
Netherland,  335,  70. 

Non -professors,  3. 

North  line  of  Massachu- 
setts, 78. 

Notes  in  preaching,  first 
minister  who  used 
them,  473. 

Notice  of  H.  Green,  Har- 
rison, 7 ;  J.  Win- 
throp,  10  ;  TJ.  Oakes, 
13  ;  J.  Collins,  13,4; 
T.  Shepard,  14;  N. 
and  S.  Mather,  21  ; 
Knowles,  23 ;  H. 
Smith,  33,  4;  Mary 
Fenwick,  35 ;  T. 
James,  38  ;  H.  Whit- 
field, 39 ;  E.  Gibbons, 
40,  1;  Butler,  42; 
Chauncy,  47.  8  ;  G. 
Fyrman,  48,  9;  T. 
Allen,  59  ;  Pynchon 
and  Moxon,  65 ;  M. 
Matthews,  69  ;  J. 
Cotton,  70  ;  J.  Bow- 
er, 90  ;  Dudley,  97  ; 
J.  and  N.  Ambrose, 
E.  Rawson,  99;  W. 
Leveridge,  114;  J. 
Lothrop,  115  ;  E. 
Poole,  116  ;  J. 
Haynes,  130,  1;  N. 
Rogers,  136;  Catha- 
rine Mather,  139  ;  J. 
Whiting,  148  ;  J. 
Noves,  150  ;  J.  Math- 
er, *  159,  60;  T. 
Mavhew,  Jr.,  164,  5 ; 
E.  Window,  166,  7  ; 
Myles  Standish,  168  ; 


W.    Bradford,     169; 

D.  Maud,  174  ;  S. 
Cotton,  184;P.Prud- 
den,  J.  Haynes,  W. 
Hooke,  186,  8;  E. 
Hopkins,  188,  9 ; 
Fenwick,  192,  3 ; 
Cromwell,  200,  5  ; 
P.  Bulkley,  206  ;  W. 
Brimsmead,  226  ;  R. 
Partridge,  235  ;  H. 
Dunster,  240  ;  Baker, 
246  ;  J.  Smith,  247  ; 
Robert  Gutch,  249  ; 
Moody,  251  ;  S.  Cot- 
ton, 252  ;  T.  Eaton, 
257,  8  ;  John  Jones 
and  son,  261  ;  of  R. 
Blinman,   264,   5  ;  of 

E.  Rogers,  269,  70; 
R.  Smith,  271  ;  T. 
Gilbert,  280  ;  S. 
Haugh,  291  ;  W. 
Worcester,  300  ;  J. 
Norton,  302  ;  J. 
Woodbridge,  305,  6  ; 
J.  Miller,  306,  7  ;  M. 
Wigglesworth,  309  ; 
T.  Millet,  311;  T. 
Dalton,  322  ;  John 
Brock,  323  ;  G.  Bulk- 
ley,  331  ;  S.  Stone, 
Sen.  and  Jr.,  335,  6  ; 
Z.  Brigden,  R.  Den- 
ton, 338 ;  Gov.  Endi- 
cott,  354  ;  J.  Smith, 
394;  J.  Eliot,  405; 
Adam  Blackman,  J. 
Chauncy,  411  ;  N. 
Chauncy,  412  ;  J. 
Woodbridge,  413  ;  J. 
Wilson,  418,  9;  J. 
Hale,  420,  1  ;  J.  Hol- 
yoke,  422  ;  S.  Shep- 
ard, H.  Flint,  424  ; 
J.  Mitchell,  429  ;  W. 
Walton,  J.  Eliot,  Jr., 
430  ;  R.  Mather,  436, 
7  ;  S.  Brackenbury, 
W.  Woodward,  E. 
Mather,  439;  J.  Da- 
venport, 442  ;  J.  Rey- 
ner,  460;  W.  Wick- 
endon,  463  ;  N.  Col- 
lins, Z.  Walker,  470  ; 
J.  Warham,  473  ;  J. 
Pruden,  474,  5;  Z. 
Svmmes,  477  ;  J.  Al- 
lin,  482,  3,  4;  C. 
Chauncy,  487,  8 ;  J. 
Amanhut,  488 ;  E. 
Johnson,  489  ;  A. 
Newman,  500  ;  R. 
Bellingham,   501,   2  ; 


INDEX    OF    si  BJECTS. 


15 


M.  Powell,  503  j  .1. 
Gilbert,  509  ;  T. 
( tauld,  519  :  3.  Dan- 
forth,  620  ;  .1.  Oxen- 
bridge,  1>.  Blackman, 
523,  I  ;  T.  Prince, 
530  ;  T.  Willet,  532  ; 
E.  Hilton,  John  R  \ 
n.  r,  537  ;  •!.  B<  Lcher, 
538  ;  .1.  Mason,  553  ; 
X.  Street,  557,  B;  E. 
Joanes,  Z.  Walker, 
11.  Fordham,  559  : 
L.  Hoar,  579,  SO;  T. 
Clark,  00 1,  2;  Wun- 
nanauhkomun,  604  ; 
E.  Brown,  609;  T. 
Shepard,  020  ;  J. 
Brown,  624  ;  T. 
Thacher,  629  ;  N.  Ba- 
ker, 648 j  J.  Clark, 
652,  3;  S.  Gorton, 
658,  9  ;  W.  Codding- 
ton,  661,  4;  T.James, 
668  ;  J.  Winthrop, 
672,  3. 
Notices  for  meeting  by 
sound  of  drum,  517  ; 
on  meeting  -  house 
doors  or  posts,  19. 

Oaths,  5 ;  of  fidelity,  62, 
84,  169,  97,  235,  8, 
40,  2,  4,  5,  7,97,313, 
9,  20,  1,  57,  97,  401, 
9 ;  of  allegiance  to 
England,  121,61,627. 

Obituary.     See  Deaths. 

Objections  to  confession 
of  faith  and  disci- 
pline, 46  ;  to  ordina- 
tion, 69,  70 ;  to  R. 
Williams,  83. 

Obstinate  contemner  of 
ordinances,  555. 

Officers,  church,  6  ;  chos- 
en, 489. 

Old  churchmen,  505. 

Omission  to  shave  the 
beard  and  uncover 
_  the  head,  204. 

Opinions  of  the  council, 
374,  6  ;  of  Lechford, 
3 ;.  of  the  Quakers, 
286. 

Opposers  of  religion  and 
ministers,  493. 

Opposition  to  Codding- 
ton's  patent,  81,4,  6; 
of  sachems,  to  Indian 
mission,  21,  38  ;  in 
England,  41. 

Oppression  to  be  resisted, 
93, 352. 


( trder  of  council,  196. 
Ordinanci  s,  aegli  ct<  d,  72, 
.  93. 

Ordinary.         See      Public 

House. 
Ordination   and   installa- 
tion, 6,  19  ;  r<  peated, 
oi;     prevented,    on, 

70,  L38,  HI  ;  by  lav- 
men,  266,  7.  309,  17  ; 
I.  Mather,  311  ;  J. 
Eliot,  Jr.,  310  ;  J. 
Keith,  383;  (>'.  Shove, 
380;  G.  Bulkley, 
112,  70,  1  ;  M.  Fisk, 
499,  522,  3. 

Organs  used,  226. 

Orthodox  evangelist,  00, 
302. 

Orthodox  ministry  pro- 
tected by  govern- 
ment, 525. 

Orthodoxy  required  of 
candidates  for  free- 
men, 346,  7,  80,  526. 

Outcasts  of  Israel,  369. 

Pacification  of  churches, 
by  Dury,  228. 

Papacy.  See  Catholic 
Religion. 

Parishes,  10,  144,  69  ;  in 
Eng.,  189,  90,  1,  240, 
310,  85,  676. 

Parishional  constitution, 
84. 

Parsonage  house,  317,  493. 

Parties  in  England,  95. 

Pastoral  connection  dis- 
solved, 267,  8. 

Pastors  and  teachers,  6, 
25,  57. 

Patents,  new  one  desired 
by  Parliament  for 
Mass.,  54,  5  ;  Maine 
■within  Mass.  Patent, 
76  ;  Lygonia,  76  ; 
Plough  Patent,  77  ; 
N.  Hamp.,  78  ;  R.  I. 
and  Plymouth,  78,  9  ; 
Coddington's,  81,  3  ; 
uncertainty  of,  119, 
20,  2,  7  ;  Mass.,  180  ; 
forfeiture,  232  ;  just 
as  to  Maine  bounds, 
248,  304,  6;  sale  «f 
Kenebecke,  315,  8,  9  ; 
Conn.,  329,  32;  cost 
of  charter,  333  ;  X. 
Haven,337;ofMass., 
350,  1,  2  ;  confirma- 
tion of,  383. 

Patriotism  of  New  Eng- 
land, 52,  4,  5. 


Pawns    ^i vi  n    liv  fad 

with   Holland,   10.",, 
7,  21.  .".In. 

Peltry  trade,  250. 

Penalty,  for   dun  Ulg,    12  ; 

slandering      go 
ment,     L3  ;     hanging 
out    clothei    Sunday, 

72  ;  for  being  a  Qua- 
k<  r,  163,  ■> ;  for  play- 
ing cards,  167  ;  for 
having  Quaker  books, 

175;  selling  liquor, 
170;  for  certain  of- 
fences, 179;  for  play- 
ing cards  and  dice, 
191  ;  entertaining 

Quakers,  193  ;  ab- 
sence from  worship, 
195  ;  holding  Quaker 
meetings,  197,  9;  for 
coming  to  Boston, 
202  ;  of  death  against 
Quakers,  206;  Qua- 
kers, 216  ;  for  vari- 
ous offences,  218  ;  of 
death,  220 ;  absence 
from  worship,  223  ; 
against  Quakers,  234 ; 
for  profaning  the 
Sabbath,  237 ;  ab- 
sence from  worship, 
holding  Quaker  meet- 
ings, etc.,  240,  1,  2, 
3,  4,  5,  6,  52,  3,  4 ; 
introducing  Quakers, 
260;  against  do.,  261 ; 
trading  with  chil- 
dren, 265  ;  for  being 
suspected,  273  ;  Qua- 
kers, 280,  1  ;  wear- 
ing clothes  above 
one's  condition,  292  ; 
going  naked  through 
Salem,  301  ;  Quakers, 
309,  11,  12;  unlawful 
marriage,  etc.,  313, 
20;  for  disrepect  to 
Bay  Comm'rs,  321  ; 
for  exposure  of  per- 
son, 324 ;  against 
Baptists,  376 ;  for 
keeping  Christmas, 
380 ;  absence  from 
worship,  393 ;  Bap- 
tists and  Quakers, 
428,  9,  32;  against 
T.  Maule,  437  ;  Qua- 
kers, 439,  45  ;  offer- 
ing marriage  without 
consent  of  parents, 
vagrancy,  449  ;  sun- 
dry offences,   451,  3  ; 


716 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


refusing  to  support 
the  ministry,  455 
for  idolatry,  blas- 
phemy, etc.,  for  con- 
tempt of  preachers 
555 ;  against  Baptists 
567 ;  absence  from 
worship,  601 ;  con- 
tempt of  court,  609 
absence  from  wor- 
ship, 615  ;  slander, 
620 ;  against  liquor 
selling,  641  ;  for  leav- 
ing colony,  669  ;  for 
disorderly  conduct 
Saturday  night  and 
Sunday,  673. 

Pentagoet  Fort,  protest- 
ants  to  be  driven  out, 
27. 

Perfectionists,  190. 

Peril  of  Mass.  colony, 
279,  86,  364,  6,  7,  73, 
8,  415,  6,  25;  of  pro- 
testant  churches,  680. 

Persecution,  7  ;  in  Eng- 
land, 332,  564. 

Persecutors  mauled,  322. 

Perseverance  of  the  saints, 
5. 

Person  and  estate  dis- 
posed of  by  court, 
277. 

Persons  distressed  by  war, 
695. 

Persons  ordered  for  Eng- 
land, 373,  6. 

Petition,  sale  of  wine,  8  ; 
of  Boston  for  repeal 
of  duties  on  imports 
from  other  colonies, 
11  ;  of  females,  for 
Matthews,  53 ;  to 
Parliament,  54 ;  for 
Mrs.  Hawkins,  79 ; 
of  "Williams  to  em- 
bark from  Boston, 
83,  5  ;  for  Lt.  Robert 
Pike,  103,  11;  of 
Robert  Jordan,  for 
release,  121 ;  from 
Hampton,  122  ;  to 
Cromwell,  for  frigate, 
129,  30  ;  of  Edward 
Saunders,  136  ;  wife 
of  Nicholas  Upshall, 
149 ;  from  inhabit- 
ants of  Rehoboth, 
167  ;  inhabitants  of 
Portsmouth,  175 ; 
from  Ipswich  as  to 
privilege  of  freemen, 
197 ;  for  severe  laws 
against  the  Quakers, 


202 ;  of  Boston  to 
become  a  city,  208  ; 
of  William  Dyer,  for 
his  mother,  212 ;  to 
Cromwell,  247  ;  that 
Maine  may  remain 
under  Mass.,  274 ; 
from  Ipswich,  New- 
bury and  Sudbury, 
280  ;  of  James  Pepin, 
Jr.,  281  ;  of  John 
Bouton,  to  live  in 
Mass.,  299  ;  of  Eu- 
nice Cole  and  others, 
323  ;  to  Charles  II., 
347 ;  from  Boston, 
Salem,  Ipswich  and 
Newbury,  373,  5,  6, 
7  ;  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Hamilton,  404,  9  ; 
of  people  of  Hatfield, 
415  ;  Ipswich,  418  ; 
people  in  Swanzey, 
449 ;  persons  in 
Windsor,  469;  sell- 
ing Indians  into  slav- 
ery, 569;  Nat.  By- 
field,  588  ;  for  Indian 
prisoners,  594  ;  John 
Buss,  647  ;  change 
as  to  market-day, 
656  ;  of  J.  Hawkins 
and  J.  Hull,  666. 

Petitioners,  like  king's 
party,  381. 

Philip's  son  sold  as  a 
slave,  639. 

Physician,  female,  283, 
394  ;  best  in  Conn., 
673  ;  price,  677. 

Picture  of  Salem  marshal, 
245. 

Pillar  over  Quaker  graves 
in  Boston,  572. 

Pillory,  34,  533. 

Pirates,  152. 

Plague  in  London,  23, 
367,  459. 

Plantation  covenant,  468. 

Plantation  of  Plymouth 
atKennebeck,  250,  1 ; 
mistakes,  307  ;  of  re- 
ligion, not  of  tiade, 
303.  See  Settlements. 

Platform  of  church  dis- 
«  cipline.  See  Disci- 
pline. 

Platform  of  doctrine  and 
government,  4,  6,  16, 
8,  9,  23,  8,  96,7,  153. 

Playne's  farm,  352. 

Plea  of  legislature  for 
learning,  70 ;  of 
Bradstreet,  100,  1. 


Plot  of  Dutch  and  In- 
dians, 128,  30. 

Plunder,  671. 

Polemical  times,  66. 

Police  and  royal  comm'rs, 
363,  4. 

Pool's  synopsis,  445. 

Poor  of  the  church,  25. 

Pope  renounced,  471. 

Pope  guard,  recovery  of 
England,  178. 

Popish  inquisition  in  New 
England,  205,  55. 

Popular  freedom  exces- 
sive, 17,  8. 

Popular  government  of 
England  proclaimed, 
9. 

Popularity  of  New  Eng- 
land, 21. 

Population  of  R.  I.,  128  ; 
of  towns,  160. 

Port  Royal  capitulates, 
121. 

Power  of  church  and  pres- 
bytery, 6. 

Powow,  527,  666 ;  renun- 
ciation of,  13,  56,  69, 
352,  556. 

Prayer,  Cobbett's  dis- 
course, 105  ;  Christ's 
prayer  for  believers, 
194;  by  Gilbert  for 
the  king,  509 ;  spirit 
of,  587,  8  ;  preva- 
lency  of,  595  ;  for  the 
rising  generation,  625. 

Preachers  permitted,  95, 
6,  8,  198  ;  heterodox, 
388,  9,  92  ;  provided 
by  court,  485 ;  not 
to  preach  constantly 
without  consent  of 
court,  493. 

Preaching,  387  ;  price  per 
Sabbath,  640,  74,  7. 

Prejudice  against  synod, 
466. 

Preparation  for  defence, 
364. 

Presbyterian,  191. 

Presbyterian  way,  505. 

Presbyterianism,  3 ;  de- 
pressed, 7,  9  ;  com- 
munion with  Congre- 
gationalism, 10,  23, 
40,  58,  63,  4,  5,  160, 
96,  256  ;  advocated, 
293,  352. 

Presbvterians,  95,  191, 
209,  97. 

Presbytery,  rule  of,  196. 

Present  to  the  king,  361, 
75,  6  ;  and  queen,  400. 


INDIA    OF   SUBJECTS. 


;n 


Present  aunts,      28,      1  ■">:;, 

321,  2. 
Printing,    219  j    licensed, 

299,  362,  515,  27. 

Prison,  i,  .ii  |  in  Salem, 
307  ;  in  Conn.,  165  ; 
fare,  540;  Boston, 
610. 

Prisoner,  put  to  death  by 
Indians,  ">7~>. 

Prisoners  taken  by  Crom- 
well, 47;  Indian,  638, 
40. 

Private  meetings,  relig- 
ious, 259,  493. 

Privilege  of  freemen  with- 
out being  church 
members,  191. 

Prize  vessel,  115. 

Productions,  160,  522. 

Profanity  punished,  34, 
6,  176,  84,  392,  497, 
526,  55. 

Profession  of  Wannalan- 
cet,  518. 

Progress  in  reformation, 
304 ;  of  the  gospel, 
341. 

Prophecy,  lay  preaching, 
24,  571. 

Proposition  of  Mass.  to 
comm'rs  of  the  union, 
6  ;  of  Canada  to  war 
against  the  Mohawks, 
71 ;  of  Cromwell  to 
settle  Jamaica,  151  ; 
from  royal  comm'rs, 
397,  9,  409,  10. 

Prosecutions.  See  Judi- 
cial and  Penalty. 

Prosperity  of  Xew  Eng- 
land, 21,  55. 

Protector  declines  the  title 
of  king,  152. 

Protest  against  long  hair, 
12,  119,24;  of  Conn., 
Xew  Haven,  337. 

Protestant  for  Puritan, 
297,  430. 

Protestants  driven  from 
Pentagoet  Fort,  27  ; 
none  but  Protestants 
allowed  in  Nova  Sco- 
tia, •  172,  3  ;  perse- 
cuted, 185,  281  ;  pe- 
tion  to  remove  to 
Mass.,  299,-356. 

Proverb  verified,  589. 

Providence,  doctrine  of,  5. 

Providence  hill,  regicides 
secreted  at,  329,  30. 

Psalm  book,  418. 

Psalms,  Indian,  210,  67, 
308,  47  ;  Boston  men 


appointed       to  ll ;  label,  812,  ' 

them,  197.  I,    i.    18  ;  future,  ■>. 

Psalter,  8  17.  Lty. 

Public  houses,  7,  8 ;  ship  Puritanism   Cram   Leyden 


tavern,    42,     127,    75 

9,  85,  315,  94, 

Public  men  needed,  (is. 

Public  worship,  attend- 
ance, 33,  7  ;  in  Bos- 
ton with  an  Indian, 
57,  8,  62,3,71,2,90; 
among  soldiers,  110; 
of  others,  142,  3  ;  at 
Springfield,  165,  6; 
disturbed,  168  ;  mili- 
tary guard,  169,  70  ; 
at  Northampton,  208;; 
disturbed,  224,  7,  8, 
40  ;  Sabbath  break- 
ers at  Falmouth  or- 
dered to  meet  for, 
249  ;  absenting  from, 
277 ;  conducted  by 
brethren,  318,  87,  97, 
410,  59,  69,  520,  6; 
besides  congregation- 
al allowed,  555 ;  wor- 
ship, 635. 

Publication  of  law  by  beat 
of  drum,  149. 

Publications,  2,  3,  4,  6, 
9,  13,  7,  20,  3,  43,  5, 
8,  9,  50,  2,  8,  9,  62, 
3,  9,  81,  4,  7,  90, 
105,  6  ;  to  be  burnt, 
108,  30,  41 ;  of  Qua- 
kers to  be  burnt, 
142,  8,  50,  3,  65,  75, 
7,  8,  80,  2,  4,  7,  8, 
94;  Quaker  pub.,  203, 
6,  9,  11,  3,  6,  7,  23, 
4  ;  Quaker  pub.  to  be 
seized,  241,  2,  50,  2, 
5,  62,  5,  73,  6,  86,  7, 
91,  2,  4,  300,  2,  8,  9, 
12,   22,  35,  6,   8,  41, 


to  Xt  w  England,  and 
then  to  Old  England, 
24,  85. 

Puritans,  2  I  ■ 

Purpose  of  independence 
by  Mass.,  279  ;  set- 
tling the  country, 
147,  303,  4,  12,  6, 
614,  25,  9,  S3  ;  the 
Indians  to  destroy 
the  Christians,  117. 

Put  to  death.  See  Exe- 
cuted. 

Quakers,  20,  2 ;  why  so 
called,  140 ;  order 
concerning,  142,  4  ; 
law,  148,  9 ;  admon- 
ished,  159,  61,   3,  5, 

8,  70,  I,  5,  81,  3,  6, 
93,  5,  7  ;  death  pen- 
alty, 201,  3  ;  writ- 
ings, 203,  4  ;  sale  of, 
206,  19 ;  cause  of 
their  own  sufferings, 
213,  4,  8,  23,  5,  33  ; 
in  Plymouth  colonv, 
233,   46,  51,  6,  8,  62, 

9,  72,  8,  80  ;  influ- 
ence of  royal  order, 
284,  6,  9,  91,  2,  6,  8, 
300,  2,  6,  7,  9,  15, 
20,  3  ;  sign,  324,  5, 
43,  5,  8,  52,  62,  3,  9, 
73,  81,  93,  9,  400,   2, 

3,  18,  25,  9,  32,  7,  9, 
45,   94,  500,  2,  7,  11, 

4,  6,  38,  40,  9,  50,  72, 
7,  82,  96,  603,  9,  11, 
2,  28  ;  petition,  642, 
56,  7,  9 ;  why  so 
called,  661. 

2,  4,  7,  8,  68,  9,  405,  i  Quarantine,  367. 
15,   6,  8,  20,  3,  4,  30,   Question  among  Quakers 
2,  3,  8,  41,  51,  62,  78,  about  wearing  hat  in 

86,  91,  8,  522,  3,  4,  prayer  time,  582. 

33,  8,  48,  9,  51,   2,  8,   Questions     to      Quakers, 
65,  7,  88,  609,   12,  5, 1  145  ;     before    synod, 


154  to  8,  284,  5  ; 
Quakers  unsettled, 
288  ;  proposed  to  pe- 
titioners, 377. 


20,   1,  5,  6,  7,  30,  43, 

55,  61. 
Publishment  of   intended 

marriage,  172. 
Punishment,      fine,       7 ; 

stocks,  8  ;  whipping,   Railing      and      scolding, 

72,  3,  148,9,  61,  3,  7,  495. 

8  ;  denied,  175,  84,  5,  j  Railing  papers,  236. 
234;    laid   neck   and]  Raised  Lazarus,  462. 
heels,   242,  51,   3,   9,   Ranters.       See    Denomi- 

73,  8,    80,     2,     92;  nations, 
stripped,    301,    7,    9, !  Rates,  36,  7,  450,  3. 


718 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS. 


Reading  sermons  part  of 
worship,  317. 

Real  Christian,  49. 

Reasons,  against  emigra- 
tion, 55,  6 ;  for  se- 
verity to  Quakers, 
214,  5  ;  assigned  for 
Indian  war,  583,  600. 

Rebaptizing  in  Woburn, 
621. 

Rebel,  J.  Bonighton  de- 
clared a,  247. 

Rebellion  vs.  Massachu- 
setts, 377. 

Rebellious  children,  37, 
185  ;  son,  355,  66. 

Recanting,  61. 

Recommendation,  church, 
6. 

Records  of  baptism,  310  ; 
of  Rhode  Island,  395.1 

Recover  our  first  New  ] 
England  interest,  514. 

Redemption,  by  Pynchon, 
20,    43,    5,    54;     by! 
Holyoke,  205 ;  reply, 
650. 

Reformation  in  the  Eng- ; 
lish  church,  3  ;  of  re- ; 
ligion,  303,  514,  571,  j 
2,  4,  603. 

Refractoriness  charged  to 
Massachusetts,  380, ! 
6. 

Regicides,  229,  30,  329, 
32. 

Reign  of  Christ,  178. 

Relation  of  the  difficul- 
ties between  Boston 
and  Ipswich  church- 
es, 136. 

Relations  with  the  Dutch, 
4,  5. 

Religion  as  twelve,  world 
as  thirteen,  303. 

Religious  experience,  15  ; 
principles,  307. 

Relinquishment  of  char- 
ter, 54,  6. 

Remarkable  providences, 
147,  8. 

Remarks  of  T.  Shepard, 
of  J.  Fraser,  14,  5  ; 
J.  Knowles,  23  ;  Sal- 
tonstall,  60  ;  of  M. 
Matthews,  62  ;  J. 
Cotton,  66 ;  Mary 
Prince,  146  ;  D.  Den- 
nison,  200  ;  of  Cot- 
ton, 212 ;  of  woman 
at  Salem,  218;  of 
Quakers,  222 ;  of 
king  as  to  Quakers, 
229,  35,  6  ;  N.  Baker, 


246;  W.  Harris,  K. 
Scott,  253  ;  Allen, 
Leddra,  272,  3,  80; 
S.  Newman,  317  ;  of 
Quakers,  363 ;  of 
Nichols,  370  ;  of  R. 
Williams,  393 ;  J. 
Wilson,  417. 

Remonstrants  foiled,  4. 

Renewing  covenant,  18, 
630. 

Repentance,  doctrine  of,  5. 

Reply  to  Apollonius,  2  ; 
to  Pynchon,  54 ;  to 
Saltonstall,  62,  3  ; 
Vane,  68,  176. 

Report  of  debate  in  coun- 
cil, 374 ;  parliamen- 
tary of  Mass.,  278,  9. 

Reprieve  of  M.  Dyer,  212. 

Reprint  of  the  Scriptures, 
18. 

Reprisals  on  the  Dutch, 
124. 

Reproach  of  magistrates, 
149. 

Reprobate,  273. 

Reproof  to  Plymouth, 
143,  68. 

Republican  principles, 
273. 

Republicans,  95. 

Resistance  to  laws  by. 
Quakers,  168,  80. 

Resources  of  Mass.,  357. 

Respect  for  New  England 
men,  21. 

Respondents  to  the  king, 
371,  4,  5,  8,  9. 

Responsibility  to  Eng- 
land, 3,000  miles, 
377. 

Ressurrection,  doctrine 
of,  5. 

Restoration  of  Charles 
II.,  220.    • 

Restrictions  on  church 
candidates,  3. 

Result  of  council,  193 ; 
Indian  education,  519. 

Retraction  of  Eliot,  277. 

Return  of  agents,  298. 

Reunion  of  R.  I.  and 
Providence  Planta- 
tions, 26. 

Revenue  from  Maine  and 
N.  Hamp.,  538. 

Reverend,  title  of,  310. 

Revival  of  religion,  51, 
430,  53. 

Revolution  in  England, 
2,  9,  34. 

Riding  fast  on  the  Sab- 
bath, 453. 


Right  of  New  England  to 
its  religion,  427. 

Ring  presented  by  Win- 
throp,  331. 

Rogereens.  See  Denomi- 
nations. 

Rogers,  Elizabeth,  di- 
vorced from  her  hus- 
band because  hetero- 
dox, 676. 

Romanism.  See  Catholic 
Religion. 

Room  in  Boston  for  el- 
ders, 98. 

Rope  round  the  neck,  355. 

Royal  communications, 
404  ;  order  declined, 
375. 

Royalists,  247. 

Ruling  elders,  6,  25,  57, 
99,  161,  247,  523. 

Rupture,  242. 

Sabbath,  5  ;  broken,  7, 
25,  6  ;  denied,  28,  33  ; 
from  sunset  to  sun- 
set, 33  ;  violated,  37, 
72,  3,  98,  9,  115,  6, 
21,  7,  9,  50,  67,  72, 
84,  5,  203,  37,  8,  44, 
315,  6,26,  33,  52,  86, 
92,  418,  29,  31,2,  51, 
65,  9,  524,  6,  7,  31, 
2,  57,  60,  7,  608; 
prevents  its  being  vi- 
olated, 609,  27  ;  arms 
at  meeting,  632,  73. 

Sachems.  See  Sagamores. 

Sack,  131. 
Lcloth  < 
301,  610. 

Sacraments,  5,  413  ;  as- 
sessment, 470  ;  every 
six  weeks.  See  Lord's 
Supper. 

Sacrifice  of  a  son,  204. 

Sagamores,  tribute,  21  ; 
opposition,  38,  109  ; 
efforts  to  elect  a  good 
one,  111  ;  resist  the 
gospel,  561. 

Sailing  on  the  Sabbath, 
license,   129. 

Salamander,  4. 

Salaries  of  ministers,  3  ; 
complaint,  36,  7,  68: 
89,  101,  7,  43  ;  short, 
152,  3,  60  ;  denied  by 
the  minority,  164  ; 
taxes,  169,  331,  3  ; 
of  officers,  337,  52, 
454,  5,  501,  3,  10,  22, 
6,  9  ;  of  college,  565  ; 
ministers,  677  ;  of  in- 


INDEX   OF   SUBJE<  l>. 


71U 


■tractor,  266  ;  school 
master  of  Swanzey, 

Sole  of  Indians  bv  It.  I., 

264. 
*  Saltmarsh  returned  from 

the  chad,'  177. 

Sanctification,  ■'>. 

Saturday  ami  Sunday  eve, 

203,  111. 
Sayings.     See  Remarks. 

Scarcity  of  provisions,  93. 

Schism,  review  of  nature 
of,  160  ;  schismatics, 
376,  81. 

Scholars  to  assist  minis- 
ters, 413. 

School,  free,  227  ;  gram- 
mar at  New  Haven, 
263,  6  ;  for  Indians 
at  Cambridge,  348  ; 
Plymouth,  530,  1, 
678  ;  of  better  relig- 
ion, 370 ;  lands  of 
Providence,  327  ; 
masters  free  from 
training,  35,  146,  7  ; 
in  every  town,  316  ; 
at  Plymouth,  453,  4, 
641. 

Scripture,  5  ;  new  edition. 
18 ;  denial  forbidden, 
61,  167,  85 ;  denial, 
494,  525,  6 ;  com- 
mentary, 114. 

Seal  of  England,  9  ;  of 
Harvard  college,  18. 

Sedan,  523. 

Sedition  charged  on  Haw- 
thorne, 379,  80. 

Seekers,  46,  9,  61,  3,  6, 
73,  84,  168. 

Seizure  of  "Wh alley  and 
Goffe,  271. 

Select  cases,  2. 

Selectmen  to  see  that  fam- 
ilies be  instructed, 
527. 

Self-murderer,  burial  of, 
226. 

Selling  liquor,  524  ;  of 
Scots,  47. 

Separation  examined,  63, 
4. 

Separatists,  24. 

Servants  and  .children 
need  restraint,   138. 

Services  of  Winslow,  13  ; 
New  England  men  in 
Old  England,  559. 

Session  of  opposite  au- 
thorities, 457,  8.  • 

Settlements,  not  without 
ministry,  18  ;  of  Del- 


aware, 36,  71  ;  at 
Norwottuck,  208  ;  al 
Quabog     and     Saco 

river  and  Stony  nvn, 
221  ;  at  Cape  Pear, 
282,  807  ;  must  have 

religious  supplies, 
316;  131ock  Island, 
396,  9,  404,  12  ;  Qua- 
boag,  417,  29  ;  Squa- 
keake,  Hudson,  500  ; 
Hadley,  Deerfield, 
506  ;  at  N.  York, 663. 

Seventh-day  Baptists, 397, 
9,  402,  85,  632. 

Shipwrecks,  68  :  Mayhew, 
165. 

Shuffle  board,  37,  185. 

Sickness.     See  Diseases. 

Sifting  a  whole  nation  for 
this  wilderness,  425. 

Sign  of  spiritual  destitu- 
tion, 324  ;  the  cross, 
226.     See  Symbol. 

Signification  of  church, 
432. 

Silver  of  contributions, 
331. 

Singing  psalms,  46,  64, 
243,  9,  313,  8  ;  rude, 
343. 

Sins,  public,  68,  577. 

Sion  college,  219. 

Slander  of  church,  min- 
istry or  ordinance, 
26,  321,  2,  516. 

Slaves,  Scots  sold  for,  47  ; 
in  It.  I.,  85  ;  Spanish, 
474  ;  Indians  sold, 
532 ;  Philip's  son 
sold,  639  ;  in  R.  I., 
653,  4. 

Small  pox,  376,  415  ;  very 
prevalent,  611,  21. 

Snow,  441. 

Sober  word  to  a  serious 
people,  49,  50,  81. 

Socinians,  426. 

Soul  passive  in  vocations, 
66. 

Speaking  against  author- 
ities, 12,  6. 

Special  grace,  66. 

Specimen  of  Christ's  king- 
dom, 505. 

Spies,  583. 

Spinning  among  Indian 
converts,  283. 

Spiritual  baptism,  65. 

Stand  for  your  liberties, 
506. 

Standing  mute,  277  ;  on  a 
block,  ooo. 

State  religion,  239. 


Statutes  of  England,  9 L6. 
Stealing,   264,   624  ;    In- 
dians, 806. 

Stock  for  three  fellow- 
ships, 

Stocks,  8,  25,  ;7,  7.'i,  114, 
76,  99,  234,  7,  it, 
309,  11,  3,  82,  96, 
451,  65,  6,  624,  <;,  66, 
632. 

Storms,  68. 

Stover  for  cattle,  289. 

Strangers,  to  be  notified, 
7  ;  to  give  account  of 
themselves,  19  ;  take 
an  oath,  62  ;  not  ad- 
mitted without  leave, 
86,  116;  crept  into 
towns,  387 ;  to  give 
bonds  for  fidelity, 
573. 

Strength  out  of  weakness, 
62. 

Strong  waters,  111,  27, 
31,  314. 

Students  of  Harvard  to 
be  taught  in  knowl- 
edge and  godliness, 
18  ;  withdraw,  137  ; 
whipped  and  fined, 
149. 

Study  of  divinity  at  Har- 
vard, 601. 

Subjects  of  baptism,  285, 
91,  3,  4. 

Submission  of  Maine  to 
Massachusetts,  75,  7  ; 
of  New  Hampshire, 
78  ;  of  Maine,  118,  9; 
Lygonia,  118  ;  of  N. 
Haven  to  Conn.,  409. 

Subscribers  for  Pike,  111. 

Sufferings  of  Mrs.  Row- 
landson  among  the 
Indians,  585. 

Summons  of  five  from 
Mass.  to  England,  to 
answer  charges  of 
comm'rs,  370. 

Support  of  ministers,  62, 
167,  74. 

Supreme  authority  of 
England,  95  ;  judica- 
tory in  Legislature, 
380. 

Swedes,  fortifications, 
171. 

Symbol,  241  ;  bottles,  312. 

Sy nodical  sentence,  294. 

Synodists,  505. 

Synods,  5,  6,  16,  21,  3,4, 
45  ;  result,  52 ;  of 
united  colonies,  149  ; 
result,     153,    9 ;    for 


720 


INDEX  OF   SUBJECTS. 


controversy  in  Conn., 
187,  9,  91,  3  ;  conso- 
ciation, 284  ;  pro- 
posed to  New  Eng- 
land churches,  287, 
90,  2,  3,  9,  300,  1, 
10,  3,  33,  8,  41,  52, 
8,  413,  9,  22,  66,  70, 
8,  90,  505,  7. 
Syriac,  10. 

Tar  pits,  25. 

Tavern.  See      Public 

House. 

Taxes,  for  ministry,  36, 
66  ;  for  college,  111 ; 
of  church  and  state, 
R.  I.,  126;  Plym-| 
outh,  167  ;  for  minis- 
ters, 240;  in  Pv.  I., 
327  ;  church  and 
commonwealth,  256 ; 
for  Conn,  charter, 
333,  7  ;  on  land,  356, 
480,  526,  677,  8. 

Teachers.  See  Instruct- 
ors. 

Temperance,  7 ;  act,  8  ; 
in  New  England,  49, 
414,  90,  1. 

Temple  measured,  150. 

Ten  tribes,  supposed  to  be 
New  England  In- 
dians, 10,  3,  6. 

Terms  of  partaking  the 
sacrament,  296. 

Test  act,  503. 

Testimony  as  to  Quakers, 
245. 

Texts  in  sermons,  521. 

Thanksgiving,  73,  108, 
49,  84,  5,  7,  217,  78, 
98,  331,  4;  to  be 
kept  Nov.  5  and  May 
29,  367,  76,  421,  3, 
46,  51,  508,  55,  67, 
76,  602,  16,  70,  1,  5, 
6,  80. 

Theological  books,  2  ;  in- 
stitution, 501,  2. 

Thou  and  thee,  222. 

Threats  of  Quakers,  274, 
321. 

Three  years  study  changed 
to  four,  226. 

Threnodia,  336. 

Tobacco,  use  of,  137,  452, 
3,  526,  37. 

Toleration,  counseled,  j 
61  ;  R.  Williams,  81; 
want  of,  97 ;  not  j 
what  they  came  to  I 
New  England  for,  | 
303  ;  in  Conn.,  471  ;| 


Mass.,  490,  506,  10, 
89,  622. 

Tongue  bored  with  a  hot 
iron,  163,  261. 

Tower,  fear  of,  287. 

Towle,  Sarah,  divorced, 
676. 

Town  of  small  means 
assisted  to  pay  their 
minister,  491 ;  every 
town  to  have  a  house 
of  worship,  632. 

Towns  allowed  on  condi- 
tion to  support  min- 
ister, 396,  410,  3,  63 ; 
ministers  obtained 
for,  552  ;  of  praying 
Indians,  232. 

Tractate  of  Norton,  204, 
8,  13,  6,  7. 

Trade,  decay,  93,  127,  74, 
6,  83,  249;  Baltic, 
257,  72,  88,  314,  409, 
14  ;  trading  houses, 
574. 

Traitors,  357,  8. 

Translation  of  the  Bible 
into  Indian,  12. 

Transubstantiation,  503. 

Traveled  to  Adrianople, 
142. 

Traveling  by  row  boat, 
546. 

Treason,  83,  176,  81,  2, 
541,  2. 

Treaties,  Eng.  and  Dutch, 
4,  5,  74  ;  with  In- 
dians, 315,  42,  429, 
524,  7,  9,  68,  602,  35. 

Trial  of  Charles  I.,  9  ; 
petitioners,  376. 

Trials  of  N.  Eng.,  225. 

Tribute  to  Sagamores, 
109,  10. 

Trimming  a  servant,  316. 

Trinity,  5,  230. 

Troops  raised,  592. 

Trophies,  638. 

Trouble  with  crown,  617. 

True  New  England  man, 
303. 

Trust  in  Providence,  522. 

Twenty-one  questions, 
154. 

Two  last  witnesses,  108. 

Types,  Greek  and  He- 
brew, 370. 

Tythingmen,  608. 

Uncas,    551  ;    son  stolen, 

609. 
Unbaptized  people,  3. 
Uniformity     God      never 

commanded,  63. 


Union  of  New  Haven  with 
Conn.,  409,  10 ;  re- 
formers, 304. 

United  Colonies  *  See 
Government  of. 

Unity  of  the  Godhead,  5. 

Universal  redemption,  33, 
65,  255,  6. 

Universalist,  180. 

Universities  of  Cambridge 
and  Oxford  promote 
Indian  mission,  13. 

University  learning,  207, 
8. 

Unsafe  and  unsound  ex- 
pressions, 42. 

Use  of  dogs  in  Indian 
war,  673. 

Vegetation  injured,  4,  27. 

Yerses  applied  to  Charles 
II.,  220. 

Vessel  arrives  from  Ire- 
land with  provisions, 
603. 

Victories  of  parliament, 
73  ;  thanks  for,  676. 

Village  granted  to  Ports- 
mouth, 537. 

Vindication  of  the  cove- 
nant, 9  ;  of  Massa- 
chusetts, 506,  7. 

Violation  of  charter,  357. 

Violence  of  parties  in  R. 
Island,  86. 

Visible  church,  6. 

Visiting  from  house  to 
house,  423,  4. 

Vizard,  526. 

Vizier,  grand,  reception 
of  Mary  Fisher,  142. 

Vocation,  doctrine,  5. 

Volunteers,  104. 

Voters  for  heterodox  or 
immoral  deputies  to 
be  fined,  110. 

Voting  illegally,  113,  533. 

Vows,  5. 

Waiting  for  a  new  gospel, 

493. 
Wampum,  36,  89,  662. 
War  by  Conn,  against 
Indians,  36,  68  ;  by 
Mohawks,  75 ;  Dutch 
and  Indians,  93,  4, 
104,  16,  29  ;  against 
French  and  Dutch, 
411,  2,  553.  See 
Hostilities. 

j  Warding,  35. 

I  Watch  over  children  of 
the  church,  6. 

i  Watching,  34,  5. 


[NDEX    OF   SI  BJ]  i 


;  .'i 


Watering  of  the  plants  in 
Christ's  garden,  153. 

Way  of  the  Congregation- 
al churches  cleared,  2. 

"Weights    and    measures, 

392. 
Welsh  records,  317. 
Westminster    Assembly's 

confession  of  faith,  4, 

605. 
Whale,  part  for  the  min- 
istry, 314. 
Wheat  blasted,  345. 
Wheels,  cards  and  cotton 

for  mission,  283. 
Whipping,  12,  34,  57,  61, 

3,   72,  3,  80,  1,   161, 
.      2,  3,  8,  95,  7,  9,  234, 

7,  44,  51,  3,  60,2,73 


5,  7.  Bl,  ■  07,   9,   11 
20,  1,1,  43,  5, 

82,  516,  26,  7,  9 

31,  609. 

Will  of  Kcayne,  98;  KHz. 
Toole,  116  ;  William 
Burnell,  218. 

Wine,  127,  31,  314. 

Witchcraft,  execution,  4, 
16,  34,  43,  5,  57;  in 
Conn.,  S8  ;  in  Plym., 
117;  at  Kennebeck, 
121  ;  Mrs.  Hibbins, 
140  ;  Mrs.  Walford, 
175,  84,  5  ;  Mrs. 
Holmes,  226,  313  ; 
Mrs.  Garlic,  260  ; 
Mrs.  Seager,  335,  494, 
526,  66,  640. 


Woo  to  drunkards,  509. 
Wolf  skins,   tWO,    sign   of 
Xarraganset     M 

to  the  lung,  100. 
Word   of    God    the   only 
magna  charta,  L5,  6. 

Workhouse  for  the   idle, 

238. 
Works,  good,  5. 
World  as  thirteen,  303. 
Worship  of  Indians,  326. 

See  Public  Worship. 
Worship  "  to  the  devil," 

527. 
Worthies  of  X.  England, 

607,  8. 

Yea  and  nay,  222. 


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